MRBB....I gotta ask......go ask the farmer that has the wheat field that sleds go on...I will bet if you ask him without stating the sled thing.....how have nyour winter wheat crops been these last years.....he'll say not bad....then ask has there been damaged crops or did the field produce ok....he'll say not bad it all came up rather nicely....I think i'll plant again next year too....I have never heard of one instance of damage to crops from sleds after the harvest....but yet this misconception is carried on....just curious if ya actually asked em.....and if there is....what and how much of the field did not recover.....the entire field recovered why? that's what I hear.....the few that do say they have damage....when ya press em you find out....well I just don't like em, but I am planting wheat again....let us know
well since I am a farmer and have had personal damage to my 60 acres winter wheat field, I can say 100% without any hesitation, YES I had damages done and lesser takes where the damage to fields were done
NOW< one thing you have to consider here is we get a fraction of the snow you UP and like area's get
folks here will ride on 2 inches and destroy things down to soil
I gather MOST riders in your area have more brains, and well, also KNOW They will have better conditions and as such, NOT ride in such poor conditions, next your season is a LOT longer, so you get more chances to ride and know this,
folks here have SHORT seasons, IF any at all anymore, when it does SNOW< everyone and there cousin head out and ride
one idiot crosses a NO ride field and everyone follows and then tear things up
next again is PACKED down snow takes longer to melt, making me a farmer have to wait to get into a field,. where as if folks didn't pack things down I could gain access to many fields over the yrs sooner, thus also costing me time
NOW back to the UP and such, maybe your green up is slower coming and NOT as big a deal on lost down time from snow being packed into things
BUT it doesn't mean it cannot happen else where
and last, I never plant back to back yrs of winter wheat, just doesn't do that well, without having to add more costs to get same yields, I do crop rotations for a reason as do most farmers!
SOME MIGHT< yes, but it comes down to area and soil types, and growing seasons and options of them all!
NOW not that I skipped over your questions TRACKER< But, to answer things,
HOW Much of the field did NOT recover, that in the 1 , 60 acre filed I had winter wheat in and had the most damage, I would say I lost about 25 % production on that field, as again, they tore things down to soil level in take off strips and drag racing based on tracks?
once you tear plants out by there roots and or pack them down , they take longer IF they can even bounce back
WHICH brings in to packed snow on top of it, all plants have a growth cycle of sorts, to reach there premium growths, they need "X" amount of nutrient's (fertilizer, nitrogen and water and such) and "X" amount of sunlight
when snowmobile tracks PACK snow and take weeks at times longer to melt
the area's that didn;t get packed down, grow faster and taller, higher yields, as to areas that don't get the same amount of sunlight if you follow
a lot of damages to things are NOT seen to the average person
soil compaction is also a deal farmers deal with
water run off is another, and all can be effected by snowmobile
HOW big and much effect
is really based on what and where
I am NOT bashing snowmobiler again
I am just saying there are reasons land owners DON"T want them in or on certain area's of there property, as it can COST a land owner money, you might not understand or see or think it is!
simple fact, its the land owners LAND< he paid for it, he and ONLY them should have say in how they will allow it to be used
lack of following this, is just plain rude and what causes hard feeling to many and thus closed routes and lands in the future
respect
simple yet taken for granted way too often!
