Market Farming

["Jeffery Blake" <echoecho AT bedford.heartland.net>]

>Would you mind elaborating on the buffalo cultivator a little for >me and
>let me know where you got it? I like the concept of low till or no >till.




I use mine to ridge, to cultivate conventional crops, to rip 8 foot strips
through mown wheat for laying plastic in, I've cultivated over the plastic
with it,  cultivated rowed zucchini, pumpkins, green beans and sweet corn,
also can be used as a two-bar field cultivator; with a little modification I
think it could also form beds.

Mine is very adjustable, can be configured in numerous ways.  I have 10, 14,
18, 24 inch sweeps for different applications,  also a set of 14's with
ridging wings.

It is a heavy old thing.  I have a 190 Allis (90 horse), and don't think I
would want to go much smaller.  A 70 horse might handle it--might be a load
for the hydraulics??  I have weight on the front end.  It's heavier than a
4-14" plow and a 9 foot chisel plow--heaviest mounted implement -I ever
picked up. l  They say the newer ones are lighter, I think.   Heavy or
not--I wouldn't part with it.
Main components are big single sweeps, and disk hillers.

Here are some websites I found.

SARE has a book about sustainable weed management that goes into more depth
on high residue cultivators.  I read this book about every month.

http://wsare.usu.edu/docs/steel/p53-54.html

Heres a look at the Buffalo from the company website.

http://www.davidevansgroup.com.au/bufalo.html

And another look.

http://www.agshow.com/tillage/html/body_buffalo.html

Some ridge-till info.

http://vric.ucdavis.edu/issues/bulletinboard/soilconf/ridgetill.pdf

From your own Oregon state extension-mentions buffalo cultivators in a high
residue system.

http://vric.ucdavis.edu/issues/bulletinboard/soilconf/ridgetill.pdf

Any time you see anything by the Thompson's-read it-they are pioneers in
sustainable weed management.

http://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/gandb/thompson/thomsumm.htm

While much of the Thompson's work (in row crops) can be transferred to
vegetables, Steve Groff actually works with vegetables.  Doesn't use a
Buffalo, I don't think, but good reading nonetheless.

http://www.cedarmeadowfarm.com/default2.html