Managing Crop Residue at Harvest and Beyond

The stems and stalks from harvest can conserve soil and moisture while recycling nutrients to help feed future crops. How evenly crop residue comes out of the back of the combine is a crucial starting point for how well it protects the soil from wind and rain erosion, while avoiding issues that interfere with planting the following spring.

The key is setting a residue management goal and then making sure your combine and tillage operations are properly set up to manage residue as expected. Residue that is spread unevenly at the start can lead to several agronomic problems the following year, he says, and you only get one chance.

With too much residue, soils can remain cool and wet, which may delay planting or slow seed germination in the spring. And too much residue in the furrow can physically interfere with proper seed-to-soil contact and uniform seedling emergence. 

When residue is unevenly distributed over a field, not only are exposed areas at risk for erosion, but inconsistencies in soil temperatures and moisture also may cause uneven plant emergence the following year, hurting yield. Ideally, residue should be spread consistently and managed to promote uniform rapid warming and drying in the spring for earlier planting and sufficient seed germination. It is also important to keep in mind that spreading residue evenly behind the combine also results in an even distribution of nutrient recycling back into the soil.

Leaving heavy mats of residue “bands” behind the combine can also create other problems related to disease and nitrogen management. Overall, residue requires contact with the soil to decompose. Heavy mats of residue with less soil contact therefore will not decompose as quickly. Residue that doesn’t decompose for a long period prolongs the development of several plant diseases that live on residue. Growers who surface-apply urea without incorporating also are at risk for significant N loss in areas of the field where heavy mats of residue exist. Urea fertilizers that land on top of a heavy residue can quickly convert to ammonia gas and volatilize before reaching the soil, leading to severe N loss in those areas of the field.

Fendt® IDEAL™ Combine Spreads Residue Widely and Evenly

The challenge of spreading crop residue evenly throughout the field is growing as combine headers get larger and larger, with some operators running headers as wide as 50 feet. The main goal when harvesting is to get spread of your residue to equal the size of your header; that way, you won’t leave ‘hot spots’ in the field with no cover, no protection from erosion.

When designing the new Fendt IDEAL combines, AGCO built in several key features that benefit operators when it comes to efficient and complete residue management. At the front of the machine, customers can choose a chopping model of the 3300 Command™ Series corn header with point-to-point stalk rolls that do a great job biting into the stalk and putting it into smaller increments for better breakdown in the soil.

Behind the head is one of two straw chopper options, either a BaseCut with 56 knives or a ShortCut with 112 knives. AGCO recommends the 112-knife straw chopper for soybean harvesting to produce finer material for easier breakdown. 

The chopped residue is then expelled through the IDEAL ActiveSpread tailboard, an AGCO-exclusive option with two turning spinners and eight deflecting tailfins to spread residue evenly and at the full width of any header, even the 50-footers, and even in a crosswind. And it does it while consuming only 3-5 HP, compared to 30 HP for a competitor’s spreader.

Wind, when it comes to residue management, is sometimes a disaster. With IDEAL, the operator can use the in-cab terminal to set ActiveSpread for wind compensation, and actuators adjust the tailfins hydraulically to keep spreading a full-width swath, even in a crosswind. It even flips the tailfins for you when you turn at the end of the field.

In addition to ActiveSpread, the IDEAL combine features a chaff spreader beneath the shoe that is controlled from the cab to discharge chaff to areas the operator chooses, including at a 90-degree angle to the direction of the combine to get the spread you desire to prepare yourself for next season and keep your soil healthy through the winter.