The late wet spring we all just experienced did not mean that all direct seeders took a back seat at getting their crop in the ground. Ed Beauchesne respected direct seeder and SSCA director was very pleased with his grain production system this spring. He says he was able to get on his land 3 to 4 days ahead of his conventional counterparts.
Ed and his wife Marguerite farm north of Prince Albert right next to Albertville. The land they farm is black with mostly a loam texture. Ed says direct seeding has built up the structure of his soil. He is really amazed at the number of earthworms on his land. Increased water infiltration is the reason Ed claims for their success this spring. In fact Ed says after more than an inch of rain one Friday and Saturday morning they were seeding again late Sunday afternoon! They do not mud their crop in but Ed says as long as it wasn't balling up we were able to go and the crops look great.
Seeding shallow is another reason Ed claims for their success at early seeding. They seed with a Flexi-coil 5000 air drill spaced at 7.2 inches and equipped with Dutch Eagle Buster knives. These knives leave a trench which gives the seed good contact with the soil at shallow seeding depths. Ed says draft is very low with these openers and the field finish is smooth enough to spray in any direction. Liquid fertilizer is dribbled on either side of the shank and mixed into the soil as it flows around the shank. (see photograph) This year Ed tried out a blend ( 90 lbs. N, 30 lbs. P, and 20 lbs. S) on canola on some very sandy land and didn't see any damage.
Residue management is very important to Ed. An article in the Fall 1995 Prairie Steward features Ed's chaff collection system. Ed runs a 9600 John Deere combine and last year the company came up with an straw chopper upgrade that has made Ed really happy. He takes a 25 ft. cut both swathing and straight cutting and has made a general practice of harrowing. All Ed has used are diamond harrows but he travels 15 mph to keep them clean and he is out there right behind the combine if possible, during the hottest part of the day. However, last year the straw spread was so good that he didn't harrow any fields. He says the only field that they had problems with this spring was one of his son George's which had a heavy mat of pea stubble. Something new he tried on this field was using a coulter fertilizer applicator to cut up the vines. This implement had ribbed coulters on 12 in. spacing. They went over the field in two directions but Ed feels once probably would have been sufficient. He eliminated the plugging problem he was having with the drill. The coulters also opened up the mat and brought up a bit of dirt to help warm the soil.
Weed control is the one constant struggle Ed indicates you really need to keep up on. Not many direct seeders in the north east use fall 2-4-D but Ed was extremely happy with the results when he tried some last fall. In the last week of October he applied 5 oz./ac. and did a good job on Shepherds Purse and Stinkweed. At the beginning of Oct. he also tried 10 oz of 2-4-D and 1/3L Roundup per acre and really laid back the dandelions and got the cleavers. He seeded these fields earlier and didn't need any spring burnoff. He is also very positive about surface applied Edge for canola although he only expects 85% control of wild oats. One of the big benefits he sees is rotating herbicide groups even though he has to spot spray with a post emergent. Preharvest is playing a big part in weed control and harvest management with about 50% of his acreage to be covered each year.
Another important thing in direct seeding is finding the right rotation for your production system. Ed says he sticks with the basic cereal - broadleaf rotation except the for the odd time when they put oats on wheat stubble.
The Beauchesne's started experimenting with direct seeding years ago under the Save Our Soils program. Ed cites benefits such as better yields, fuel savings, reduce machinery investment, less labor and soil conservation. The two things he emphasizes are, "we are better off economically" and "I want the land to be ready for the next generation."