He plants Grazing Corn In 15-In. Rows With Grain Drill
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Floyd Summy modified an old grain drill to plant grazing corn for cattle. He couldn’t be happier with the drill or the MasterGraze tillering corn he uses (featured in FARM SHOW’s Vol. 35, No. 1). Both work great for planting the small paddocks he rotates his herd through each summer.
“The drill saves the expense of buying a corn planter, and I can plant 15-in. rows,” says Summy. “I space my planting out so the corn isn’t all ready for grazing at the same time.”
To get his 15-in. rows, Summy laid a 1/8-in. thick piece of plastic across the drop holes in the drill. Holes on 15-in. centers in the plastic left every other hole in the 11-ft. drill closed.
“I set the control on the drill to double the rated population since every other hole is closed,” explains Summy. “If I want to plant 25 lbs. of corn seed per acre, I set the drill at 50.”
Summy, who uses horses for planting, mounted the tongue direct to the drill instead of using a forecart. This gives him more control of the drill in the small paddocks he plants, and the running board on the rear of the drill provides a place for him to stand as he directs the horses.
“It is easier to turn with the horses, and I can back them into sharp corners,” he says.
Summy also applies herbicide while planting corn with the drill. Since he plants small sections at a time, he doesn’t need a lot of volume. He uses a battery-powered, 25-gal., ATV sprayer. The tank mounts over the hitch frame, and nozzles are mounted under the running board at the rear of the drill. The battery sits on the running board.
“Six nozzles were the most I could run with the sprayer pump, even at its lowest flow,” says Summy. “It’s only a 1/8-gpm pump. At the speed the horse walks, I apply about 21 gal. per acre.”
He notes that ATV sprayers are known to fluctuate in pressure. To moderate the spray pressure, he used an in-line bladder. He made it from a canister on a backpack sprayer and mounted it between the pump and the spray nozzles. A valve on the bladder lets him build up pressure. When he starts seeding corn, he opens the valve, and the nozzles are at full pressure.
“I broadcast a mix of atrazine and metolachlor through the nozzles, which overlap by about 2 in.,” explains Summy. “It saves another trip through the field.”
Summy uses the corn in a grazing crop rotation. In the spring, he works the grazing paddock up and plants the corn. Once it’s grazed down, he uses the drill (without the plastic) to seed either turnips or rye for fall grazing. Grazed turnips are lightly disked in the spring and seeded to grass. The rye is plowed under and planted to alfalfa. Both grass and alfalfa will eventually be plowed under for another crop of grazing corn.
“You can really cut back on fertilizer with a good crop rotation,” says Summy. “Plus when you plow under grass or alfalfa, it conserves moisture for the new crop. That makes a big difference, especially last summer when we had a bad drought.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Spring River Machine, 3490 L.C. 2110, Stotts City, Mo. 65756 (ph 417 285-3164).
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He plants Grazing Corn In 15-In Rows With Grain Drill DRILLS Floyd Summy modified an old grain drill to plant grazing corn for cattle He couldn’t be happier with the drill or the MasterGraze tillering corn he uses featured in FARM SHOW’s Vol 35 No 1 Both work great for planting the small paddocks he rotates his herd through each summer “The drill saves the expense of buying a corn planter and I can plant 15-in rows ” says Summy “I space my planting out so the corn isn’t all ready for grazing at the same time ” To get his 15-in rows Summy laid a 1/8-in thick piece of plastic across the drop holes in the drill Holes on 15-in centers in the plastic left every other hole in the 11-ft drill closed “I set the control on the drill to double the rated population since every other hole is closed ” explains Summy “If I want to plant 25 lbs of corn seed per acre I set the drill at 50 ” Summy who uses horses for planting mounted the tongue direct to the drill instead of using a forecart This gives him more control of the drill in the small paddocks he plants and the running board on the rear of the drill provides a place for him to stand as he directs the horses “It is easier to turn with the horses and I can back them into sharp corners ” he says Summy also applies herbicide while planting corn with the drill Since he plants small sections at a time he doesn’t need a lot of volume He uses a battery-powered 25-gal ATV sprayer The tank mounts over the hitch frame and nozzles are mounted under the running board at the rear of the drill The battery sits on the running board “Six nozzles were the most I could run with the sprayer pump even at its lowest flow ” says Summy “It’s only a 1/8-gpm pump At the speed the horse walks I apply about 21 gal per acre ” He notes that ATV sprayers are known to fluctuate in pressure To moderate the spray pressure he used an in-line bladder He made it from a canister on a backpack sprayer and mounted it between the pump and the spray nozzles A valve on the bladder lets him build up pressure When he starts seeding corn he opens the valve and the nozzles are at full pressure “I broadcast a mix of atrazine and metolachlor through the nozzles which overlap by about 2 in ” explains Summy “It saves another trip through the field ” Summy uses the corn in a grazing crop rotation In the spring he works the grazing paddock up and plants the corn Once it’s grazed down he uses the drill without the plastic to seed either turnips or rye for fall grazing Grazed turnips are lightly disked in the spring and seeded to grass The rye is plowed under and planted to alfalfa Both grass and alfalfa will eventually be plowed under for another crop of grazing corn “You can really cut back on fertilizer with a good crop rotation ” says Summy “Plus when you plow under grass or alfalfa it conserves moisture for the new crop That makes a big difference especially last summer when we had a bad drought ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Spring River Machine 3490 L C 2110 Stotts City Mo 65756 ph 417 285-3164
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