Last week we held a corn planter clinic, with a focus on no-till equipment maintenance. Rico Balzano organized the event and Jeff Sanders (NW Soils and Crops Team) spoke to a crowd that included about 30 (+) farmers, and other agriculture professionals. It was a very successful event, with constructive discussion. The clinic benefited both those considering no-till and those doing regular maintenance or upgrades on their equipment.
Jeff Sanders highlighted many different parts of the no-till corn planter that should be looked at and maintained for optimum performance. He highlighted the importance in no-till for successful opening and closing of the seed slot, and that maintenance should be focused on those pieces. He discussed different options to achieve that objective, and what people have had the most success with in VT. Jeff also talked about the importance of a level planter, of proper depth, and of seed placement in the seed slot. Proper maintenance of the planter will prevent doubles and skips, and ensure the slot is V-shaped and not W-shaped. He recommends getting off the tractor and looking at what the planter is doing and ensuring that it is planting properly. Jeff also emphasized that weather conditions and soil moisture will affect how successful no-till planting is, and particularly that fields that are saturated may not seed well.
Missed the Clinic? Do not despair.
Check out the checklist fact-sheet which can be downloaded:
Fact Sheet_No-Till Planter Checklist_2015.
We will hopefully be holding more events in the future! In the mean time, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
Rico Balzano can be reached at (802) 388-4969 ext 338
or rico.balzano@uvm.edu