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Extension research goes to seed

New seeding techniques may increase farm profitability

Submitted Photo Strips are tilled for row crop seeding at North Central Research Extension Center. A new planting technique, strip tilling, is designed to warm soil while preserving moisture.

It’s not just the seed variety but how it’s planted that can influence yields and profitability.

North Dakota State University’s North Central Research Extension Center, Minot, is experimenting with seeding techniques to help area producers determine when changing things up might be beneficial for their operations.

Singulation, or the planting of individual seeds, is the latest technology the research center is following, said Eric Eriksmoen, research agronomist at the center.

Traditional seeding involves spilling seeds at a controlled rate out of a box. With the new technology, a vacuum pulls seeds through a plate with holes and drops those individual seeds into the soil.

“It gives us a more uniform placement of seeds. We are starting to understand now when a seed or seedling comes out of the ground, it senses its neighbors,” Eriksmoen said. Many plants can tell if a nearby plant is a weed or another of its kind, and they react negatively to that presence, he said.

“Canola is one of those plants. It needs to have its own space. If it’s too close to another canola plant, one of them will die or multiple plants will die,” he said. In studying the literature and examining canola in the field, it’s been discovered only about half of seeds planted survive.

“That’s a big deal because farmers are paying $60 to $70 an acre for seed. If you are only getting half of that to survive, you are essentially losing $30 to $35 an acre,” Eriksmoen said.

Singulation already exists in planting crops such as peanuts. In southern states such as Georgia and Florida, producers are adapting that technology to their winter canola. The manufacture and cost of equipment for northern crops has slowed adoption. The four-row seeder used at the research center was custom built from existing equipment.

“Part of the research is to understand what the plants are thinking, what the plants are comfortable with,” Eriksmoen said. “That’s part of what we don’t totally understand. We also know that soybeans like to have neighbors. Other soybean plants they feel comfortable with, but if it’s a weed in there, they don’t feel comfortable with the weed.”

Chad Anderson, seed production specialist at the center, said the research is driven by the types of questions producers are asking. Inquiries have caused researchers to look more closely at singulation, row spacing, plant spacing and tilling techniques.

For instance, corn is generally planted in rows 30 inches apart. Research is investigating the results with twin rows, which consist of two row strips planted together with staggered plants. Each two-row strip then is planted 30 inches apart. Researchers want to know if the technique will enable more corn to share a particular space without negatively affecting the crop’s growth.

“It works with peanuts. There’s a fair amount of work being done on corn, and we have used it on corn. I like it on corn,” Eriksmoen said. “We have tried some of it with canola. It didn’t seem to be a crop that responded, but it was one year. We really need to look at it a little more.”

Another technique being studied is strip tilling. Crops that can handle cooler weather, such as canola, do well in no-till situations, where residue holds soil moisture but keeps soil cooler. Corn needs warmth to germinate and grow, yet also needs moisture.

The solution being tested is to till just a strip where the seeds will be placed, leaving the area between rows with residue. Tilling can be done in the fall and fertilizers placed in the tilled row.

Strip tilling is used in various parts of the country, particularly in the corn belt. Some producers in central North Dakota also are trying it, Anderson said.

Again, it’s the cost of equipment, labor and fuel that farmers need to pencil out before they decide to jump in, Eriksmoen said. However, he added, “I think it holds some promise for us up here.”

Another hot topic when it comes to seeding is whether to plant a cover crop. In western North Dakota, where the weather is hotter and drier, Eriksmoen said, there is some reluctance to use cover crops because they consume moisture. Producers who use cover crops like them for their ability to build soil and organic matter and bring nitrogen to the surface. Cattle grazing can be an added benefit for livestock producers.

Anderson said some farmers are having aerial applicators seed over a small-grain crop a few weeks before harvest. The tiny seeds of radish, turnip or millet populate well in those fields.

Like any new techniques or technologies, producers want to know exactly what the gains are with cover crops before they commit themselves. That’s where the research comes in.

“We need to quantify it. Up to this point in time, we really haven’t quantified what those cover crops are doing. Are we getting a yield benefit? If you are, what is that yield benefit? Are you truly improving organic matter? If you are, what is it?”

While the research center examines planting options, private companies are looking into seed technologies to develop better, more drought-resistant or high-yielding varieties.

Eriksmoen said he expects in the next three years to see hybrid spring wheat – something that has been talked about for 30 years. That could make yields of 80 to 100 bushels an acre common, versus current typical yields of 50 to 60 bushels, he said.

Because hybrids don’t reproduce from their own seed, it means going back to the supplier each year, and seed costs typically are higher. But hybrids already are commonly used with crops such as corn.

The research center continues its work with carinata, an oil-seed crop being researched for fuel, and with faba beans. Faba beans, raised for centuries in different parts of the world, are new to North Dakota. Often used as livestock feed, research is ongoing on how much of the high-protein bean can be used in animal feed rations.

Meanwhile, there is interest in faba beans as a food ingredient because of its high protein content, both for human and pet consumption. The limited market demand currently is discouraging much planting of the crop. Researchers at North Central are investigating the best growing conditions and the type of chemicals that can be used safely and effectively with the beans.

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