TOO TOUGH TO SEED --(??)

      What a disappointment to have this outfit on our property.  The only thing good about this is that they came quickly and sucked up acres fast with three swathers and four balers.    They wanted this long (stripper headed) straw.  When the main field was baled, they estimated 3000#/a.  We are getting $10/t, but that's about a third to a half of the value of the nutrients that we are losing through this removal process, plus the loss of carbon from the removed residue.  We will have to put up with stacks of bales for 90 days while they age and ready for the mushroom industry.  A constant reminder of failure.

This was an extra ordinary year in many aspects.  Generally, this year, the spring crops were good to excellent for potential.  The late spring start ended up with a late harvest for many operators.  Even though most everyone has crop insurance, this is not going to be a good year for those that still have crop to harvest (now it is moving into the latter half of October).  There are thousands of acres of garbs, spring wheat, and even some winter wheat still in the field.  In my 65 years of being in the field I don't remember ever seeing harvest in this area this late.  Our spring wheat crop averaged ~65b/a, with a range of 40-130b/a across the fields.  Even the heavy high yielding areas, as pictured here, only produced  ~ 4k#/a residue, which is nothing compared to the 20k#+/a that we had successfully drilled with the CrossSlot, the spring of 2014.  We never expected to have any trouble drilling into this residue, but after several fitful days of adjustment, and even putting all new coulters on the drill, we admitted defeat and looked at alternatives, --either bale or fire.  We chose bale, as the lessor of two evils.  Fire, although the ground and surface residue was damp, may have caused more damage by burning into the soil where partially decayed residue resided.  Cultivation was never considered due to it's lasting destructive effect on soil health.  We are too far along the path to a healthy soil to revert back to that destructive practice.
     WHY ARE WE HAVING THIS TROUBLE?   We were convinced the CrossSlot was a foolproof drill capable of drilling any field condition where crops are grown without any field preparation?  One caveat we knew was that the residue needed to be dry so the notched coulter could cut at least most of the residue it encountered.  This residue appeared dry, but it was tough.  My serrated clipper struggled cutting the residue at ground level, and you could ring a shock of stubble in your hands and not break it apart.  Our rational then became, --we had never drilled into spring or winter wheat stubble that had not first gone through a winter, hence, some decomposition had taken place prior to any attempt to seed into the residue.
     THEN CAME ANOTHER SURPRISE!  The pic above is part of a 3ac, three cornered patch that was not baled.  This was one of our higher yielding areas.  The day after the remainder of the field was swathed and baled, Kye was able to drill this patch without any issues,--WHY???  The simple answer is: --The residue became cut-able!  Time had given us enough dry days to lower humidity to the point the residue could be broke apart.
     Well, we lost this years residue on these fields but it is worth the knowledge gained, being,--one, we don't necessarily have to wait for wheat stubble to deteriorate by going through a winter, and, two,  it was once again shown that the CrossSlot needs dry residue to be successful.
     What a whiplash this past week has been, --going from no expectation of trouble, to a revelation that we can't seed this field, and back to OK, it's seeding just fine.
   

Scraper Issue with the CrossSlot Drill

         The consumables on a CrossSlot opener include a scraper for each side of the disc.  The purpose of this scraper is to prevent seed from catching on the disc and being drawn back to the surface.  We have not been able to use the scraper because of it's tendency to catch residue and foul the opener.  We have a lot of surface residue, and we farm across slopes of ≤ 40% which exacerbates the problem.
         We have always used the cast chrome blades because they are significantly cheaper than the blades with carbide inserts.
         The fix:  --  Using Blades with Carbide Inserts. 
        Because of our past experience with one cast chrome blade with carbide inserts, we put new blades with carbide inserts on all the openers at the beginning of 2018 season.  We also put all the scrapers back on the seed side of the openers.
        The spring planting is done, -- SUCCESS!   We had less operating down time, with better seed placement using these new blades.  This spring the seeding condition was grueling.   We seeded into all combinations of wet to too wet soils and varying amounts of surface residue.  Kye avoided, where possible, seeding through standing water.  Did we eliminate all plugging of openers? --NO!, --but there was never any consideration of removing the scrapers.  The pace of work picked up compared to the past.   Our seed placement and emergence shows improvement to the point we need to consider dropping seeding rates.  
        This is an expensive opener to maintain compared to our hoe drills in the past, but it's versatility, and ability to seed/emerge a crop in any residue and field condition, is outstanding.  If one figures all the costs that goes into field preparation to emerge a successful stand, the CrossSlot is the least expensive, and the lowest disturbance no-till drill commercially available today.

<---This pic shows the CS opener with the notched disc, the spring plate, the left blade with the carbide inserts, and the scraper.  This blade has run one season showing little to no wear.  By looking closely you can see a short black object hanging down in front of the blade.  There is a hole just below the spring plate that allows material (residue) to enter the void designed for the seed.  This material has the potential of stopping the seed drop.  Several years ago a local custom operator (Jon Olson) spotted the problem and developed a plastic shield to cover that opening.  It works great and we are using the shield.

<---This pic shows two sets of cast chrome blades (w/o carbide inserts) positioned bottom to bottom.  On the left is a new pair, and on the right is a used pair.  The leading edge for both pair is on your left.  Notice the wear on the bottom leading edge of the used blade.  We have found that this wear gradually gets to the point where dirt is allowed to enter the void designed for the seed drop.  It's easy to see this condition when you remove the blade.  There will be a plug of dirt that falls out, or is molded to the blade.  The void designed  in the blade is open on the back (trailing) edge, so the condition won't necessarily stop seed flow, --you will however, have poor seed positioning, leaving the seed near or on the soil surface.

<--- This pic shows the cast chrome blade with two carbide inserts.  One on the lower portion of the leading edge (to your right) and one on the front portion of the leading edge on the bottom wing.  The bottom insert stops the wear on the short wing preventing dirt from entering the void designed for the seed drop.
       Notice the geometry is different from the cast chrome blade without the inserts.  We don't fully understand what is happening here, but, between the geometry difference, and the carbide protected wear surfaces along the leading edge and the bottom wing area, we are now able to seed and use the scrapers as intended.
       One blade with carbide inserts has run on this drill since 2014 and is the only blade that ran the whole time with the scraper.  We have been told that we will have grooving and excessive disc wear using the carbide.  We have not seen that yet.  We have replaced all the disc's due to wear that thinned the blade which caused cracking and breakage from the stress of weight, and hillside operation.

2017 HARVEST UPDATE

The 2017 crop year was a record breaker.  Never in my lifetime have we received 20.4" of rain/snow in a crop year at our SJ/Ewan operation.  Also, we have had near record or record breaking temperatures for the 2017 crop year.  That sounds like it should be a banner year with plenty of moisture and heat.  Well, not for us.  Timing of the rain and heat trumped everything.  The harvest of 2017 was mostly disappointing.
WINTER WHEAT:   (Brundage 96)  All of our winter wheat was seeded on pea ground (no ww on fallow ground).  The ground was dry, which meant we didn't consider seeding until after Oct. 1st, --a bad decision this year.  October was extremely wet all month.  Lesson learned?! --Seed in September regardless of dryness, and seed it deep (1.5-2") so it takes a significant rain to start it.  Had we done that, the Thornton winter wheat crop would have probably been 100-110% of average, and the less forgiving SJ/Ewan area winter wheat crop would have been in the range of 90-100% of average.  As it was, Thornton was ~90% of average, and SJ/Ewan was ~50% of average.
SPRING WHEAT (DNS):  (Glee)  The season started out with great soil moisture, and timely seeding, that developed into a very nice looking stand of spring wheat.  The unusual heat wave (~ three weeks ± 100 degrees) damaged the bloom and seed development.  Our quality was remarkably good, --the meshes were just blanked out.  Test weight was good and shriveled kernels were few, and protein was just under 14%.  Our yield was ~ 90% of average.

[Update 6/28/18] --Meetings held during the winter and spring on Canola have emphasized the importance of proper timing for chemical applications.  There will be a yield loss to the crop if chemical is applied after bolting commences.  We didn't get to the in-crop application until bolting started showing, along with some flowering, --this is probably why we were ~200#/a below a neighbors yield although we had a better stand and population.  The neighbors field was a couple of hundred feet higher, and that may have been a factor as well in terms of heat effect.
SPRING CANOLA:  (hyCLASS 930 rr) The crop was timely seeded.  The plant population was good.  The crop was growing well, but the heat hit in early bloom (for 2016 trials, we had nearly a month of bloom).  The high heat over the extended time did not let a re-bloom establish pods.  In fact the spring canola continued to bloom through the beginning of 2018, although no pods set.  The yield was ~ 30-40% of what we expected.  Any other field would have probably done better this particular year.  This field was our poorest soil, lowest elevation and all faced S and SW.  It took the brunt of the heat.  We are not deterred.  We think that spring canola is going to be a great alternative to winter wheat.  Also, it appears that we will be able to cut spring canola with the stripper header which is a big plus.  This field went into winter in great shape, --good residue, standing tall with most of the plants still living.   The tall canola stubble, although not thick like wheat stubble, is great for reducing wind velocity near the soil surface, and snow catch.  Winter of 2017-2018 was not a big snow year like 2016 but we haven't seen any drifting in that field compared to mowed or tilled fields.
      I haven't sorted out the data for any comparison between CF/winter wheat and CC/winter wheat, or our canola on ground that has had a cover crop and ground that has never had a cover crop.  I may include that as an update to this post or it may take a post of it's own.

GROWING A CROP IN TALL STANDING STUBBLE

   

Last spring-----As I watch our spring canola grow, the question that keeps nagging at me is 'is the standing stubble interfering with the growth of the canola (and other crops).  Most of the winter wheat stubble is laid flat, but there are areas where our drill leaves some stubble standing.  I have observed that spring wheat growing up through winter wheat stubble appears to grow taller in the early stages and tillers less.  When I mentioned this to Dwayne Beck his comment was "yes, and that's fine.  I don't want tillering of spring cereals".   Crop maturity is extended 7-10 days for each tiller.  One or two tillers may add to the yield, but, more will likely degrade your crop.  They take moisture and nutrients from the main stem if there is a shortage of either or the summer heat forces maturity.
     This fall-----It appears that tall tangled residue does hinder canola branch development.  Canola plants in very tall stubble with some of the stems lodged was observed with less branching and fewer and mispositioned leaves.  Normal harvest height using a sickle bar appears to have little impact.

Low Disturbance vs High Disturbance DS drills

     All DS drills can seed and grow an excellent crop and improve soil health.  Farming too efficiently use the moisture we are provided, and the pace too improving soil health is the difference I see between high and low disturbance drill designs.
   High disturbance drills (the term I use for all hoe, double disc, and some single disc openers) all share a similar problem, --they move or disrupt too much soil which exposes the soil surface.  As a result they break infiltration channels, they accelerate decomposition of cover, they plant unwanted seed, and they damage the soil food web if any is present.  There are places in our field where even the CrossSlot fits into the high disturbance category, --on steep slopes where side pressure causes a wider slot, and where we turn.
     I distinguish between DS drills by the amount of soil surface they disturb.  They range from disrupting nearly the entire surface down to a narrow slot of <1.5 inches.  I would say that most hoe drills fall in the high disturbance category, and most single disc drills would fall in the low disturbance category and the CrossSlot in the ultra-low disturbance category.  Others may have their own scale.  By the numbers:
      High disturbance drills:  Their configuration disrupts a large percentage (>70%) of the soil surface and most or all of the surface residue. 
      Low disturbance drills:  Their configuration disrupts (<30%) of the soil surface and about 60% of the residue.
      Ultra-low disturbance drills:  Their configuration disrupts (<15%) of the soil surface and maybe 40% of the residue.
      Whether the numbers accurately describe the drill type performance is not the point here.  What is important is that they represent the concept that the more soil and residue that is disturbed, the more moisture you lose from evaporation, the less moisture your field can absorb from later rains because of disrupted channels, the more biological communities in the soil you disrupt which effects plant food production,  and the more unwanted seed that will be  planted grow and compete with the crop.
      To maximize moisture retention and absorption, you will want to minimize disturbance of the soil surface, grow and maintain the maximum amount of residue possible, and leave it as tall as possible in the absence of a growing crop. (see other posts for the reasoning behind this statement).  It's my belief as well that this statement is valid for all rainfall regions whether 7" or 70".

WHY WE HAVE GONE ULD

      A recent post referenced to why our operation has gone ULD (ultra-low disturbance) direct seed system.  I didn't elaborate on this because, although the two mentioned subjects of that post connected in my mind, the Richard Mulvaney article was my main interest.  On reflection I've decided that our reasons for going ULD should be posted.

      On our quest to improve our soil we have encountered many obstacles, mistakes, disappointments, questions on how to proceed, and yet, having enough success to continue the quest.
      Soil EROSION, and removing fallow from our rotation was the initial driving force.  Any operation that reduces soil disturbance compared to what we are doing with conventional tillage will have a positive impact on the soil.  Direct seeding is a big jump in reducing soil disturbance.  Past history of direct seeding shows that the soil surface is left, more or less in a state of nakedness, and channeled.  Nakedness is correctable; however, I can't envision how you can 'drill' a crop and not channel, whether it be double disc, hoe, or a single disc, including the CrossSlot drill.  In the Palouse channeling can be a serious erosion issue if not considered when drilling the field.
      As we progressed, saving MOISTURE became the driving force.  Although we still have some erosion at times it was mostly contained, --at least visually.  As time passed and information gathered it became clear that we needed good soil structure, more soil organic matter, and more cover on the surface, to maximize the retention of moisture.  WSU-OSU research back in the 70-80's indicated moisture was used in four ways, -----1% to deep percolation, 4% to runoff, 12% to plant transpiration, 83% lost through evaporation off the soil surface.  Research is clear that a soil profile with a cool surface temperature and a calm surface, retains more moisture compared to a hot surface with air moving across it.  The more we reduce soil disturbance, the more residue we keep on the surface, and the calmer we can keep the air at the surface the better our soil moisture will be.  Taking these parameters to the maximum create a serious challenge for drill design.
      In 2012 we moved to ULD by buying a stripper header and hiring our seeding done by a CrossSlot drill.  Now, our ULD direct seed system consists of a Shelbourne stripper header, GVM 90' suspended boom self propelled sprayer and the CrossSlot drill.
Shelbourne stripper head: --maximizes vertical intercept of snow and wind.  The taller the stubble the more snow catch (very effective in the winter of 2016-7), and the taller the stubble the calmer the air at the soil surface.  (measurements are showing that to be very effective also.  The only down side is that we can't harvest every crop type with this header.)
GVM 90' suspended boom self propelled sprayer: --it's value is in reducing tracking in the field.  It's very evident that tracks of any type promote weed emergence compared to the untracked portions in a field.  We regularly see this in our fallow fields.
CrossSlot drill: --the machine that makes ULD possible.  The header and sprayer are the supporting cast.  When we were evaluating drill technologies, and our operation, trying to match a drill to the specifications and limitations that we faced, the CrossSlot opener was the obvious choice.  The CrossSlot has the ability through its depth and pressure related sensing capability to place seed in good earth at the assigned depth while passing through complex soil types and textures, residue types and amounts whether standing or laying down, without stopping for adjustments.  It's a remarkable technology, and we have learned not to move unless it is all working.  Until the residue became too heavy to manage, our other hoe or double disc drills, could start a good fall crop; however, we never had a very good producing spring crop because of voids left by hair pinning or clumps of residue that shed off the drill, or seed not being placed at the proper depth.
      We are now set up to do ULD, and with the CrossSlot we are ready for the next stage which is building soil health.  (which is becoming a whole new story)

Erosion Spring 2017

           The winter of 2016-17 has been long, windy, cold, and with significant snow.  With frozen ground, and piled up snow I was sure that we would have horrible erosion in the area.  I was sort of looking forward to how our operation handled a fast melt condition.  As it has turned out, the heavy rains predicted didn't turn up, so we had as gentle of runoff as one could hope for.  At this point in time we have lost nearly all the snow except those areas that drifted heavily.  All of the cultivated fields seeded to WW have significant sheet and rill erosion, but it could have been a lot worse.

This pic shows conventional tilled field with a long slope showing significant erosion, --pretty typical.  It's noticeably more ugly where the corner was turned and vertical seeding took place.

This pic shows our CC seeded to WW.  The WW was seeded close to freeze up so it is just emerging now.  The ground is in great shape with most of the CC dead, but the late seeding will cost us yield.  I don't see any grassy weeds at this point in time.  The radishes appear to have done their job by intercepting water and helping penetrate the frozen ground.  We were able to intercept most of my neighbors water coming off a conventionally tilled field.  The thin standing radish residue did help intercept snow.  This greatly reduced the drifting.  The snow coverage wasn't as even as in the more dense, taller grain stubble.

This pic shows erosion in our field where there is virtually no ground cover and seeded vertically.  This is WW on WP ground.

This pic is the same field (WW on WP) but in an area where the seeding was done on contour.  Even with our ULD-DS system using the CrossSlot drill, erosion will happen if you don't have good surface cover, or if you are seeding vertically.  There were no radish holes for intercepting and moving water through the frost layer.  The pic shows staining in the lower half.  You don't see the erosion tracks in the top half but they are there, --following the drill rows and breaking out, going down the slope.  The soil was redeposited down slope leaving this track, and most of the water lost had a low sediment load.  It will be a challenge to maintain adequate surface coverage when low/no residue spring crops are grown.  In this situation if we would have seeded earlier and also seeded a low rate (0.5-1.0#?) of radish with the WW, less erosion would have resulted.  I would like to see radish going into the winter about 1" diameter and ≈24" long, and ≈48" apart (it's a guess).  That's doable if seeded by first of October in our climate.  When radish freezes(dies), the tuber shrinks quickly.  I'm convinced this will be a good practice.  It's the plant population that is the unknown for me.

CROSS-SLOT EXPERIENCE

    We love the Cross-Slot drill for it's ability to seed into vary adverse seeding conditions, which we have, --uneven ground, uneven residue distribution, heavy, loose residue, tall tangled residue, hard ground with powder pockets,  For the most part the drill gives us great emergence.  We're getting better stand establishment than what we have ever been able to achieve with hoe drills and disc drills in the past, --particularly the spring seeded crops.  Winter wheat was much more forgiving.  With years of direct seeding, 100% surface protection, and the CrossSlot drill, soil surface sealing is not a concern.  Whether we can physically seed a field is no longer a concern.  If the ground will support the weight you can seed.   There are a couple of issues however.  One issue relates to the opener.

     ----We are not able to use the scraper on the opener as shown.  Years ago the scraper was designed at WSU  for the CrossSlot.   Farming the steep slopes of the Palouse Hills causes a lot of side force on the disc blade of the opener.  This force opens a gap on the up-hill side of the disc, and exerts enough force on the down-hill side of the disc, that the friction exerted on the seed by the disc grabs a percentage of the seed and moves it back toward the soil surface.  This displaces the seed from the horizontal slot left by the blade to a position along the vertical slot left by the disc.  When we A-B line on steep slopes, frequently, a striping effect can be seen.  In a lot of scenarios this does not happen; but, when you are drilling into thin moisture, or going through heavy straw, where that straw gets pushed into the disc slot, you want all the seed in the proper location for optimum emergence.  The "scraper" was designed for just that purpose, to hold the seed in the horizontal slot.  We need to find a way to get those scrapers functioning as intended.  Currently, they catch residue and than dirt and drag, making a mess.  What has changed since the scraper was developed?  I think it is our farming method/goal.  Twenty years ago yields were less, and we would struggle to seed into hundreds of pounds of surface residue, and maybe a long cut would be 24"tall.  Fields would be "conditioned" for seeding (harrowing, mowing).  Today, CrossSlot users are dealing with much heavier, longer residues, and not "conditioning" the field to seed.  In our case we are regularly seeding into several thousand pounds of residue and a long cut of 40+ inches.  The most residue we have seeded into has been in excess of twenty thousand pounds of tangle winter wheat residue.  The idea I have had since building this drill was to change the pull point by swinging the hitch to transfer the side draft to the tractor; however, the Auto guidance technology is not capable of compensating for this movement.
       The other issue, relates to the seed metering system.

    ---- The AgPro/Valmar metering system is long in the tooth and needs to be upgraded.   The deficiencies glare when seeding very low rates, --2-5#/a of canola as an example.  On the plus, it's simple.  On the negative: --in our hills, the seed delivery and volume is dependent on the systems aspect (front up or down, side tilt, shake).   --being nothing more than a form of flute feed, it draws in and spits out seed in clumps depending on the air stream to spread it out.  --Overrun is horrible, and when you factor that in, reduce the rate to compensate, one is left wondering what rate he has actually seeding.  Singulation is probably not feasible, but I think building a bottom using the JD double run feeds will give us a close alternative.

The double run feed will require a lot of adjustment to vary seeding rates but with our Omni drive coupled with the Bourgault gear box, I don't think we will have to change any sprockets to seed 2#/a to 200#/a.  Until I find differently, if the seed is metered out fairly even, I think the current air system will deliver to the ground fairly evenly.
       We are fast approaching the time where we will not be able to cut seeding costs by saving back seed.  All of the new wheat cultivars we  are interested in are proprietary and the cost is significant.  Seed overrun will be an expense to eliminate.
Pic above is showing the Bourgault transmission with it's capability of 1/1 to 60/1 ratio.  The Omi drive with it's effective 30-150rpm variable capability is connected to the input shaft on the back of the Bourgault.  You see the chain connecting the output shaft to the roll.  A 180 position encoder is mounted on the end of the roll shaft to control seed rate through the Omni drive and Viper.

2016 SPRING CROP UPDATE

      SUMMARY:  Nothing compares to the CrossSlot for direct seeding into adverse seedbed conditions.  Our 2016 crop consists of WW, WP, DNS, SB, SP, M.  All the crops emerged well with good populations, and growing.  Our crop year is starting out 1-4 weeks early, depending on what indicator you use.  The lilacs are 4 weeks early, cheatgrass is ≈1 week early,  The Iris are 3 weeks early.  Our moisture gain faltered in April with only 0.5"and nothing is showing in May to this point.  Warm weather is upon us, and stored moisture is depleting.  This may be another year that will tell us more about the moisture saving aspects of tall residue, ground surface cover, and using a ULD seeding system compared to the bare soil with conventional tillage.  I have been watching different operations in the area.  Conventional tillers have gone over the fields with 5 trips, and some with as many as 7 trips to get their crop in the ground.  We have sprayed and seeded.  Our crop stands are better than most, and comparable to the best.  With CT and the closer drill row spacing those fields (in their better ground areas) look fuller; however, studies have not shown yield increase with that system, --everything else being equal.  The closer row spacing normally will canopy quicker offering the potential of lower moisture loss from evaporation on bare soil.  With all this being said, there are times that I wonder if 8" row spacing would have been better for spring cropping, even with the CS.

WINTER WHEAT (WW):

       We are very pleased with the progress of the crop at this point in time.  We have two ages of cultivars in the field.  One emerged on time near the end of September and is tall and a good dark green color.  The other emerged in November. It has good growth and a dark green color but is 6-8" shorter (this includes the CC winter wheat which has the same height, but a little lighter in color).  Very surprising is that both cultivars are in the 8 leaf stage.  What did the older cultivar gain in the 6 weeks extra growth other than longer internodes?  We will check the head size and fertile meshes when the time comes.

         The cover crop area WW has good height and color for it's late start in the fall.  It will be interesting to see what the yield lag may be between the CC and CF winter wheat.  We have a long border between the two that will give us some indication as to yield difference on comparable soils.  The CC field generally has much shallower soils than the CF field.

         Another question without an answer:  --Our small wheat, which went into the winter in a similar condition to most of the other WW in the area came out of the winter in better condition.  Ours came out of the winter growing, while most of the crops around us did not (and in some cases, have not), --why?  With a relatively open winter and significant rainfall, it was expected that N would have converted and leached down into the 2-3-4 foot level of the profile.  Most of the little wheat in the area acted as if that were the case.  Ours did not, --why?   I can only assume that our years of no-till played a role; however, our soil tests don't show the qualities that would lead to that conclusion.  Recent discussion with Dave Huggin's from WSU, reinforces my belief that there is a lot about soil tests and their interpretation that we don't understand for soils in our environment.  The biological tests I have taken show our soils in poor condition including it's structure; however, the Slake test shows great aggregate stability from our years of no-tilling.  Experience has shown me that our infiltration is much better, than the soils around me that are conventionally tilled.  Other than the Feb. 2014 thaw, we have had no water leave our fields for years, while the conventional tilled fields regularly have water running down the slopes and into the ditches during storm or winter events.  There is something going on here that is not explained by our normally accepted testing procedures.

AUSTRIAN WINTER PEAS (WP):

[Update: May 13]  We are applying Bassagran on the WP field that will be harvested.  Jim Hill Mustard has bolted and blooming.  A few purple winter pea blossoms are showing on the south exposures.  Our earlier application of Select II for grass weeds did not work well on the borders.  Downey Brome will be with us in the next crop.  The Rattail Fescue under the CRP, eyebrows and some area on our borders was missed as well.  Next year we will post seed/pre emerge Sharpen and Tricor 4F for weed control.  I have spotted two areas damaged from a cold night at the end of April.  Neither weeds or WP's have regrown.  Because of the poor growth of  the mustards, I have some concern there may be chemistry reaction rather than frost.

      We seeded WP (winter peas) last November in what was termed dormant seeding.  You want them seeded deep.  Austrians are a dark speckled little thing and I found them difficult to locate in all the duff.  The ones I did find were much shallower than our intended 2-3" which was cause for worry.  Our understanding at the time was that the peas needed to break germ before freeze up, but not emerge before spring.  We seeded them at 100#/ac.  They came up thick this spring.  For insurance purposes, since they were seeded beyond the closing date last fall, we had to have the stand evaluated to qualify for insurance.  The count was 3 times more than needed and were calculated at 4200#/ac for yield (under perfect growing conditions).

       The Austrians on SW stubble look great with few weeds.  The Austrians planted into garb ground  are not salvageable.  Between volunteer garbs and a heavy population of several varieties of wild mustard, those acres will not go to harvest.  They were reevaluated by the insurance company so that we could destroy the stand prior to harvest.  Our understanding of how the insurance works is, --since we applied for insurance and the stand was accepted we will pay the premium on all the planted acres.  The yield was recalculated showing the garb ground had the potential of ≈2100#/ac.  At harvest this yield calculation will be added to the harvested amount for yield history.  We now are free to do whatever we wish for those garb/austrian acres but those acres will not be eligible for insurance in 2016.  The garbs are starting to bloom, and the austrians are in the thirteenth node, standing about 6-8 inches.  Both legumes are forming an abundance of root nodules.  What to do???  Our current thought is to manage the acres as a cover crop.  We have a fair diversity of plant material, --garbs, peas, and several varieties of mustards that are rooting deep in great abundance.  There is some dog fennel, a few fiddle neck tar weed, some lambs quarter, some prostrate knotweed, very few russian thistle, some china lettuce, and few if any grass plants.  We don't want the weeds to seed out, nor the peas to go beyond early podding for maximum N development.  Since this acreage is planned for a spring cereal in 2017, we are not concerned about the required destruction by June 1st for summer fallow yield protection for 2017 WW.  Current thought is to max N development from peas and garbs.  If weed development comes on faster than the legumes we'll mow the acreage and manage for the regrowth.  If the legumes reach the proper stage prior to the weeds, we'll apply chemical and hold as CF until spring of 2017.  These acres won't look pretty because we will leave the residue stand.  We're hoping to have a mat of pea vine but the austrians appear to be growing slowly.  We had a frosty night a few days ago and the top node of the peas turned yellow, slowing them up.  The wild mustards are having a banner year.  Since we have been killing them for 100 years and the population doesn't seem to decrease, I'm not worried about them developing some seed.  They are easy to kill in any grass type crop. 

       SURPRISES:  ---after years of clean CF through timely applications of Rt3 and Valor, and having clean appearing grain crops, mustards have populated most of the garb/austrian ground with high populations. Russian thistles and china lettuce, although present, have a very low population.  That's a testament for using Valor in the fall to combat those two aggressive weed species.   ---grassy weeds are nearly nonexistent, showing that grass control chemistry for our broadleaf crops are killers, not suppressors.  Our past rotations with only small grains and CF, Downy Brome was always present in yield depressing amounts.   ---the number of billy beans (garbs) that took root and grew this spring.  Weeds are problematic, but we have chemicals, swathers, and pickup heads for harvesting that type of contamination; however, billy beans are a "grade issue" that is not manageable.  Even if they didn't mature with the peas, it's feared many would end up in the grain bin.  I don't think they would have rooted if there was good surface cover.
       With the next WP crop we will want to consider putting down Tricore 4F following the seeding for broadleaf weed control and maybe the Sharpen as well.

DARK NORTHERN SPRING (DNS) & SPRING BARLEY (SB):       

      Our DNS and SB both have great stands.  They are not perfect.  There are breaks in the rows in places, but mostly the wheat and barley emerged rapidly without winding it's way to the surface.  The stands look pretty much like soldiers shoulder to shoulder on parade,  --straight cotyledons, even color, even height, even fill.  It's difficult to tell how even the stand is from a distance because of the color differences and reflection off the residue.  We seed between 1.5 and 2" deep.  Standing stubble gives us less trouble drilling than stubble laying down.  Stubble  firmly attached to the ground is the easiest regardless of the volume.  Loose or rotted stubble will, on occasion, catch on the spring plate of the blade and drag, causing a pile.  We have a few of these in some of the fields.  They are unsightly.  We'll eliminate most of them over time as we gain experience on setting the drill for the field condition.  We are trending to the long blades for both sides of the disc.  They allow us the most space between the ground and the spring plate when we go for depth.  Currently CS doesn't provide a long blade for the left side with a fertilizer tube.  We hope that becomes available soon.

MUSTARD (M):

      Mustard was seeded next and it has taken longer to see the stand establishment than I expected.  We seeded about 6#/a.  We couldn't find any of the seed except at the opener when stopped.  We trusted that the CS put the seed where we wanted it.  It did.   The bare ground (truck roads, ridges) showed early, while the heavy residue (90u WW stubble) took longer to show.  Stand is good, measuring 6 plants per foot of row on 10" row spacing.  It's not as even a stand as I would like (void, then clump of seedlings).  The plants are not standing like soldiers in line, shoulder to shoulder as with the wheat and barley.  Unless we put a planter together with it's singulation capability, this is probably what we have.

SPRING PEAS (SP):

     Spring Stand Up Peas were the last crop seeded.  Seeded 160#/ac.  Excellent stand in heavy residue.  We applied Sharpen and Tricor 4F, as a premerg application for weed control.

      

HAIR PINNING RESIDUE

Some would say that this crop is in trouble with all the hair pinned stubble showing in the seed rows.  

The pic above shows hair pinning of residue in the seed slot left by our CrossSlot drill.  This is normal with any disc opener whether it is a double or single disc. The difference in the CrossSlot is in  the placement of the seed.  With the CrossSlot the disc punches the residue (some of it is cut in the process, and the remainder pushed down in the traditional hairpin manner) to the bottom of the disc; however, the seed is not nestled in the hair pinned residue, but resides outside of the residue on a shelf surrounded by good earth.  The design of the packer wheels (shape, angle, and position) close the slot firmly without packing directly over the slot leaving an area of low resistance for the new cotyledon.   By adding residue to the slot, still lower resistance can be acquired and seed (large and small) can be emerged from deeper in the soil profile than would normally seem prudent.  With this being said, I am convinced that failed stands are more likely to happen by seeding too shallow, rather than seeding too deep.  This of course is contingent on the technology built into this opener not being compromised which impacts the integrity of the slot.

Pic's above show emerged stand of mustard in rows that appear to be hair pinned.  We're very pleased with the population that averages 6 plants per lineal foot on 10" row spacing.  The seeding rate was 5.5 pounds per acre.  We have had little or no moisture since seeding and under the residue the surface of the ground is very damp.  Exposed ground is showing drying condition.

Our Farms Historic Rainfall

I have recently put 18 years of rainfall data in a spreadsheet ( 1998 - 2015).
---14.67"  is what it turns out to be our average yearly rainfall over the years, --with 9 years at or above, and 10 years at or below. (one point was counted in both, above/below).  The graph indicates our Ewan/St.John farm is in the 13-16" rainfall zone, instead of the 15-17" as most maps have us.  (Is this a real change from 1940-1970's)???
---Our lowest rainfall total was in 2002 with 10.31 inches.
---Our highest rainfall total was in 2006 with 18.35 inches
---Two years, 2015 & 2003, June received a trace, or no rain.  June is a benchmark for us.  Good rains normally translate to good yields, little rain translates to not so good yields.
---Six years, July received no rain.
---Five years, August had a trace, or no rain.
---June with more than 1.5 inches were (2014, 2013, 2012, 2010, 2005 ).  These were great crop years, or, had the potential had not other climatic forces become involved, --for example, Nov. of 2013 had an event where high winds accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature severely damaged the 2014 winter wheat through out the Palouse.  Most people had patches of good wheat, but the general yield was down approximately 25-30%,
---Our ULD system that incorporates the Shelbourne header and the CrossSlot drill is an attempt to lessen dependency on good June rains by reducing moisture loss through runoff and evaporation.  2014 was a great year to test the theory, but alas, the June 12 freeze ruined the potential of all our crops, both winter and spring.  All surviving crops were delayed in maturity, and the unusually high heat of July & August caused further damage.  The CrossSlot did all it was advertised to do, and the crops got a great start, but circumstances beyond our, or it's control lowered yields.
---Our rainfall tends to cycle up for three years, then, down for three years.  (+/- ?)
---If that pattern holds we may rise through the average precipitation line in 2016, and give us, depending on the June rains, a good crop, both winter and spring.
---The charts below use the same data, but the lines attempt to show three different aspects:  June rain,  total rain received, average monthly rain received.

Conclusions (?):  When I started this post three days ago, the goal was to state a few obvious points that stuck out in the 18 years of data, but as I got more into it, the more intriguing it became.  I'm not going into any more detail than what's been stated above; other than to say that,  I'm extremely glad we chose to upgrade to a ULD system.  In the short time (4 years), I can visually see it is paying off.  We are, and always have been in climate change.  What that means for the future is argued daily.  I'm convinced the Shelbourne and CrossSlot is the best option for meeting the challenges in the future.

No-Till Farmer Magazine

      This past year, 2015, I had the opportunity to contribute my thoughts to two subjects that I have some passion for.  The first, in the August edition, 2015, (volume 44, No. 8) I responded to the question of how do you handle crop residue.  These thoughts and a pic show up on page 90 in the section titled "No-Tillers Tackle Residue Issue From Every Angle", along with the thoughts of twenty other people.
      The second opportunity came as a feature item in the November edition, 2015, (volume 44, No.11), titled "Overcoming No-Till Stumbling Blocks", starting on page 22.  This article was written from a telephone interview with Martha Mintz along with some material I submitted to her.  Martha is listed as a Contributing Editor and regularly writes articles under the logo " What I've Learned From No-Tilling...".  It came out pretty good if I do say so myself.  < Eriksen interview  >
      While looking up what Martha Mintz contributed over the years to No-Till Farmer, I came across an article where she interviewed Guy Swanson for a piece titled "Bringing No-Till To The Palouse".  Mort Swanson, Guy's father, is the name that everyone in the Palouse remembers as THE inventor-early practitioner of No-Till.  This article was posted in the November edition, 201, < Bringing no-till to the Palouse >.  It's a great read for someone interested in the background of no-till in the Palouse.  Mort is no longer with us but Guy is hail & hearty and manufacturing/selling EXACTRIX systems for applying liquid anhydrous ammonia fertilizer.
       No-Till Farmer has been around since 1972.  I was a subscriber for a while in it's early days, but found that it was a midwest and east magazine that I couldn't relate too.  Today, No-Till Farmer is still primarily an east of the Rocky Mountains publication but I am finding that even though we are in two different climatic zones, Continental vs our Mediterranean classification,  the same problems exist.  Practices and Research done east of the "divide" has concepts that apply here,--our task is to adapt that knowledge base to our climate limitations and strengths.  With our Stripper Head, self propelled sprayer, and CrossSlot drill, we have all the practices available for controlling soil erosion; however, we still have water loss.  Soil health has improved, and it will continue to improve to some extent; however, that improvement will be limited until we get more plant diversity, and remove fallow.  Cover Crops and Interseeding crops potentially hold the answer to these questions.  The trick is, how to apply.
       The Koppen Climate classification model designating the Pacific Northwest as mostly Mediterranean does not fit very well.  We don't fit the Continental or the Coastal either.  Our climate diversity is likely to be a topic of discussion for a long time as to what classification we really fit.

DIRECT SEEDING WITH THE CROSS SLOT -- FALL 2015

The drill worked well.  The ADF was flawless, and new blades kept the seed depth more uniform.  The scrapers would probably hold seed in the slot even better if we could figure out how to keep them from plugging with heavy surface residue.  It will be better yet when we get the tool bar leveling system mounted and debugged.  Currently the rear toolbar openers tend to shallow up when going over a ridge.
     However, for the second year we failed to get the field drilled timely to get 100% emergence.
     2015 has been unusually hot with weeks instead of days in the high 90's and low 100's.  There was no measurable rain from late May until September 5th when we received a half inch.  The moisture met in our chem fallow ground.  Because drill parts were unavailable we didn't get started drilling until the 18th, and the seed zone moisture left.  I was very surprised.  With all the residue cover we have on the field I never thought we would lose seed zone moisture that fast.  The above average  temperatures this fall had to be the reason.
     Again, the lesson here with chem fallow is, --don't miss the seed zone moisture for fall seeded wheat.  We likely will take a 15-20 bushel yield hit for missing that window.
     See the post of 5/3/14: "New CrossSlot Drill", for a problem discovered and the resulting fix.

CROP CONDITIONS - 2015

 [Update: 7/24/15] -- I am surprised to see that the June 12th frost event (28 degrees) has hurt the winter wheat on the low ground.  I hadn't expected damage since frost was past the bloom period.  The winter wheat test wt. is reversed from normal years.  56#/bu in the low land which is where we have the best moisture, and 60.5#/bu on the hilltops where we have the least moisture.  The 3 weeks of 100+ degree heat has left it's mark as well.  The mid-November temperature drop/wind event, set the winter wheat up for significant yield loss when frost and heat is added to the mix.
[Update: 7/5/15] --All of the crops in the area are taking a beating from the late frost and heat.  I'm hearing reports of combines in the fields around Spangle --Not Good!  The winter wheat seems to holding up the best.  There will be some shriveled kernels.  Our peas are severely damaged.  I would like to leave large areas unharvested to retain the residue; however, I'm sure the insurance company will require harvesting what crop may be out there.  The jury is out yet on the billy beans, spring wheat, and spring barley, although there is little doubt that yields are being reduced daily.  In the future we may want to push the envelope for early seeding if this heat is going to be the norm.  Our ULD system and heavy residue mat is doing it's job in capturing and saving moisture, but may not be enough to withstand heat this early in the season with a normal seeding date.  I'm observing crops shutting down prematurely. 
     We have been experiencing record and near record heat for the past week and can expect more in the week to come.  All of our crops are showing the effects.  Today we reached 107 at our recording station on the hill, and 111 in the shade of our deck.  I expect we will be harvesting winter wheat by the 20th (maybe earlier) of July.  Rarely do we start before July 29th.  The June 12 frost damaged the spring wheat, spring peas and billy beans.  With no significant rain since the 12th of May, this heat wave is taking it's toll on these crops, as well as our spring barley which did not have frost damage.  The winter wheat appears OK, but I am hearing about grain shrivel.
     Our crops were all seeded in April with the CrossSlot drill.  We had excellent ground cover when seeded.  Will the extra moisture saved through direct seeding into a heavy residue mulch help bring these crops to maturity in better condition than crops planted by a standard cultivation systems.

SEEDING WITH CROSS-SLOT - SPRING 2015

[8/23/15 UPDATE]:  Earlier I had a question brought up to me about seeding depth for peas.  3-4 inches seemed a bit deep to the reader.  We seeded spring standup peas this spring.  Earlier we talked to a breeder I have known for years, making inquiry about several issues, including preferred seeding depth.  His response was --no less than 2 inches and 3 would be better in the case of either fall, dormant, or spring seeding.  Most of his customer base is now direct seeding and more than 3" depth is hard to achieve.   Deep seeded peas handle the freezing-thawing cycles better than peas seeded around 1-1.5".  The ground temperature needs to be 45 degrees or they will set there unsprouted.  Once they break germ they can set for a long time in the cold before emerging.  Late seeded (dormant seeding) winter peas tend to survive winter well --just time seeding to get them to break germ before complete freeze up.
[Update 7/26/15] --  Recent conversation with Kye indicates that not all of the openers exhibit the scraper problem.  This was determined by taking off those scrapers as they plugged and running the remainder.  Are there differences in openers that plug, and those that don't plug?  We don't have a lot of runtime using this hypothesis, but it's something we will pursue.  
      An interesting note:  Dr. Keith Saxton mentioned to me that this is the very condition, (seed on the surface, and uneven plant population), they experienced 20 years ago that led to the development of the scraper.
[Update 6/14/15] -- Recent field inspections are showing a problem with our drill.  Because of our ground-residue conditions we have not been able to use the scrapers that are part of the CrosSlot design --the openers plug and drag frequently leaving voids and piles.  We noticed this spring that the fields were showing striping.  It turns out that when the seed tube is on the downhill side of the disc, it encounters a lot of pressure as the disc resists downhill movement of the drill. This pressure is enough that a percentage of the seed, not being held in place by a scrapper is being dragged to the surface by the rotating disc, resulting in a thinned stand.  If it were not for doing a lot of A-B line drilling this situation may not be noticeable.  To a certain extent, I believe this condition exists with all seed types, but crops with rough or irregular shaped seed are more noticeable.  Potential solutions are --1) figure how to use the/a scrapper that will hold the seed in place, 2) use the swinging hitch to remove this side pressure by changing the position of draft on the drill. 

    This has been a very good spring.  I don't think we have ever had this quality of stand for spring crops in my career.  Spring wheat (DNS), spring barley, Billy Beans, spring peas all have excellent stands.  The Billy Beans may be a little thin, do to seed quality.  We didn't take the low germination into account.  Adding back 15% would have made the stand thicker.  We give the CrossSlot with it's ADF system the credit with it's ability to place seed properly in a complex seed bed, --whether it is hard, soft, overladen with heavy residue, or bare ground.  It senses and automatically adjusts the down pressure on the openers to match the conditions under the drill, keeping the seed at the proper depth, --hence, giving us the stand we have today.  This is the second year that we have seeded with our own machine and our confidence is going through the roof.  What a relief, after all the years of attempts to seed spring crops, with varying success, ---always with the concern as to whether we could seed through the residue.

     We have seeded several fields with various cover crop mixes this spring.  Some mixes included large and small seed together, and mixes where seed was divided and mixed as small and large seed.  This allowed planting the seed close to their preferred depth.  We have that capability with a split seed box, and duel drives (one for the front rank and one for the rear rank of openers).  We hope to find out whether we get a better cover crop stand when each cultivar is seeded at it's proper depth.

      Below are pics showing an emerged stand of peas and billy beans in less than ideal seed bed conditions.

Standup spring peas in winter wheat stubble -- good residue cover most places.

Billy beans in very heavy mat of winter wheat residue. 

    There is a lot of variation in amounts of residue on the soil surface.  We strive for enough residue where we don't see dirt.  It's a goal we have reached on approximately half of our acres.  This will be a bigger challenge as low residue crops take up a larger part of our crop rotation.  I'm hoping that we can introduce cover crops to assist in building residue, ---HOW????  
    We are finding that success in direct seeding (including crop yields) improves as surface residue accumulates.

    This tangle of long straw smashed down over a combine chaff row is probably the most challenging condition for any drill.  A spongy mat that resists penetration.  The CrossSlot does a remarkable job in these conditions.  Fortunately, there is always moisture at the soil surface, so some shallowing of the seed due to the depth of mat still leaves seed in good moist soil.  We have learned to seed small grains at 1.5", or more.  We have successfully brought up spring wheat in areas with as much as 20,000+ #/ac of residue. [see Update for Posting: May17/14]

2014 FALL SEEDING with CROSS-SLOT

[Update 3/23/15] --All of our winter canola winter killed--big(timely emerged), little(emerged at freeze down), thin residue or very heavy residue. We have just sprayed the canola fields in preparation of going back with DNS and some garbs. We dumped a pint of Buctril in with the Rt3 to take out the rr canola.   It appeared that more of the non roundup ready canola cultivars survived than the roundup ready cultivars--like 0++ to 0+.  One interesting note: --on one bare soil spot, in a truck road, on a north facing slope where the full force of the November blast hit, one row (≈50' long) of late emerged canola looks perfect.  They look like soldiers in perfect alignment the size of a silver dollar.  Go Figure!!??
       Our winter wheat (Brundage 96) came through the winter in very good shape(99+% stand), and all big enough for Ospray or Power flex.  We need to get it sprayed NOW.  Several scouting trips have shown no crown, or visible root damage.  Burned leaf tips are the only sign of winter and they have mostly disappeared.   Later we'll see if we have diminished harvest results, like 2014.
[Update] 12 29/14---- The winter wheat is showing color improvement, and the large canola plants are also showing some activity; however, this morning we have no snow and temperatures in low 20's and wind from the ENE@ 20-35mph.  In the next day or two we are expected to have lows around zero. This is the second hit on this crop.  How many more before spring???  We did get a little snifter of snow in the early morning.  The cultivated ground that I see from the window is bare, and it's too miserable to walk the fields to observe the effects on the crop and in the tall stubble.
[Update] 12/16/14---- The winter wheat stand no longer looks spotty.   Many of the leaves are partially burned off but the crowns look good at this point in time.  Compared to other stands in the area, ours looks great.
      The winter canola stand is anyones guess at this point in time; however, I'm guessing that we will reseed most or all in the spring.  All the large leaves are colorless and laying on the ground with the leaves of the small plants gone. 
[Update]  11/13/14----Tuesday, the 11th Nov. temperatures dropped dramatically (+21F) and 12-35mph wind.  We are expecting lower temperatures and more wind.  These conditions are similar to the early December, 2013 event that damaged our winter crops (high winds, cold temperatures, and no snow cover). My concern is that this is even earlier and more events could follow prior to the end of February.  Come spring it will be interesting to see what, if any, of the canola survives, and what damage the wheat will have.  Our volume of residue should aid survival by moderating the effects of wind and cold temperatures.  I wish we would have seeded some winter wheat on 20" spacing to see if the standing stubble left with that spacing would improve survivability. 
      The winter wheat has all emerged.  The 0.25" rain received the 29th September brought up the remainder that didn't emerge when seeded.   The late emerged wheat is mostly in the 3-4 leaf stage.  The timely emerged wheat (seeded ≈ 6th Sept.) has many tillers.  
      The winter canola has mostly emerged.  The late emerged canola is very small, with some still emerging. The timely emerged canola (seeded 19th Aug.) is dinner plate size. These large size canola plants nestled in and around standing stubble two too three times their height is something I want to evaluate come spring.  If those plants are the only survivors, we may want to rethink tires and tracks on the combine, sprayer, and tractor to promote less stubble smash.
     This post sat in the "draft box" way too long, forgotten.  It still had some points that I want to remember.
     Our drill with the CrossSlot opener creates very little soil disturbance.  It momentarily cuts a narrow slot in the soil and deposits the seed with starter fertilizer, and also deep bands the nitrogen, then with two packer wheels mounted in a V configuration the slot is closed and firmed.   In a marginal moisture situation this opener, if it's not operated in a manner that compromises the technology by leaving the slot open, can maintain a high humidity environment at the seed site.  Baker Industries promotes this capability for better germination and emergence.  Dr. Stewart Wuest of OSU supports this concept.  He has a study titled "seed-soil contact and the role of vapor in germination".  The Abstract states:  ------Seed-soil contact has been assumed to be the most important factor for rapid transfer of water from soil to seed.  Recent research demonstrated that seeds are capable of geminating without soil contact, and that 85% or more of the water absorbed by seeds can be directly attributed to vapor.  A new appreciation for the capacity of soil atmosphere to supply water vapor to seeds will help in future efforts to improve seeding equipment.---  (See link page.)
      The dry condition encountered in the fall of 2014 is what this drill was designed for.  I'm sorry to say that we did not execute well.   I have stated before how important the ADF (auto down force) system is to this drill design. Inconsistent soils and variations in residue across the field are conditions that challenge disc drills. We can see in many areas where the seed was placed shallow.  With the ADF system out we used the manual mode which allowed us to pressure the system, but not allow the system to automatically adjust hydraulic pressure to ground conditions.
      One adage we have come to rely on for successful direct seeding is to seed into moisture.  With the dry conditions we are experiencing this fall, the end of the first week of September was at that limit.  We should have been able to get 85-90% up.  As it is we are more like 50-65% emerged.  It is a lost opportunity, and something we will have to address before another year.
   

CROSS-SLOT DRILL KIT?

[Updated 9/19/14]  
I have received two questions about our drill.  I'll address them on this post.
                                   ---- Did our drill come as a kit?
                                   ---- Did Cross-slot help us with the design?
     No!--- the drill did not come as a kit.  You have the option of purchasing a complete drill unit from Baker No-Tillage Limited, or, buy a retrofit package with as many openers as you desire and put them on a locally made frame.  There are many options offered in a retrofit order.  Study the proposal sheet and understand the terms while working up an order.  AgPro of Lewiston, ID. currently builds frames for cross-slot openers.  They have their own suggested frame design, or will build to your specification.
       For info about our drill see post of 5/3/14.

     Yes!--- Baker No-Tillage Limited did help us with the design.  The basic design(look) is one they use -- we viewed pictures and copied the look.   They are very good about sharing component information.  The material type, size and dimensions associated with our drill is our design decision.  We sized the drill to fit our tractor.  That was only marginally successful.  I set a goal for a tare weight of 18K.  It went out of the shop at 24K.  This summer we added 1k on each wing making it 26k, --- and, maybe growing.
       Gavin Porter is the company representative for the US and is very accessible and helpful. His cell number is 509-595-5782

       

SEEDING WINTER CANOLA- AUGUST 19, 2014

 [Update 10/31/14] -- see updated to post titled "CHEMICAL FALLOW", 7/22/14
        This is our first serious attempt at seeding canola (winter or spring).  We have started out with Amanda.  With the new ultra slow seed transmission, we have easily accomplished 3 pounds per acre.         -----The crop is being seeded on 20" row spacing, using the front gang of openers.  The back gang is being locked in the high position with no product being put through them.
-----We have switched the deep band fertilizer tubes with the starter and are adding ≈ 25gpa of water in the area where the seed should be.  We are putting down some P in the deep band.  We probably should have added B as well.
-----I have yet to find one seed.  I wish the seed was dyed yellow.  The yellow mustard was not hard to find.  We are relying entirely on the opener position and what the electronics are telling us.  The seed roll is moving too slow, and the volume to low, to be seen easily with the mounted camera.
-----We are putting the seed at 2.5" depth.  The moisture is thinning out on the ridge lines.  We're hoping that the added water will help emergence.  The lower slopes have better moisture closer to the surface.
-----The residue is tall and heavy.  The openers are maintaining depth much better than I was expecting, even though the ADF system is not working properly.  Baker Ind. has to work on better reliability of that system.  It's getting irritating.  The residue is no problem to penetrate.  The hydraulic valves for the back gang have to be upgraded.  The openers slowly leak down and grab residue and quickly make an unsightly pile.  Kye has had very few working openers plug and drag.
-----With only one half of the openers in the ground, much of the stubble is left standing.  This should be helpful for winter survival of the winter canola crop.
-----We have divided our seed hopper into two 29bu bins.
-----We are seeding ≈ 30ac of canola (RR), on 20" spacing using the front row of openers.  The back row of openers will be seeding a spring pea on 20" rows at ≈ 75 pounds per acre.  The intent is to use the legume to produce N for the canola.  This, as it turns out, is more complex than I imagined.  It's not just growing peas to their maximum nodulation and killing them for later release of the N produced.  I'll do more research and make some decisions before the peas reach bloom this fall.  Right now we hope to get emergence along with the canola.
-----There will be upgrades to this post.
-----I will write another post on "GROWING NITROGEN" in the near future.

Pic above shows seeding winter canola on winter wheat stubble that was harvested with a stripper header.  

LATE SEASON DRILLING OF SMALL GRAINS

     This is the first time in my farming career that we have ever seeded this late into the season, and I doubt that we ever do it again.  However, with no landlords to worry about, crop insurance in place, and weather forecast of low moisture and hot temperatures,  we turned down a custom operator and waited until we finished constructing our drill.
      It may be a fools concept, but we believe we have the pieces put together for growing a small grain crop successfully on low moisture and warm temperatures. In general we have a lot of residue to protect the soil surface and, hopefully, that will reduce evaporation leaving more moisture for the crop.  We have the drill that allows us to do ultra-low disturbance seeding which, hopefully, will reduce moisture loss allowing more moisture for the crop.  I'll update this post after harvest.
    WHAT'S OUR THINKING:  The criteria is moisture, moisture, and more moisture.  We are not in an ideal moisture scenario for the 2014 crop.  The winter, early spring moisture was short of prediction. The prediction of dryer than normal summer and slightly higher temperatures appear to be a serious possibility -- so, where is the optimism in this scenario.  Maybe in part is being resigned to the idea that this will be a short crop regardless of seeding date.  We are already seeing some fields of winter wheat under moisture stress.  That is not a good sign.
      The back bone of my optimism though goes back to the 1970's unpublished 10 year research project done by WSU and OS on "where moisture goes". (click on the label of "moisture" for more detail)  I think it's time has come, but how to measure it????
       12% of our rainfall is what we grow our crop on.  83% of our rainfall is lost from evaporation off the soil surface.  I have known about this since 1989 and think about it, a lot, --- what could our crops yield if we could shave a few percentage points (1 or 3 or maybe 5%) off the evaporation column and add it to the production (transpiration) column.  Ohhhhh -- the possibilities are tantalizing.   Researchers of the day, Dr. Pappendick, being one of them, as well as being the presenter of the paper, lamented at the time, that there wasn't much they could do to change those numbers.
         Recent studies have shown how moisture is lost from the soil surface.  It is all about micro-climates and the balance of gases.  There is a micro-climate on the soil surface where humidity can achieve a balance and moisture is neither moving up or down.  In fact, it is probably out of balance most, if not all of the time, and moisture is moving into or off of the soil nearly constantly.  Don't bother looking for it, it's invisible to the naked eye.  Our challenge is to minimize the out bound.  That means, do everything possible to keep the top edge of the humidity layer intact.   When conditions deplete that layer, natural forces develop that draw moisture from the soil to replace that layer.  It may be micro-scopic, but it is a powerful force that will not be denied.  That is what robs us of our seed depth moisture.  Wind is an obvious culprit, but temperature differential will do the same thing by creating changes in air pressure which results in air movement.  Warm air rises and is a powerful force on the soil surface.  Dr. Pappendick's final words at that conference long ago are golden today.  "There is not much we can do other than keep the soil surface as cool and calm as possible."  We have the tools today that allows us to begin, and the future promises better tools.
       There was a time in my youth when I observed that snow stayed about 4-6" below the top of our stubble.  As I began my farming career I concluded that 4-6" of stubble was adequate to keep wind off the soil.  Well, that was obviously wrong.  It is better stated that the wind velocity slowed to the point that snow or dirt particles were not moving, but there was significant air velocity at that level.  For years I mowed the stubble attempting to seal the surface with residue.  That resulted in high wind velocity near the soil surface, and there was never enough stubble to completely cover the soil surface.  Sometimes the residue blew away, and it seemed  that seed depth moisture was leaving faster, and going deeper.  Mowed stubble gives the illusion of surface protection.  In recent years I have come to the conclusion that if you see dirt you don't have enough residue.  That attitude is becoming more strongly reinforced in me every year as I observe fields.
        This brings me to the stripper header.  I've come to believe that residue height is the best deterrent to wind.  The higher the residue the lower the wind velocity at the soil surface.  Its a shame that all crops can't be harvested with it.  It's also a shame that we have the put machine tracks through it.  Tall grain stubble leaves a nice visual effect; however, I have observed that even spindly mustard stalks standing knee to thigh high reduces wind velocities significantly at the soil surface.  Keep in mind that everything is relative.  Tall spindly mustard stalks is about the same or better than thin mowed grain stubble, but not nearly as good as standing wheat or barley stubble.  Tall grain stubble is better yet.  If you have a thin layer of residue laying on the soil surface along with tall stubble, that is even better.  If you can then add to that layer as time passes, that is even better.  You finally reach a point where your surface moisture loss is low enough that you will have good seed bed moisture whenever you need it, whether that be July, August, September or October.  This in itself expands your opportunities for crop diversity and the ability to build bio-mass.  The stripper header is a great tool to maximize residue height in the quest to capture soil moisture, but it has an inherent problem  --- how to get the cash crop seeded into good earth with all that residue on and above the soil surface.  Four years ago we hit the wall with residue when it came time to seed with our hoe type DS drill at Thornton.   It was time for a different drill, one that wouldn't leave piles, one that would cut through a heavy mat of residue, one that  would plant small and large seed, one that didn't destroy residue, one that minimized moisture loss during the planting process.
        The CrossSlot drill opener was our answer to this problem. (see the post by clicking on the CrossSlot label)  We had a custom operator seed for us while we came to the decision to build our own.  There have been opportunities to "seed for knowledge" but no drill was available for small acreage on short notice.  We are also looking at bringing a significant number of CRP acres back into production and, hands down, the CrossSlot is the drill of choice for that job.  There are several single disc drills available; however, I don't think they can match the CrossSlot in difficult seeding conditions.  The CrossSlot does not appear to require any land or residue preparation to seed and develop a satisfactory stand.  The future is with UltraLowDisturbance.  Hoe type DS drills will never meet the demands of the future; however, they are good starter drills and I encourage their use.   With the CrossSlot, Kye now has a drill that he can take that next leap of faith when the time comes.   Inter-crop seeding,cover crops to enhance bio-mass, and developing systems to grow crop nutrients and reduce commercial inputs are the future.  These are exciting fields of study.   Research supporting organic farming will likely to be the driver for breakthroughs in fertility.  This drill, I am confident will be able to accommodate that technology when it is developed, and that is probably not far off.