Planter Attachment Puts No-Till Corn In Warmer Soil

2000 - Volume #24, Issue #3, Page #28

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story | Read this issue]

A new add-on planter attachment clears the row area of residue and then builds a mound of loose soil just ahead of the disc openers.
  "What we wanted was the best of both worlds - no-till and ridge till," says Brian Freed who along with his brother, David, invented the new Planter Pro attachment. "You can use this with no-till and also for fall strip-tillage. "The optimum seedbed is made while you plant."
  The Freed brothers, Lexington, Illinois, have patented the new add-on and recently brought it on the market.
  The Planter Pro has a pair of serrated discs up front that clear the row. They're followed by a set of angled concave blades positioned just ahead of the disc openers. They are set to build a small mound of soil, about 3/4 to an inch high just in front of the openers. The openers run into this raised ridge and place the seed about 1 3/4 in. deep, or 3/4 to 1 in. deep in the unworked soil.
  Brian, a crop consultant, says the system allows crops to be planted at the proper depth, with good seed-to-soil contact, but in the warmer upper layer of soil. "It's at least 9 degrees warmer where the seed is planted with this system as compared to other no-till planting methods we have compared," he says. "And since we're working the soil, the seedbed area warms up much quicker than in straight no-till."
  Brian says they've seen quicker, more uniform emergence, especially in corn, and considerably lower rates of seedling diseases in crops planted with the Planter Pro. "We have improved yields as a direct result of reducing barren stalks by 83 percent," Brian notes.
  The Planter Pro attachment will fit any Deere, Kinze or White planter. The units are available through Ag Focus. Brian says they sell for right at $575 per row.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Brian Freed, Ag Focus, RR 1, Box 99A, Lexington, Ill. 61753 (ph 309 365-2771; fax 309 365-2781; Website: www.agfocus.com; E-mail: freedb@davesworld.net)

Click here to download page story appeared in.

Click here to read entire issue

Planter Attachment Puts No-Till Corn In Warmer Soil PLANTERS Planters 24-3-28 A new add-on planter attachment clears the row area of residue and then builds a mound of loose soil just ahead of the disc openers. "What we wanted was the best of both worlds - no-till and ridge till," says Brian Freed who along with his brother, David, invented the new Planter Pro attachment. "You can use this with no-till and also for fall strip-tillage. "The optimum seedbed is made while you plant." The Freed brothers, Lexington, Illinois, have patented the new add-on and recently brought it on the market. The Planter Pro has a pair of serrated discs up front that clear the row. They're followed by a set of angled concave blades positioned just ahead of the disc openers. They are set to build a small mound of soil, about 3/4 to an inch high just in front of the openers. The openers run into this raised ridge and place the seed about 1 3/4 in. deep, or 3/4 to 1 in. deep in the unworked soil. Brian, a crop consultant, says the system allows crops to be planted at the proper depth, with good seed-to-soil contact, but in the warmer upper layer of soil. "It's at least 9 degrees warmer where the seed is planted with this system as compared to other no-till planting methods we have compared," he says. "And since we're working the soil, the seedbed area warms up much quicker than in straight no-till." Brian says they've seen quicker, more uniform emergence, especially in corn, and considerably lower rates of seedling diseases in crops planted with the Planter Pro. "We have improved yields as a direct result of reducing barren stalks by 83 percent," Brian notes. The Planter Pro attachment will fit any Deere, Kinze or White planter. The units are available through Ag Focus. Brian says they sell for right at $575 per row. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Brian Freed, Ag Focus, RR 1, Box 99A, Lexington, Ill. 61753 (ph 309 365-2771; fax 309 365-2781; Website: www.agfocus.com; E-mail: freedb@davesworld.net)

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW NOW