He Uses Planticator To Strip-Till Fertilizer

He Uses Planticator To Strip-Till Fertilizer FERTILIZER APPLICATION Fertilizer Application (58f) 21-1-33 Stanley Goeken, Delavan, Ill., converted an old International 500 Cyclo 12-row, 30-in. planter toolbar into a pull-type, 12-row strip-till toolbar and mounted a pair of tractor saddle tanks on top of it, eliminating the need to pull a nurse tank. "I call it a æPlanticator' because it's a planter turned into a strip-till applicator," says Goeken. "It's totally self-contained so I don't have to hook up a nurse tank or any other equipment. I use it to clear and work strips of soil while applying 28% liquid nitrogen in the fall. The cleared strips warm up fast in the spring which lets me plant earlier. Deep banding fertilizer under the row makes it more available to plants. I've been able to reduce my total nitrogen use by 20% or more and still get yields comparable to conventional tillage methods. "With a few modifications I can also use it to sidedress nitrogen in corn the following spring. My total cost, including planter, row units, saddle tanks, and pump, was about $5,000." Goeken stripped the planter down to the frame and added row units that consist of a coulter followed by a knife and a set of double disc sealers. Liquid fertilizer is deep banded directly behind the knives. The toolbar still has the original planter markers. A ground-driven pump that's hooked up to the planter's original drive chains and sprockets delivers fertilizer to each knife. Redball monitors let Goeken see at a glance if the fertilizer is being applied properly. To convert the rig for sidedressing nitrogen he removes half the knives and then moves the remaining ones between the rows. He also blocks off the hoses that lead to the removed knives. "Removing the extra knives saves fuel and soil moisture," notes Goeken. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stanley Goeken, Delavan, Ill. 61734 (ph 309 244-7887).

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