41 The Business of Prairie Agriculture Better Farming | April 2024 and accuracy. Talk to your dealership’s service department if you’re unsure how to do something. Once you’ve calibrated your drill, turn on the fan with the drill lifted and without product running and make sure all your openers are clear of blockages. While your fan is running at operating speed, momentarily turn on your meter to put a small amount of product through. The product should be out of the system within three seconds as an indication of a proper fan speed, which reduces the risk of plugging. This will also make any blockages more apparent. Once you’re in the field, as tempting as it is to “set it and forget it,” rechecking the points above is important to prevent mechanical seeding errors. Calibrating, cleaning, checking, and rechecking is the name of the game in April and May. A few other tips for when you’re actually in the field: Check your seeding depth, then check it again Improper seeding depth is an issue that comes up every year and is relatively avoidable with some patience. It is important to consider various factors that can affect the seeding depth of your drill. Soil moisture levels, soil texture and topography of the land can all have an impact on the drill’s ability to penetrate the soil. This means that while your drill was seeding consistently at one inch on one field, it may be seeding at 1.5 or two inches deep when you move to another field or travel up and down a hill. My suggestion is to go to your local hardware or garden store this spring and buy a trowel to keep in each tractor and truck that is in the field during seeding. Make sure the trowel has a ruler on it so that you can measure depth and easily dig to find the seed and fertilizer. Another good tip is to glue a magnet on a seed depth stick, often given away as promotional material at farm shows, and stick it to your air seeder frame or calibration cubby so that it’s always in a convenient location to grab when you get out of the tractor to check seed depth. In a pinch, even a popsicle stick with one quarter-inch marks will work. The point is that any measurement is better than no measurement. There are many other tools to be used to measure seed depth – the trick is to use it and use it frequently enough. When you do check seed depth, try to clear the soil away in one direction so you’re not disturbing the ground set by the packer wheel that you use as ground level when measuring. Slow down Increased speed results in uneven planting depth between the front and back of the drill. Planting speed will depend on a number of factors: Opener type, seed type, soil type, soil topography, and stubble type are just a few. As a ballpark to determine your seeding speed, it can be useful to start around five miles per hour and adjust your speed up or down. If the drill or the shanks are bouncing, you’re going too fast, which will increase your chances of uneven planting from the front to back of the drill and will decrease accuracy of seed placement. You want to give your crop the best possible chance at success, and that begins when you sow your seed. Take the extra time this spring to consider anything you can do to reduce possible seeding errors by preparing your seeding equipment and knowing what could cause issues. It’s a busy and chaotic time of year, but a little patience and understanding of your equipment will lead to a successful seeding season. BF Ag Insights ASHLEY KAMINSKI Ashley Kaminski is a crops extension specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture based in Humboldt.
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