The time-honored assumption that a higher rate of emergence equals a higher yield is not necessarily true, says Gord Hultgreen, agronomist for the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute.
He said the real benefit in studying emergence is that it forces producers to pay more attention to threshold levels.
“In canola, for instance, anything from 50 plants to 150 plants per sq. yard will give you the same yield,” Hultgreen said.
“Once you know for sure that you’ve achieved the threshold level, those extra plants don’t affect maturity or yield.”
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Hultgreen was discussing the recent re-release of the PAMI Research Update No. 768 comparing side banding to mid row banding. The original report, issued in 2003, sparked considerable debate over which system is best.
“I think the original report made it clear that both systems … do a good job of putting you over the threshold,” said Hultgreen. “That’s the main thing.
“But it caused a bit of a controversy and farmers are still telling us they want more details. So, the issue hasn’t petered out. The subject keeps coming up over and over.”
In response to the ongoing requests, PAMI decided to reissue the report. But this version is nearly double the size of the original because it contains more of the test results leading to the original conclusion.
“The conclusion is the same. There is no fundamental change. But we’ve added the data that supports those conclusions.”
Hultgreen said farmers can look up much more detailed information in the new report. It provides tables of comparative emergence and yield results.
The project ran from 2000 to 2002. PAMI, Agriculture Canada and the University of Saskatchewan compared mid row and side banding seeding systems under a number of conditions in plots seeded over a three year period in Saskatchewan at Indian Head, Melfort, Swift Current and Scott. Crops included wheat, canola and flax.
Hultgreen said the plots were set up to duplicate as closely as possible the conditions found on real farms.
“We have a 10-foot-wide air seeder, based on Flexi-Coil components. It’s set up with real shanks, pneumatic delivery and anhydrous when we need it. We can change the openers, packers, gauge wheels, anything else.
“It’s as close as you can get to a real-world 50 foot or 60 foot machine. We get virtually identical results to full size machines.”
In 81percent of the plots, emergence was similar between the two seeding systems. In the other plots, mid row banding emergence was significantly greater 15 percent of the time and side banding was significantly greater four percent of the time. These emergence differences occurred primarily in dry spring conditions and tended to level off in the fall when comparing yields.
Hultgreen said this is evidence that once the threshold plant count has been achieved, there is little to be gained by better emergence.
But not all yields levelled off. Some of the notable differences are discussed in the new research update. In 86 percent of the plots, yield was similar. In the other 14 percent of plots, mid row banding and side banding each showed significantly higher yields than one another half of the time.
Research Update No. 768 called Emergence and Yield Comparison of Mid Row and Side Banding Seeding Systems is obtainable from the website www.pami.ca/index_of_reports.htm. Those without internet access can call PAMI at 800-567-7264 to request a copy.
Farmers interested in examining the detailed differences in various unique situations can find the complete project results on the Saskatchewan Agriculture website.
For more information, contact Gord Hultgreen at 306-682-2555 ext. 227, or visit www.pami.ca/index_of_reports.htm.
