Seed bed prep vs success on corn/ bean plots

In the last couple of years I have had some very sucessfull plots and some that are poor at best.One thing to take into consideration is how good your planting equipment is. as a for instance I use a old 494 jd planter. when i plant in plowed and disced soil with 4-6″ of seedbed my results are very good. on the other hand if we just disc until we have a black but very shallow seed bed we see germination rates fall off along with shorter stalks. I can see a full no-till planter in the near future. getting those seeds to the proper depth and covered is key to a successfull plot

On your shorter stalks are your ears smaller or are they pretty similar?

Id like to see a test done side by side on a field thats been worked for a few years.

Half of the field chisel plowed/disc and half just worked with a disc.

We just used a disc last year and had short stalks but pretty normal ears.

Obviously the lack of rain impacted it, and the vertical tillage would have helped in that department but for a food plot im starting to wonder if its necessary the extra work.

Thoughts?

In the past, everyone in our country chizel plowed the ground. Don’t see it as much anymore. More discing. Of course, no till is the most prevalent in an area that averages less than 6 inches of top soil.