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* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

posted by Isabel Miller
Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 7:43 am

Comments

Serious question for any farmers out there, and maybe this is a regional thing-

When did mowing your fields after harvesting crops become a thing?

Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 7:51 am
The Bears effort on the final play versus the former Football Team was almost as bad as the Bears effort to get public money for a new stadium.

Comment by TJ Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 8:19 am
Flyin’Elvis’, that’s probably vertical tillage. And I’m not a fan.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 8:50 am
Back in the 80s I helped out on FILs farm. We mowed the remainder of the cornstalks after harvesting and then plowed the field. It was a longstanding practice. This was in central Illinois.

Comment by Captain Obvious Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 9:01 am
Bears received instant karma as one of their defenders taunted the crowd at the beginning of the play rather than focus on the task at hand. Perfect metaphor for the state of the entire organization. It was delicious to watch.

Comment by Captain Obvious Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 9:05 am
Thanks for all the Grateful Dead links. Can’t stop humming Scarlet Begonias.
Remembering Milwaukee Dead concert ‘71 or ‘72.
Audience lighting joints and Andy Frain ushers running all over the auditorium shining flashlights on them until finally the entire crowd started holding up lighters and matches and the ushers just gave up.
Always wondered if that was the event that kicked off the lighter thing.

Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 9:59 am
how do you not get behind the one player on offense? How do you not tip it out of the endzone? How do you taunt and not get into the play asap? the apology on X was wonderful except now that I read about the taunting…did not see it as it happened….the post on X not enough.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 10:00 am
@Flyin’Elvis’: yes, mowing stalks does tend to be a regional thing, in my experience. I’m afraid the practice might be spreading. The main goal is to make the stalks break down more quickly. Too many farmers are still trying to make crop residue disappear, instead of working with it. After mowing, some farmers will then do fall tillage. Leaving the stalks standing helps reduce soil erosion. Mowing stalks is a waste of time and money.

Comment by Don't Bloc Me In Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 10:12 am
Mowing the stover down to make the dirt look undisturbed is an old and discredited habit. No-till conservation tillage is much cheaper to do, and has many benefits. The stubble helps prevent erosion by wind and water, it is a natural fertilizer, it promotes earthworms which aerates the soil and allows the field to absorb more water than conventional tillage. That means you can operate your equipment in the no till field days sooner than the flooded and muddy ground that doesn’t use no- till. You save money on fuel too by not running the plows an extra time. It’s only a misplaced desire of “tradition” and peer pressure from neighbors who don’t understand the benefits of no-till, that keeps the conventional tillage practices hanging on here and there.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 10:37 am
Taunting another player during the Bears game really worked out well. Stupid move by a showboat. That’s right up there with the double doink.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 10:44 am
State’s top congressional race is heating up with negative ads flying from Democrat Eric Sorensen and Republican Joe McGraw.

Comment by Here Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 10:53 am
Another reason is to reduce damage to tractor and implement tires.

Comment by very old soil Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 11:05 am
The end of the Bears game: So close and yet so far.
But man, what an ending.
Didn’t see the taunting bit, but Karma is always a harsh mistress.

Comment by thisjustinagain Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 1:32 pm
Glad one of the elevators in Lincoln Tower is finally working. Ugh.

Comment by Mister Ed Monday, Oct 28, 24 @ 4:08 pm