Cutting Height

While many try to leave as much standing stubble as possible in order to trap snow, leaving too much stubble can result in seeding difficulty the following year. Experience with seeding equipment will help decide what works best. The better the equipment's ability to clear trash, the higher it is possible to leave stubble. Generally, cutting 10 inches high produces the best results. An important addition to harvest equipment is a cutting height indicator. It is especially important on straight cut headers and particularly useful when cutting at night. Either a 'home_made' indicator or one of the commercially available units will do the job.

Cutting height is one of the areas which demands considerable operator judgement The type of crop and amount of growth dictate what is possible. Cutting too low means a loss of snow holding capability and reduction in no_till's ability to improve the soil moisture picture - too high means potential problems with seeding equipment clearance.

"Your stubble must fit the ability of your drill to deal with it. A disc drill might go through - but will it seed properly? - a hoe drill might place the seed properly but act as a 'rake' if stubble is too high or if straw and chaff are poorly spread. It is very important to have good control on swather height. "

Gordon McPhee, Dauphin, Manitoba

This is where zero tillage REALLY starts. Proper spreading of chaff and straw is vital to the successful emergence of next years crop.