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Description: The type of soil preparation for planting crops depends mostly upon the crop to be planted, soil type, and expected precipitation. Seed bed preparation facilitates crop growth and penetration of rainfall. In this image, a field is tilled with a disk that chops the crop residue (e.g., small grain or soy bean straw) from the previous year and mixes (mulches) the residue with the top 4 or 5 inches of soil. Especially where there is minimal residue from the previous year's crop, disking alone is suitable seed bed preparation for well drained soils and well aerated soils such as sandy loams. By contrast, a ripper or chisel plow is needed to aerate dense (e.g., clay) soils and to treat soil compaction. Often, even crops with relatively small seeds such as wheat or barley may be planted directly after disking alone. NAL #4844, #4845, #4846, and #4848 illustrate alternative equipment for similar purposes.

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