Spring seeding time is coming, and with it, the never-ending decision of what to plant, on which field, when and why.
Rotations are a guessing game at the best of times, especially if you are unable to sell what you harvested this past fall, and your plan is somewhat set in regards to what you want to plant on which field for next year. Most producers are focused on tactical or operational considerations but get a failing grade when it comes to taking time for a lot of strategic thinking.
In times of stress for farmers, they usually think in terms of "What are we going to do?" and not often of "What can we do?" In those situations, it is more common to concentrate on what crops to plant, how to boost yields or reduce input costs, whether to crop more land or add to the herd, because we think we know a bit about those things.
Consider a producer who has steadily expanded his operation in a bid to stay profitable. It is a logical response to the long term and ongoing trend of declining margins. But smaller margins also mean it takes longer to recover from a bad event, such as a crop loss or a price drop. When a second bad event comes along, the result can be disastrous. When a farm faces bankruptcy in those kinds of circumstances, is it bad luck or the result of basing capital expenditures on profit margins which no longer exist? The overall farm plan approach comes into play at this point; do you want to be a low cost-high volume producer, or a small or medium operation with some off-farm income, or perhaps a producer or marketer of specialty commodities? I think most would agree that the practical approach is the priority of the day. Capital management is a significant factor in the management of any farm today.
So what the hell has this all got to do with seeding anyway? The answer, my friends, may lie in the manner in which we have been seeding and how we make the switch to more efficient seeding methods like direct seeding. With the high cost of fuel, labor and new machinery, we all have to "hunker down" and try to make use of what we may have on the farm or at least in the local community. This is where Retro-Fits come in. You can think in terms of buying a new machine, or, if you already have a basic frame that will convert into an air drill, you have the start of what is usually a viable beginning to direct seeding. The frame is the key to the whole picture. If the old cultivator has pretty good clearance for trash (residue), it will likely work for you. If the residue clearance leaves a lot to be desired, then my best advice is to look around for a better frame in your area that doesn't cost the world, and then go out and buy it as cheaply as you can, shanks and all. Three rank machines are better than four rank. Under frame clearance doesn't usually constitute too much of a problem once we (you) have learned to cut your crop stubble at a height that is close to the shank spacing, provided you have made a good job of spreading the straw and chaff to the width of cut at harvest time. If the machine can be converted to a floating hitch configuration, with the addition of front castor wheels and rear packer sections, so much the better.
Next comes packing. All crops in this part of the world establish better if seed is placed on firm ground in good moisture conditions. If the ground is dried out by pre-working, it is important to place the seed into moisture, not just to it, now that you have dried the soil out above the seed. This has been the lesson we first learned when the principles of direct seeding were being developed. Direct seeding tends not to dry out the surface, but places the seed in the ground with very minimum disturbance, thus preserving more of the moisture present in the field. Packing of the seed from above was found by a P.A.M.I. study to be of benefit when compared to no packing. According to their research update (749),"Minimal packing was necessary for optimum crop establishment in the soil moisture conditions found while testing openers in direct seeding conditions." The type and shape of the packer seemed to be of minimum significance, as long as there was some packing. It is important, however, to pack directly over the seed for optimum emergence and yield results. Packing can be achieved by the use of shank mounted packers as manufactured by several companies, and this is one easy and relatively simple solution, for a lot of machines. Very wet conditions will cause problems for some packers and owners should be aware of over packing potential in very wet conditions along with the combination of small seeds like flax, canola, etc.
Seed carry and delivery systems can vary over several types of machine from the manufactured boxes on an old seed drill to air delivery tank systems with a wide variety of power sources. Seed boxes will work fine but are often frustrating to use because of the necessity for lots and lots of stop and fill up time. Some people will put extensions on the top of the boxes for extra capacity, while others will design new larger boxes and attach the metering devices of their choice to the bottoms. Metering drive systems can be hydraulically run, or motor driven, or ground drive setups. Home built tanks come in singles, doubles and triples, to deliver the chosen number of products you wish to apply in one pass. You don't have to have a large number of compartments in the tanks, but two is adequate for most purposes. The fertilizer necessary for a good crop can all be applied at the one pass seeding time, or some people apply fertilizer to the land in the fall when prices are usually cheaper and they have more time, especially if they only have developed a single shoot system. The trend is for double shoot systems, and this can lead to one other problem; the need for a second truck to deliver either seed or fertilizer to the machine in the field. Even an old unlicensed truck can deliver seed from the cleaned source bin to the field and the best truck can be reserved for hauling fertilizer.
Shown in the pictures is a modified Seed-Rite 8018 with a Morris 6130 tank setup that works as a single shoot system for a smaller farmer. The owner has used the Morris "flat distributor system" that comes with the Morris tank, and has used on-row packers from a Morris M-11 hoe-press drill. Not a lot of modification was needed to put together this system, just a bit of looking around the farm and a bit of welding and adjustments.
A J.D. Model 655 is also shown that has modifications in the form to enable a liquid fertilizer caddy tank to be attached to the rear of the frame. The shanks have been removed and coulter discs have been attached in their place. This is a relatively light horsepower requirement unit and shows forty feet of machine being drawn by 110 horsepower. The machine is seeding canola fairy shallow into wheat stubble on medium hilly loamy land. Some phosphate fertilizer is being placed with the seed in the fall, with mid-row banding nitrogen-phosphorous mix being placed mid-row to the seed.
A list of after-market suppliers of openers, and other direct seeding equipment is available from the SSCA for farmers who wish to start accumulating equipment for retro-fitting this late fall and winter season. Phone 1-800-213-4287 (SK & MB) for a copy of the list from Bob Linnell.
This article is published as an aid to producers who wish to start the process of retro-fitting machinery to enter into the practice of direct seeding. More pictures of other machines are available with some detail, and anyone wishing to learn more about direct seeding is advised to contact any staff member or Board member of the Association. Assistance on technical matters is usually free, unless a request for travel is involved outside the province.