During the course of our winter series of meetings, the benefits of direct seeding and crop rotations were 2 topics that always generated good discussion. Esterhazy area farmer, Art Pask, a panellist at one of the direct seeding meetings spoke on the benefits of direct seeding to his own operation and the crop rotation he employs.
Art's first experience with direct seeding occurred in the fall of 1982 when he seeded winter wheat. He describes his seeding implement as a "Wilrich airseeder with 3/4" worn out little spikes". After seeding, he spread the fertilizer.
Art grew winter wheat until 1986 when he had severe losses due to rust. However, his direct seeding of winter wheat into a variety of stubble with good success proved to him that direct seeding was a viable option.
Meanwhile, although Art wasn't direct seeding his spring crops, he had greatly reduced his tillage operations. He says his last year of "recreational tillage" occurred in 1979. By 1981, he began to band NH3 in the fall and then seed the following spring.
In 1989, Art purchased a 42' Victory Seed-o-vator air seeder. At the time, it was equipped with 16" sweeps. Over the years, he has reduced the sweep width to 8" on 14" centres, using steel on-row gang packers. Art says this system "leaves a fair bit of black soil around the seed but that helps with emergence - especially in springs such as the ones we've had since 1992. The exposed soil probably encourages extra weed growth but it does help the crop to get a good start".
As for weeds, Art doesn't feel he has any more problems than any of his conventionally seeding neighbours. The wild millet is no longer a problem. Although he still has some wild oats and quack grass, these are very manageable. As for scentless chamomile, he hasn't seen an increase in its presence since his move to direct seeding. Art says if he can catch the scentless chamomile with Roundup before it bolts, it, too, is manageable. A preharvest application of Roundup seems to be doing a good job of controlling the Canada Thistle.
When asked about the benefits of direct seeding, Art is enthusiastic. He says he noticed the soil becoming more mellow after 2 years of direct seeding. After 5 or 6 years, the soil improved even more. Art likes the "tonnes of slime" that come with direct seeding after about 3 years. The slime he refers to is the earthworms. The earthworms feed on the trash assisting in its breakdown to organic matter. As the earthworms work, they release N. Art feels this extra N made available to the crop in July or August enables the crop to give a little extra in yield. Art maintains "It's this 'bank account' of stratified residue and earthworm activity that makes the whole system pay".
Included in Art's crop rotation are canola, semi-dwarf wheat, flax, oats and about 15% of the acreage is seeded to forages. The forage crops consist of alfalfa, crested wheat grass and timothy grass. Art has a couple of reasons for growing timothy instead of Bromegrass. He really dislikes the brome because of its creeping nature. The timothy, in contrast, "stays put". He feeds the timothy hay to his cattle and is able to sell some of it into the horse feed market.
Art really likes oats in the rotation. He finds the mellow soil following an oat crop is ideal for seeding canola. The oats also do well on the eroded knolls and they add much fibre to the soil. Like so many other direct seeders, flax serves as Art's "clean up" crop.
Art feels the fault of his crop rotation is that it is not diversified enough. However, because he has so many stones and rocks to contend with, he can't justify growing peas and lentils and then paying for stone damage to his equipment.
When planning a crop rotation, Art advises "Watch the futures market, be aware of potential pests and plan accordingly. Flexibility is the key to rotational success".