Together with our son, Dwayne, we farm 10 quarters of land (1400 acres cultivated) 30 kilometers SE of North Battleford along highway 16.
We have been direct seeding all our crops for the past six years. We have not had any summerfallow for the past 23 years .With the increase in organic matter we feel that our land has become more mellow and has greater ability to conserve and hold moisture. We have a lot less problems with wind or water erosion.
We purchased a quarter two years ago that had been in a three-year summerfallow rotation using minimum inputs. This year it was seeded to wheat as was the adjacent quarter. Both were seeded, fertilized, sprayed and worked identically one day after another. The field under continuous crop yielded 42 bushels (5 bushels more) and protein was 14.5 % (O.5% higher) than the new quarter.
Our rotation has normally been canola, wheat followed by barley or oats. We may also plant one or two quarters of flax after the wheat. To date we have not been planting any pulse crops. To control disease on our fields with high residue, we can not grow the same crop in succession. Canola is grown every four years. We usually plant our canola first in spring. Oats is usually planted last towards the end of May so that we can get the first flush of wild oats with Roundup.
In spring our first operation is an application of ½ liter of Roundup. We try to wait until the weeds start to grow which sometimes delays our seeding. Good spraying conditions (wind & temperature) can also be a problem in spring. If we are just burning off annuals, then we will seed the following day; but if there are grassy problems, then we like to wait three days. This spring it was really windy and we seeded our Roundup Ready canola first and sprayed it a week later.
Our seeding system is a once over operation. We seed, fertilize and pack at the same time. This conserves soil moisture, saves time and fuel. Last year our diesel fuel costs for all our field work, grain hauling and farm truck was $5.00 per acre. Neighbours who like to have a black, even soil bed by working their land several times before seeding, ended up with a drier seedbed and more uneven germination this year.
We use an Ezee-On air seeder with a dual fertilizer/seed delivery system. It has a ground driven fan. Metering is done by selecting the appropriate gear drive. The cultivator is a heavy duty Noble 33-foot unit with shanks at 12-inch spacing. Seed and fertilizer are delivered to a Gen 200 paired row double shoot opener. Seed is placed to either side of the shank at about 5 and 7-inch spacing and fertilizer goes down behind the shank slightly lower than the seed.
All our fertilizing is done at seeding time using granular fertilizer. This year we placed 160 pounds of 37-12-0 for cereals and 190 pounds of 34-9-0-5 for canola. We have not had any adverse effects doing it. It does mean that you are handling more product in spring. We have a 1200 gallon water tank (150-bushel) set up in our truck box for the seed while the fertilizer is placed in the truck box. This allows us to fill the air seeder twice. We can fill our air seeder with both seed and fertilizer without moving the truck.
Packing is done with home built gang units using 13 inch car tires mounted on the back of the cultivator. We built the setup in our farm shop for about $1500.00. There is some weight transfer from the cultivator to the packing wheels. We have about 25 pounds per square inch pressure under the tires. Under normal conditions, this is adequate packing, however, when it is real dry there could be more. This past spring, when we saw how some of the neighbours' crops germinated under dry conditions, our system still didn't look too bad.
A PAMI report published in Sept 2000 indicated that minimum packing was necessary. The advantages observed between the various opener-packer combinations were minor and likely of little agronomic significant to most farmers. The degree of packing wasn't as significant as many think.
We have not had any problems with mud sticking to the packing wheels. The rubber tires flex enough that most of the mud falls off.
The openers on our unit tend to leave the soil in ridges with the seed placed on the sides of the furrow. This provides wind protection for the new seedling and reduces soil erosion by wind and water. The mini trenches help collect and hold the rain from running off. With a six-inch opener, there is some soil disturbance, which helps warm up the soil. Many operators would not like how rough the fields are left. However, if you seed, spray and harvest in the same direction, it is not too bad.
The fields with all the residue don't look very good in spring as the crop is coming up. All you see is stubble while the neighbour's fields look nice and green. You should really go on holidays until the crop is above the stubble.
Our greatest weeds with a no till operation are thistles, wild oats and buckwheat. Roundup Ready canola has helped in weed control and a shot of Roundup after harvest is also helpful if it can be done early enough. We have not done any pre-harvest spraying since we feel there may be some residual left on the seed.
Good residue spreading with the combine is critical. We have a chaff spreader on the combine.
After harvest the land is gone over with heavy harrows to help spread the residue and smooth out the ground surface.
This year we grew a crop with 8 inches of rain during the growing season to the end of August. Some of that was in little spits that didn't amount to much. There was no significant rain until the middle of June. A 1.25-inch shower at the end of June saved our crop. During the last half of July, we had 4 inches of rain, which helped fill the heads. We have not had any rain since harvest and it is very dry going into winter.
It was surprising the amount of crop we harvested. Wheat that had very little straw went about 40 bushels, barley 45 to 55 bushels, oats 60 bushels, canola 25 bushels and flax 20 to 26 bushels.
We are convinced that no till direct seeding has been a benefit to our farming operation.