Stale seedbed

This was supposed to be my blog yesterday because it has been on my mind for a few days.  I talked to someone recently who had done some tillage on a field to smooth it out and kill weeds, but he had rain on it before he got it planted.  He was saying he wanted to till it again to break up the crust.  I said he should plant without tillage.  The seedbed is already there.  The weed control is already there.  The planter will do an adequate job breaking the crust and the soil being slightly firmer should allow for more even seed depth. 

Even planting in fall tilled soil is a viable option if it is not too rough.  This article in Prairie Farmer seems to validate my thinking as well.  with all the rain we have had, Planting at this point is considered to be late in some respects.  Speeding up the process by planting a stale seedbed is certainly a viable option.