A large roller/crimper is being tested for its ability to roll down heavy cover crops to create a substantial layer of surface mulch into which corn or soybean can be planted or drilled.

Several versions of this tool have been developed where a 12 to 16 inch diameter well casing serves as a rotor onto which crimping blades are attached around the rotor in a chevron wrapping pattern. Common widths of rotors are 3, 4, 6, 8, 10.5 and 15 feet. I and J Manufacturing in Lancaster County will build to the above sizes, or to a custom width if desired. Several researchers at Penn State are beginning their fourth year of trials with two different 10.5 feet-wide rollers. Rollers can be front or rear mounted on tractors. Results of trials where cover crops that are sprayed with reduced rates of burndown herbicide are then rolled and directly planted into have been very successful. Rolling/crimping without herbicide has produced less consistent results and it is in these conditions that most current work is focused.

Numerous acres of corn stalks are flail-chopped or gyro-mowed each fall and winter following grain harvest. The reasons for chopping are varied. The most frequently cited reasons include: reduce stalks that can interfere with the planting of the next crop or harvest of soybeans, reduce future pest problems by exposing insect pests and pathogens to harsh winter conditions, and get stalks on the ground to better protect soil and accelerate stalk decomposition. Implements that accomplish this are typically tractor PTO-driven, requiring a lot of fuel to operate, are somewhat expensive to purchase, require regular maintenance, and consume replacement parts that are not cheap. Roller/crimpers similar to that being tested at Penn State are modestly priced, can be arranged into gangs similar to the large multi-gang reel mowers used on lawns, can be used at field speeds comparable to those of disk mowers, and have very few moving parts to service. I front mounted one of the 10.5 foot wide rollers and went into standing corn stover to see how effective the tool might be in putting down corn stalks.

Rolling stalks on a frosty early April morning produced less than desired results. While stalk heights varied from 18 to 30 inches, a single roller pass resulted in no stalks remaining truly vertical. However, few were left in the optimal “flat” position on the ground. The tractor tires helped in this regard. Although the test wasn’t a success, it was not a complete failure. It provided some insight into what field conditions may improve the results. I suspect that under different conditions, more stalks could be put down and kept down by rolling. Because some root balls were rolled over and many stalks were bent but not “cracked”, timing the operation to occur while stalks and the soil surface are frozen should help hold corn roots in place while breaking over more stalks. The results may be optimized under conditions of wet soil and, especially, wet stalks that follow a few days of showers which are followed soon after by several days in the “deep freeze”. With this scenario, I would anticipate a frozen field that resists tractor damage and corn stalks made more brittle due to increased internal moisture that more readily break over at or near the root. We plan to investigate this further with the roller/crimper and probably with one of the heavy cultipackers that can still be found on many Northeast farms.

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