|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|||
2003
Table of Contents |
My farming situation
Graduating from the University of Idaho in 1997, my wife and I farmed during
the summers on land I rented near Enterprise and returned to Moscow for three
more winters while Heather completed her degree. During those years I worked
at increasing my rented land to prepare for full time farming in 2000.
The land I rent varies widely. Being in a rain shadow cast by the Wallowa Mountains,
fields close to the mountains receive up to 22 inches of rain and have deeper
soils with more clay content, while valley ground has sandy silt loam soils
on top of gravel bars, and the hill ground east of Enterprise is shallow loam
soils taken out of sagebrush. Of the 655 acres cropped, I own 41, and the rest
is cash rented from six different owners scattered over about a ten-mile radius.
Direct Seeding is all I know. Raised on a farm one mile east of Enterprise, Oregon, I have only vague memories of seeing the rocks trip the automatic resets on a moldboard plow. That must have been before the age of six, because by 1981 my father, Tim Melville, was leasing the local Conservation District Pioneer drill, and a year later had purchased his own. More impressive memories are of playing in the stream below our house that ran during irrigation season. This stream no longer runs. See we farm the hills above Enterprise with soils ranging from 6 to 24 inches deep on top of solid bedrock. Onto this soil we pump irrigation water from the river up to two miles away. Prior to Direct Seeding my father would run his ¼ mile pivots on an eight-hour rotation and water would run off the fields creating a nice stream for my brother and I to play in. That stream no longer runs, and after more than 20 years of Direct Seeding we can now run those same pivots, putting on more gallons per minute, and now running them on a four-day rotation. This means the ground is absorbing more than 12 times what it was capable of absorbing just 20 years before.
Today I farm on my own, but with close ties to my father and brother – they own 90% of the equipment. Tim manages about 700 acres and Kevin around 900 acres spread over the valley. Equipment is shared equally during the summer as if all land was owned jointly and then a fair market custom rate paid to each respective implement owner. So you often see all three combines working together, and one sprayer covers all the land.
Crops and Equipment
used
Irrigation gives us many cropping options, and 4000-foot elevations take most
of them away. We currently grow spring and fall wheat, barley, wrinkled seed
peas, DNS, mustard, canola, alfalfa, white Dutch clover, Timothy hay, and a
few other minor crops. Our dominant crops being wheat and barley for seed production
with wrinkled seed peas as the favored rotation every third year.
To deal with the wide variation in crops grown, taking over leases on abused hay ground, and the heavy residues left after irrigated cereals up to 130 bushels, we employ several different pieces of equipment and dream of having others. The first drill option is a 13’ Yielder with NP openers placing a ribbon of seed and dry starter four inches wide every 10”. A heavy disk in the middle of each ribbon places aqua fertilizer in a deep band up to 6” deep. Granular chemicals or small seeded crops such as alfalfa or grass seed can also be incorporated at the same time, broadcast with the Fargo box. The second option is a 30’ Concord shank machine set up with Anderson openers on a 10” spacing. This places a deep band of aqua below two rows of grain and dry starter. A 60’ heavy harrow, swather, flail chopper, chaff spreaders, bailing straw, rock picker, and other equipment help to prepare for the drills to perform better. Possible future additions may include a Phoenix harrow.
Development of
our Direct Seed Operation
When my dad first decided to venture into the direct seed arena 20 years ago,
he went all the way. Convinced that soil erosion and economics proved direct
seeding was the only option for his irrigated lands with slopes over 40%, he
sold all his tillage equipment and purchased new drills. Even going to the point
of purchasing two drills in the mid 80’s and creating a custom operation
that stretched from central Washington to central California.
We started in 1981 with straight 15” row spacing and by 84’ had moved to a 5” paired row on 15”. By 87 we began double drilling trying to better incorporate Fargo and increasing plant population to fight wild oats. We continued this program along with harrowing in the fall to better distribute chaff until 1993 when we purchased new NP openers for our Yielder drill creating a 4” ribbon of seed on 10” centers. These were modified several times to what we are now currently using. Then in 1998 we first leased and then purchased a 30’ Concord air drill with Anderson openers and 10”spacing.
These changes in equipment represented the changes in what industry had to offer, but agronomics mainly determined what we did. Our yields have continued to rise over the last 20 years, but we attribute this more to improved soil quality and management than improved equipment. One example of this is the soils ability to absorb and retain more moisture under direct seeding. Twenty years ago our circles would apply 1/8 inch of moisture in an 8-hour revolution and small streams would run off the field. Now our circles apply close to 1 1/4” in one revolution and no water runs off. Thus over the years we were steadily able to increase our fertilizer and seed rates to match the amount of water available. Soil scientists visiting our farm are often amazed at the “spongy” feeling of the soil.
Thus I believe type or style of drill is not nearly as important as using the tool correctly and developing the soil quality needed for higher yields.
Managing for Maximum
Yield and Return
In our farming operation every field requires a different strategy. I will begin
with the most common strategy involving fields that are already in cereal grain
production. Following either a wheat or barley crop with either another cereal
crop or peas can be done effectively with either the Concord or the Yielder,
but both require different field preparations to ensure the most important part
of direct seeding, seed-to-soil contact. Residue management is the key with
both drills; however, in our experience the Concord drill will do a superior
job in higher residue. We begin with good straw and chaff dispersion in the
fall. This can involve cutting lower with combines to promote smaller chaff,
heavy harrowing 1 to 3 passes, bailing straw under extreme conditions, swathing
tall stubble in front of the heavy harrow, or any combination of these or others
to create a condition suitable for drilling. For the Concord our goal in the
fall is to create a condition where a 1/3 of all straw is in contact with soil
and evenly dispersed. This allows more decomposition over the winter and early
spring months. For the Yielder I prefer to make one or more extra passes to
provide even more direct straw to soil contact to create less material for the
following spring. Even in 120-bushel spring wheat stubble several passes with
a heavy harrow will create a patchy look where there are small areas where soil
is visible. Even with all these passes, the heavy harrow will seldom penetrate
more than ½ inch into the soil as it rides on a great matt of straw.
After achieving good residue management, the next step is seeding. The secret here is seed-to-soil contact. Often setting the drill an extra ½ to 1 inch deeper will help achieve better soil contact. This seems to be even more important in fields with heavier residues that tend to shrink back down after planting and leave the seed shallower than at the time of planting. In uneven terrain this will also help deter the bridging effect found in most shank machines where depth is determined by sets of wheels in front of the shanks and packer wheels behind. Remember to always put a little starter down directly in the seed row. We generally use around 5lbs of N, 25lbs of P, and just a little sulfur. Then for the big question, how much nitrogen should we use? Every field varies according to soil type, rotation, soil tests, and amount of residue. A good rule of thumb is two pounds of N for every bushel produced, and that in direct seeding we are also building organic matter, which requires carbon and nitrogen.
Rotations can mean being in the red or making ends meet. One year in three out of cereals can be the best decision a direct seeder ever makes. Breaking the disease cycle and promoting different soil structure through different crops always means better yields for the cereals. If you want maximum yields, find a rotation that works. We use mainly peas and occasionally canola, alfalfa, mustard, clover, or grass seed. A rotation into peas under-seeded with alfalfa that you leave in for two years will break almost any disease cycle of cereals. I have seen this practice done on a 140 acre pivot that never produced over 75 bushels of wheat bring the average up to 110 during its last two plantings of spring wheat.
Experience Pays
There are many lessons to be learned when entering the direct seed style of
farming. Some common mistakes on our farms still involve soil-to-seed contact.
Planting directly into alfalfa or grass sod has always been the biggest challenge.
A few hints for this practice; try to get a good kill with Roundup or other
chemicals in the fall, two passes with the drill can be very advantageous for
covering more of the seed, watch out for toxins released by some plants if seeding
within a few weeks of spraying, and a higher seeding rate usually more than
pays for itself. If you have the water to compliment the nitrogen, we recommend
upping those nitrogen rates. Other mistakes that can be costly when trying for
high yields under irrigation is forgetting to consider growth regulators and
fungicides in heavy tall crops. Check your seed depth often and keep a close
eye on your drill. Many of our newer drills have their seed depths controlled
by just one or two wheels per ten-foot section. A slowly leaking tire or breaking
supports can allow seed placement to change quickly, and with over a hundred
acres planted in a day, this can prove costly.
Small seeds such as alfalfa, canola, or mustard can also prove challenging at the time of planting. This is another area where the Yielder drill often outperforms the Concord, especially planting into sod conditions. With both, the concept of a little deeper seems to out yield shallower plantings. This is especially true under heavy residue. You need to get that seed in contact with soil, and remember that after years of no-till, your soil gets much mellower – hence easier for seedlings to emerge from deeper depths. If you have the ability to add a little moisture for several days after planting, this will greatly improve stand also.
There are many other common causes of failure for direct seeders in our area. Under irrigation where weeds receive all the water they want, lots of roundup is needed, don’t be tempted to go with those low rates, they cost more in the long run. Timing is important, get the seed in the ground early, and the chemicals on at the right time. Tillage was a big hammer that covered a lot of weed sins, so watch closely for the new weeds that emerge when switching to direct seeding so they don’t get out-of-hand. Fertilizer is very important and the myths that direct seeding takes less fertilizer is just that, a myth. Direct seeding allows you to use more fertilizer advantageously due to better water infiltration, holding capacity, and soil quality. When building something you have to have resources, and building the soil requires fertilizer and organic matter.
In Conclusion
Direct seeding has worked well for us over the last twenty years. There were
mistakes and success stories. But what I appreciate most about the decision
my father made over twenty years ago is that there will still be soil on our
fragile slopes for his children and grandchildren to farm. Although we haven’t
used tillage equipment for decades, I still feel confident saying that economically
direct seeding has a far greater cost advantage. Watching a conventional farmer
this summer, I noticed he applied the same amount of chemicals I did, except
for the first input of roundup, but had to make five passes to get the seed
in the ground. Then after that he had a lot more rocks to pick after going ten
inches deep with a chisel plow.
In the future we look forward to fine tuning the management of our direct seeding system and have set a goal of 150-bushel wheat. A new drill incorporating some of the newer disk opener technology may also be in our future. Some other equipment we are looking into might be a phoenix harrow for better incorporating chemicals and possibly planting small seeds with the harrow in one pass. In my opinion, the future looks bright for direct seeding in Wallowa County.
 Contact
us: Hans Kok, (208)885-5971
|
Accessibility | Copyright
| Policies | WebStats | STEEP Acknowledgement |