This spring has been one of "get to know your Machine" in much of the direct seeding world. To date, there has not been a spring quite like it when it comes to the actual performance of openers on air seeders and air drills. Most operators will persist in using what they bought or were sold, good or bad under these tough seeding conditions. Mother nature did have fun with us this spring. Some parts of the province were too dry while others had a tad too much moisture at the start and it continued to get worse. This was complicated with late, cool conditions and many farmers tried to go with what they thought they knew best.
The high humidity conditions also played havoc with fertilizer applications once they did start to roll. A lot of good farmers attempted to limit their potential losses on such crops like Canola, by making sure they had a least some sulphur in the mix. This proved to be difficult, when combined with a fairly heavy product like phosphorous, pushing the densities of some of these mixes to around 65 pounds to the cubic foot. Some fans did not have the capability to push that large amount of dense product to the openers, while successfully delivering seed and fertilizer to the openers. The openers were under pressure to adequately separate seed and fertilizer for seedling safety and still operate under less than perfect field conditions. This must have driven research and development engineers wacky with the number of calls coming to the factories that make the "wonder" openers.
The "old time" farmers used to say the most valuable factor in producing a crop was the dirt on your hands at the right time. Boy, Did they ever get that right this spring. It should be a heck of a crop this fall for some farmers. I ran across a farmer that spent enough time digging the dirt out of his plugged openers that he "named" each shank. He didn't tell me what the names were, but I guess some of them were not fit to print anyway. Another fellow persisted to the point of putting 2 tractors on his "proven separation" system in order to get the last of his crop in the ground, and he wasn't even in the heavy rainfall or flooded area.
Most of what I have been saying comes back to what the SSCA has been telling farmers that come to the field days and direct seeding schools throughout the year. "There Is No One Best Opener for all soil types and farming conditions". That is not to say that a great deal of work hasn't been done by manufacturers and engineers to design the best that they can. This always means a certain amount of money needs to be expended on R & D in all situations, big or small company notwithstanding. What works under 9 years of "normal" conditions doesn't always work under the 10th when it suddenly turns "abnormal".
What is needed here is reliable testing done by a PAMI group or several field years of practical experience tests to determine the limits of the opener under most conditions. This is not always possible when a new opener comes to market from a small manufacturer or even a bigger "rushed" manufacturer. The questions begs to be asked, from the point of view of the potential purchaser, "How do I as a Farmer, Know what Opener Is best for My Farm Or Area."
The answer lies in what you expect it to do, and how you estimate or observe it will perform on soils and conditions similar to what you expect to subject the thing to. The best way to look at openers without making a purchase is a field day, followed by observing a neighbour, or by getting a manufacturer to demonstrate the unit on your own farm. A rental unit often is the way dealers will encourage you to become familiar with their machine in the hope you will actually choose theirs' and not the competition. These are all good methods to test these openers without actually buying a set for your chosen air seeder or air drill.
Next comes the money bit and you don't want to commit $70 - $80 a shank to buy something you don't want or won't work for you without being able to recapture at least some of your money. This is the quandary some people find themselves in this year. I predict you will see some openers for sale in the want ads after a troublesome year in farming, but the fight will go on to provide "The Perfect Opener". There will always be a new "wonder" opener just coming on to the market. This will be the case until some smart fertilizer manufacturer or supplier figures out how to coat or treat the product to delay release just long enough to avoid seedling damage and provide a product the farming public can afford.
Call me if you think you have figured a "better way", I'm always interested.