How many times have we heard people say, "....but I don't want to spend $70,000 (or more) on a new air drill! What can I do to get into direct seeding for less money tied up in the seeding equipment?" We decided that the Conservation Learning Centre was the perfect place to demonstrate one way of doing this. We do not have a large land base, only three quarters of land, therefore, a smaller, lower cost machine would make some sense. So, off we went to check it out. If you have been to any of the SSCA Direct Seeding workshops or if you have skimmed the Direct Seeding Manual, you'll know that there's more than one way to skin a cat - or, for that matter, seed a crop.
Our decision? We ended up buying a 14' Edwards Hoe Drill and added a liquid kit to provide a way of applying all of the fertilizer in one pass. Although there is also an air kit available with the Edwards Drill, we opted for the less expensive and simple gravity-fed system - remember them? We have chosen the Atom Jet openers so as to minimize tillage but still create excellent placement of seed. The Atom Jet opener is about 3/4" wide.
In the past, double shooting our fertilizer and seed has not always been a safe bet. We have applied the bulk of our nitrogen fertilizer as a liquid with a spoke wheel or coulter disc applicator. Wanting to avoid the extra pass, we decided to use liquid fertilizer for our chief nitrogen and sulphur source, placing smaller amounts of fertilizer and phosphorus requirements with the seed.
Have you ever visited the Minnedosa/Brandon area and seen all the ways that producers there are applying liquid N with the Edwards Drill? Many are just getting a liquid kit and taping the liquid hoses to the shank or opener, letting it drag in the furrow or to the side of the furrow, dribbling the fertilizer along the way. Others are welding metal tubes for the rubber tube to fit into. It seems that everyone is adopting their own theories of what could work best. In the P.A. area, Ed Beauchesne has designed a liquid splitter for his openers, to decrease the amount of fertilizer by half in any one path, theoretically decreasing the potential for crop injury.
We were able to enlist the experience of our local fertilizer dealer, Gus Gaudet with Wendland Ag. to design a liquid kit that applies the fertilizer under pressure, creating a distinct stream of liquid, rather than a dribble. One advantage of this is that one can then more easily direct the path of the fertilizer. We can direct it into the furrow or off to the side up to 2" away from the furrow. This is done simply by attaching a bent metal tube at the rear of the opener, which is held by a set screw which allows for adjustment of the stream direction. The thin rubber tube, carrying the liquid has a restrictor tip at the end, creating the stream.
So far, we have used this system for wheat and canola, with excellent results. The crops were healthy and we saved one operation, which was more of a blessing than usual this year, having such a compact growing season.
As we've said before, there are many ways of getting into
direct seeding - this is just one more. The creativity of the
prairie producer has been proven for decades. Good luck with
designing and refining your new systems!