Investing in sectional control technology pays off with reduced costs at seeding and better crop performance
Machine overlap in headlands, fence lines and around obstacles is costly in terms of wasted seed and fertilizer, plus crop degradation due to lodging. Section control helps, but by how much?
That’s a question posed by Alberta Pulse Growers researcher Nevin Rosaasen. Rosaasen analyzed in-field testing of commonly available section control systems in pea and canola. The two-year study states that cutting overlap can benefit the grower through reduced input costs and healthier crops in the headlands and around objects.
His report is titled Sectional Control Technologies – From 8% Overlap to 1% or Less.
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The report suggests the degree of input overlap could be as high as eight percent prairie-wide. Saving that much on seed, fuel and fertilizer should comfortably pay for the sectional control and leave a healthy return on investment. Without being double-seeded and double-fertilized, the crop stand should be more uniform and easier to manage at harvest.
The field research, conducted by PAMI in 2020, looked at the sectional control technologies that have been available to prairie farmers for 15 years.
In phase one of the three-part study, three different types of air seeder equipment were tested in-field to determine actual product overlap on peas and canola at headlands and around an obstacle.
Rosaasen says the phase two report can help farmers determine which sectional control technology may be a fit on their farm. He adds that the brand and size of the drills are not mentioned in the report because all data from all machines and sites was averaged. No drill had an advantage.
Data collection measured seeded overlap acres while also measuring the draft force of equipment that lifts the openers when encountering an overlap area. All machines had to drive around the same field obstacle.
Based on the average measurements from the fields, there was more overlap in canola than peas, though the results varied between the headland and obstacle measurements.
- In canola, going around an object in the field, there was an average 16.8 sq.-foot overlap per foot of implement width.
- In canola, turning in the headlands, there was an average 21 sq.-foot overlap per foot of implement width.
- In peas, going around an object in the field, there was an average 16 sq.-foot overlap per foot of implement width.
- In peas, turning in the headlands, there was a 14.4 sq.-foot overlap per foot of implement width.
In comparing overlap from the equipment monitor to field measurements, in most cases the monitor shows a substantially lower overlap than what was actually measured in the field.
Implement and section size influence the total overlap amount. The greater the implement size or the greater the obstacle size in the field, the overlap will typically be greater.
Rosaasen’s report states that section control technology has the potential to drastically reduce total field overlap, which could reduce the total product required by producers, resulting in cost savings and environmental benefits.
Draft force testing was conducted as sections were lifted from the soil. There was a noted reduction in draft force as sections were lifted across the implement. Though these results were specific to the conditions present during testing, they indicate potential energy savings available from the use of lifting technology. The project assessed cost savings and potential environmental effects by using section control technology.
A load cell was used to measure the draft of an implement when sections of an implement lifted passing over previously seeded areas. The force plus the ground speed was used to calculate the power. The difference in power between the tests when the openers were lifted or lowered provides an indication of potential energy savings gained when using section control.
