We are Clarence and Marcella Brule´ and we are honoured to be asked by the SSCA to give a presentation.
I can't start this presentation without recognizing one of the key figures in the development of the pulse industry in Saskatchewan. That is Dr. Al Slinkard, also known as the grandfather of pulse production in Saskatchewan. Dr. Slinkard spent many years doing research and developing new and improved varieties of peas and lentils for pulse producers in western Canada. To Dr. Slinkard we say "Thank you"!
Clarence and I, along with our three sons Daniel, Vincent and Dominic, farm in the Albertville area, which is 25 miles northeast of Prince Albert. Albertville has several claims to fame in Saskatchewan. The first "Caisse Populaire" or Credit Union, which was established in 1916, and our Catholic Church of St. James, completed in 1922, which has the second highest steeple at 142 feet.
I started growing peas back in 1978 when there was very little information on agronomic or equipment modifications for growing peas. I basically learned everything the hard way - through experimentation and on-farm research. I also grew lentils and faba beans in those early years, but decided not to pursue them. Lentils didn't yield very well because we didn't get enough heat stress to induce proper podding and there was also a lack of adequate weed control options. Faba beans yielded fairly well but they were very late and unprofitable.
I started direct seeding peas in 1990 with a Prasco air seeder and a 12-inch spacing solid hitch deep tillage cultivator, but I found I was getting inadequate packing from only harrowing after seeding. We needed to change to a floating hitch cultivator and a harrow-packer bar.
The early 90's were a time of change. We were three men on three tractors burning up fuel and wearing out equipment. I had to find a way to reduce tractor hours, fuel costs and labour, as I could see the time coming when I would have to do all this work by myself.
In the winter of 1991-92, after attending the SSCA conference in Prince Albert, we decided to get into the new field of low disturbance seeding with narrow openers and on row packing, so we bought a 33-foot Flexi-Coil 5000 air hoe. This was a major decision as we traded the press drills and the cultivator. There was no turning back. We had to make this system work! I must say that there is a wealth of information and help available now as compared to when we first started, and many of the equipment wrinkles have been iron out. The S.S.C.A. has since produced a "Direct Seeding Manual", and has a toll-free number you can call to get help and information. They can put you in contact with other farmers who have the same equipment or are already doing what you want to do. The number is 1-800-213-4287.
Here is one of the reasons we went to low disturbance seeding - soil erosion - it's virtually eliminated now on our rolling land. Our soil tilth has improved dramatically in the past seven years, and we are finding earthworms almost everywhere.
We started low disturbance seeding with all granular fertilizer going down with the seed, but we were getting germination and seedling damage with knives or spoons, so once again we had to find a better way. In 1996 we went to liquid fertilizer, and borrowed a liquid dribbler idea from Ed and Marguerite Beauchesne who are local direct seeders.
One of the most important aspects in direct seeding is "residue management"; it starts and ends at the combine. This is one aspect that can't be over-emphasized. We collected all our chaff in the past, but last year we went to spreading as we changed combines and I didn't have time to mount the chaff blower. Here is a picture of some land we rented last year showing the chaff rows in our pea crop and here's one of our fields where we did chaff management - quite a difference. Our fall work consists of harrowing our fields to spread straw and break up tall canola stubble.
As a rule we use the 0.5 L/ac rate of Roundup for burn-off on all our acres. The peas get burn-off after seeding and just before emergence as we find we get better control this way as more weeds have emerged than before seeding. All other crops get pre- or post-seeding burn-off depending on seeding date and timing. We try to alternate our seeding dates on all of our land to keep the weed population off-balance.
We like to load our seed peas with PTO auger as we can keep it full and turn it slower without running out of power. One of the tricks I've learned over the years is to apply water to our peas as you are loading them on to the truck. They absorb the water and the seed coat softens up, and you split a lot less peas as you are augering them into the air seeder tank, when they go through the metering system and the splitters in the air system.
Next step is inoculation. Take the time to do a proper job here as a properly inoculated crop can produce up to 70% of its nitrogen requirements. For inoculant we use Tag Team, which has Provide in it. We thoroughly mix it with water and dribble it onto the seed as we are filling the airseeder tank. Don't pre-inoculate more seed than you are going to use that day because the live bacteria has a short life span when exposed and keep your truck tarped as direct sunlight is also harmful. Here are some well-inoculated yellow peas.
This picture didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but what we're trying to show here is the nodules on the pea plant roots. Nodules formed at the base of the stem are nodules that come from your inoculant. These both have those nodules but the interesting thing here is the amount of nodulation that is occurring on the lateral roots. The plant on the left has lateral roots that are loaded with nodules because it comes from a field that has a long history in pea production, whereas the plant on the right has almost no lateral root nodules because it comes from a first time pea field.
Of note is that these two fields are kitty corner to each other so they are on the same type of soil. The plant on the left will be able to produce many times more nitrogen for itself than the plant on the right.
We have seen a big advantage to peas in our rotation. They improve soil tilth, break up the cereal disease cycle, and leave behind nitrogen that breaks down over 2 or 3 years to feed succeeding crops.
Here is our seeding outfit. One thing that I would really like to emphasize at this point is that you don't have to go out and buy all that new and expensive iron to get into low-disturbance seeding. Many producers are doing excellent jobs with hoe drills or cultivators with shank-mounted or gang packers. I see that we will have some fine examples of this on this afternoon's agenda. We run a 75-55 Prasco pulling a 33-foot Flexi-Coil 5000 Air Drill with 7.5-inch spacing, 350 lb. Trips, and 2.25-inch steel V packers, which in turn pulls an 800-gallon liquid caddy. My old Prasco needs a paint job next spring, but it's seen many modifications from when it rolled off the assembly line. I've added a filling auger and a hitch on the back to pull the air hoe and removed the original walking beam axle and narrow tires. This came about because there was no weight transfer from the air tank to the tractor drawbar because of the counter-balancing weight of the air-hoe hitch. Those narrow tires followed my tractor wheel tracks, and I was always getting stuck. I solved this problem by mounting combine axles and tires on the back of the air seeder cart. What a change! Now I have good weight transfer and excellent flotation. I've only gotten stuck twice in the last three years instead of sometimes two or three times a day. I've also balanced the air system on the tank and added an electric clutch for seeder engagement.
This is the opener we currently use. We've tried other narrow knives as well as spoon shovels, but we have found that this is the one that works best for us. It's a Dutch Super Eagle Buster, which does a good job of seed placement and is easy to pull. One point that I would like to make is that I really believe you should have a narrow V packer with a narrow knife. In my opinion, a wider rounded packer will ride up on the sides of the seed trench of a narrow knife and give inadequate packing, especially under drier soil conditions. Never compromise your seed bed quality - it's #1 and fertilizer placement is second.
Another benefit of low disturbance seeding is rock control. In the past under intensive tillage, we had a lot of rocks to pick, but now I can go out with the 1/2 ton and be done in a half day.
In the beginning, we were told by our critics that the soil would be too cold, too wet, or there would be too much straw for this system to work in our area up in the north country, but we've found that those points just aren't valid. We've seeded at the same time, if not earlier than conventional seeders, and last spring we weren't complaining about the top soil being dry - shallow seed placement into moisture really gives the crop a jump on emergence time.
Our fertilizer goes down as liquid, which is dribbled on the sides of the seed row and buried before packing. Since switching to liquid, we have no more problems with germination damage; even with rates as high as 80N-40P-20S with canola. Unfortunately, our potash is still in the dry form, so we are limited as to how much we can put with the seed - especially on peas and canola. We usually put on more with cereals, as they are more tolerant, and hope for some residual effect when we seed peas and canola. We're also considering spreading potash on top of the stubble in the fall.
As you can see there is heavy canola trash here but I had no problems seeding through it. I was seeding Barley at 0.5-inch seeding depth in this field on the 19th of May, and even though it had been a long, hot, dry spring, I still had excellent moisture for germination and crop establishment.
Here are some other features I thought you might find interesting. This is my inexpensive airflow and seed run monitor, and this is my hired man for backing up to the air seeder auger. I simply place him on the ground at the correct spot by the hopper and back the corner of the truck box into the V. You never have to back up twice and you're not worried about backing into your auger.
To seed and spray 1350 acres by yourself takes organization. We use full service fuel delivery, meals on wheels, and radio communication. Marcella keeps me focused on the job at hand via the 2-way radio.
As you can see, we use one truck to haul our seed and liquid fertilizer. The trailer holds a 1200 gal tank for liquid fertilizer and a fill pump. This way, when we move fields it's fast and simple. We usually double-hit when we're filling. We can do both jobs at the same time and be ready to go in half the time. At our liquid blending facility we can do individual blends for each field if we so desire. We find liquid very easy to handle and very safe. Marcella or Daniel haul all the fertilizer out to the field when we're seeding.
OK! Enough rambling - on to the job at hand - seeding! In 1998 we seeded one third of our acres to peas. Here is the direct seeder's stance in the spring! Get your butt up and your head down and check that seeding depth closely! What we're showing here is that these yellow peas are seeded at a 1-inch depth - by that we mean 1-inch of packed soil over the seed. We seed our yellow peas first and then follow up with the greens a week to 10 days later to help spread out the harvest. We use 1000 kernel weights to determine the seeding rate that provides the proper plant populations for our crops, which means we'll seed peas at a rate of anywhere from 3 bu/ac up to 4.5 bu/ac, depending on seed size. We seed our peas and all of our other crops at 4 mph. It sounds slow but you have to remember that you're only going over the field once. Another point is to keep your airflow down as low as possible to avoid splitting peas as they go through the air system. As a rule, we try and seed East and West because we usually cut North and South. With the prevailing winds, the peas usually lean northwest to southeast. This way, you can cut across the seed trench rather than with it - we find that we pick up a lot less dirt this way at harvest time. We put on a blend of 15N-15P-15S with our peas, as we find that a lot of our clay land doesn't have enough residual nitrogen to keep the pea plant going until the nodules start producing nitrogen. Dr. Slinkard's rule of thumb is - if you have 35 lbs./ac of N available in the soil don't add any, but if you have less, add enough to bring it up to the 35 lb. level.
All of our peas are rolled as soon as possible after seeding and before emergence - we find we get extra weed growth from the rolling that we can eradicate with the burn-off.
Which pea seedling would you rather be? This one, who is wide open to all that Mother Nature can throw at it, or this one who is protected from the elements by the standing stubble.
Here is the only disadvantage to low disturbance seeding that I've found. I direct seeded six crops and then this year we experienced frost four days in a row at the end of May. The heavy oat straw cover insulated the ground and prevented it from radiating heat back up at night. I've seeded peas for 20 years and never experienced this bad a frost. Here is the same field three weeks later - you can't even tell - the peas have bounced back. Incidentally, our canola had frost damage as well, but we didn't re-seed and had an excellent crop with very good yields.
For spraying we use a 95-foot Flexi-Coil sprayer with an 800-gallon tank. For in-crop weed control we use Pursuit at half-rate for broadleaf weeds, and Poast or Assure for grass control. In the fall of 1997, we sprinkled on one field of Edge and one of Avadex with no incorporation or harrowing. The Edge did a good job on broadleaf weeds, but we had to spray out the volunteer cereals and the odd wild oats, whereas the Avadex did an excellent job on the wild and volunteer oats. We will be trying more of this in the future.
Here is the pay-off. A nice clean crop that has podded out very well. This is a first-time pea field of Majorettes that went close to 40 bu/ac. We like to pre-harvest as much of our peas as we can for thistle control and for ease of harvesting. We've also had good results with post-harvest on thistle and dandelion in cereal and canola stubble.
In the past 6 years I've straight cut peas but in 1998, we changed combines so I went back to swathing ahead of the combine. If you swath, try to match your reel and canvas speeds to your ground speed to reduce shelling losses. I also pull a swath roller to reduce wind damage, and I find that a rolled swath feeds much more evenly into the combine. We use two different types of lifters depending on crop conditions. Half-moon lifters are a good all-round lifter, but they tend to bring dirt up onto the table, and they have a nasty habit of popping out some of the rocks that you rolled in. The Schumaker lifters keep the header out of the dirt, and don't dig up rocks as they are spring steel, but they don't work as well in a short crop as the half-moon lifters do. Try to cut across the way that the peas are leaning - you'll have a much easier time at it, and you won't be frustrated and pulling out your hair because you're plugging on the end of your table. Through experience I've found that you have to cut your peas as low as possible, because in the spring the stems break off at ground level and they can hang up on the shanks. If you left long pea stubble and try to seed it on a damp, cloudy day, "watch out!" you're going to have plugging problems.
We generally start combining peas at 19-20% moisture and aerate them down to around 16%. This way we can get an early start, and we can try and keep up with them as they mature. Once peas test dry they can take a lot of rain before they become tough again, as the only place moisture will enter the pea seed is the small point where the pea is attached to the pod. Many times in the past I would get a 2 or 3 day jump on combining after a rain, because my peas were still dry.
We use screens on both the return and clean grain elevators of the combine to help remove dirt and small weed seeds. Remember, always keep your grain augers full and run them at a fairly slow speed, especially when the peas are dry, to help reduce splits.
Peas are a joy to combine on dry sunny days, but they can be a real nightmare on damp, cloudy days. If you hit one of those days when nothing is going right, leave them and go do something else, and come back when the conditions are right. In the past, I've straight cut peas all day till dark, changed headers, and combined cereal or canola swaths for another two or three hours.
Here's our combine operator for peas - Daniel, our oldest son, who is fifteen and a very capable operator. Here are our other two sons, Vincent and Dominic, who help out where they can - checking bins, moving the 10-inch auger, helping the hired man and keeping him company, and helping mom whenever and wherever they can.
Our last day of the pea harvest was one of those days that a family farm can take pride in - we had three generations working together that day. My 69-year old father was swathing, my fifteen-year old son was operating the combine, and I was delegated trucker that day. Not many professions can speak with the pride that farmers do, and say that the whole family is involved in the business.
With all the spare time you gain from direct seeding there is more time for other things such as family time, and there's no telling what you could do!
In closing we would like to say that low disturbance seeding works, and has proven itself over the years in our operation.
Again we would like to thank the SSCA for being asked to do this presentation, and we hope we have shed some light on the topic of "Pulse Production: A Farmer's Perspective".