Wow!! What a fount of useful and much needed information! I'm 78 and grew up in Southwestern Ohio. I knew farmers that were generations on the land. The pastures were never touched, even in the fall to break the weed seed cycle. Year round there was just a minimum of vegetative growth....even in the Spring when things should be exploding out of the ground... there was nothing. Back in the 40s and 50s chisel plowing and deep ripping were unknown. The man I worked when I was in highschool, bless his heart, just didn't know any better. He did what his dad and granddad had done. The results were minimal, but they didn't know how to change the way they did things. It's like the old thing, "Well, we've always done "it" that way. Well, then you've always been wrong." Working by precedent is only good and right if that precedent is grounded in good and right thinking.

Thanks for making the video! Very informative. I hope you follow up with more on how you continue to repair the soil from the abuse, i.e. getting more organic matter in the soil, lowering soil density, etc. Having grown up on a SD ranch I have been a huge follower of Dr. Dwayne Beck and his research in repairing and no till farming. The ripping obviously is a form of tillage but maybe a necessary one to get the repair started and then maybe needed for a while until the soil gets repaired. The soil didn't get damaged in a few years and won't get repaired a just a few either but I appreciate you making the efforts to do it right.

This was extremely educational. Appreciate your report and research. It has given me an directive on how to approach the matter in my situation. Thanks.

Thank you for sharing the study and results! If you can build swales and ponds then over a period of time deep soil ripping is not needed . Thought of sharing !! Good luck

Both Keyline and the Ripper are Australian inventions. Yeomans was his name. Was he regarded as a radical? Hell yeah. Arguably the greatest mind in the history of Regen Ag, and that's a lot of competition. Thankfully many have since listened to his and other voices.

You may know this ! When dad was farming he pulled a chisel across each field twice (different angle each time). He raised good crops!!!!!

I’ve always used it to clear up wet spots, would have never guessed it would work the other way with severe droughts too, good to know

Keyline design ...was invented by an Australian farmer...PA YEOMANS .in the 1950s ..read his books...he makes it easy to understand...

Great and very helpful video, thanks for sharing it

I don’t know if you’re still in business, if so, congratulations. Hopefully you have read “Water for Every Farm”. By PA Yeomans (who invented “Keyline”). Wish I’d known about your place last year when I spent 3 months in the US. My son loved the land in the Texas hill country when he did his exchange in the US.

Great video. We are looking at ripping to help offset compaction. Thanks again.

I'm going to try using my sub solar around my pond area to see if I can trap water in and create a better water table against against the walls

Great information 👍

Only problem with ripping on established pastures is when it doesn’t rain afterwards and the existing roots completely dry out and die. You have made the conditions worse. Happened to us on coastal Bermuda

VERY interesting!

Btw, hopefully, you have taken advantage of Alan Savory and his Holistic Management presence in Texas?

Nice information

Still have my grandfather's subsoilers he used back in the 50s and 60s

Excellent content.

Very interesting.

irrigation+rainfall = evaporation + transpiration + runoff + leaching Which one of these processes do Farmers really have control over during the growing season? If you have the ability to irrigate your sandy soils and water is cheap and plentiful, then you are fortunate and have some control on the left side of the equation. If you do not have irrigation, you must look at the factors on the right side of the equation to see what can be controlled or minimized to benefit your crop. Evaporation from the soil surface can be reduced with mulch or leaving crop residue on the soil surface. Transpiration is a function of the plant leaf surface area and the weather. Runoff is or should be minimal in sandy textured soils with high percolation rates. This leaves the leaching of water out of the root zone as the #1 controllable loss of moisture to your crop. Interrupting the downward movement of moisture in your soil by installing a "smart" barrier can greatly reduce the leaching of water and nutrients. SWRT subsurface membranes detain/retain up to 90% of irrigation or rainfall in the root zone for crop use by disrupting the gravitational movement of water in the soil while still allowing excess water to percolate and do not create anaerobic soil conditions.

What about increased organic matter, crop rotations with deep rooted species to break hard pans and bring up deeper water reserves... what about nitro radish to open up the top 15cm? I would like to see long term (10-15) year studies on soil ripping effects on soil health indicators. Was this research published?

Another guy to look at is Peter Andrews and his natural sequence farming methods. Wish I could rip, but would be pulling up rockd bigher than the tractor. Great work but listening seems you only have limited species?

Megan -- it’s currently 2021 - have there been additional studies/observations since the video completed in 2018?

Plenty of room here for 10,000 trees. They are a great generational crop that would benefit those kiddos when they are 45yrs old.

Maybe have some video of the later look of the areas?

these pics are more about ground cover or the lack of

Do you use swales anywhere? I have been watching an Australian guy, Polyculture Farms Dryland Permaculture, that uses both swales and deep soil ripping.

WELDONE AND POWERFUL.....

Why aren’t you using NATIVE GRASSES? The root systems of native grasses help water penetration!

Gabe Brown and multi - population species

weldon

Yeah nah

Ripping can make the plowpan worse