Three years ago when agronomist Roger Ashley toured a canola field in Washington state that had been seeded with a cross-slot drill, he knew he could use those openers on the research farm back in Dickinson, North
Dakota where he worked.
“A farmer near Uniontown, Washington had tried a Baker cross-slot drill to seed winter canola directly into standing stubble from his previous winter wheat crop,” Ashley said.
“The winter wheat had run 130 to 140 bushels, so there was a tremendous volume of straw. But emergence on the canola was uniform throughout the field. It was a nice even stand right across. Quite impressive.”
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Describing how the New Zealand invention works in the soil, Ashley said from behind, the opener looks like an inverted letter “t” being pulled away from you.
The main shaft of the inverted “t” is a vertical 22 inch diameter coulter with viciously scalloped teeth for cutting residue as the drill rolls through the field. The two side bars of the inverted “t” are formed by the seed and fertilizer opener blades. They run off to the sides, perpendicular to the coulter.
These side blades travel below the surface, slicing horizontal slots into the walls of the small trench created by the coulter. The left blade cuts a horizontal shelf for the seed. The right blade cuts a shelf for the fertilizer.
The tip of the “t” is the lowest edge of the coulter running slightly deeper than the side bars.
“The bases of the two blades run tight up against the two sides of the coulter so they scrape off any mud or crop residue,” Ashley said. “There is zero clearance between the blades and the coulter.”
The coulter barely disturbs the soil over the seed and fertilizer. Depending on the specifications of the openers and the adjustment of the system, the seed is usually about an inch from the fertilizer. This placement can be greater if the horizontal side blade opener is manufactured with wider or deeper spacing.
“Depth control is excellent, even in the heaviest residue. In our trials here in North Dakota, we can place the seed anywhere from a third of an inch deep down to three inches deep with a very high degree of accuracy.”
Each opener unit consists of the single scalloped coulter, the cross-slot blades, two press wheels, an individual hydraulic cylinder and the arm to which all these components are fastened. All assemblies are parallel linkage to allow the opener to follow the field’s contours.
Each opener unit weighs 260 pounds. The hydraulic cylinder on each opener provides constant down pressure and also raises and lowers the arm. It is capable of 1,500 lb. of force. The press wheels serve the dual purpose of packing and depth control.
Most North American farmers think of conserving soil moisture when they think about no-till drills. The engineers in New Zealand who developed the cross-slot concept were also thinking of vapour conservation.
The engineers wanted to trap water vapour in the seedbed. The twin hefty press wheels are an important part of their plan. Each opener is followed by two 16-inch diameter semi-pneumatic press wheels that are three inches wide.
“The press wheels come along to close the slot and seal everything up tight in that moist environment,” explained Ashley.
“We know from research that wheat seeds get most of the moisture they need for germination from humidity, not from soil moisture. Even with excellent soil-seed contact, at least 85 percent of the water is imbibed by the seed in the form of vapour.”
Ashley said one of the first cross-slot field tests in North Dakota demonstrated the value of preserving surface residue and humidity. The researchers seeded directly into an old alfalfa stand that had been sprayed with glyphosate and then baled off.
“We went in just a few days after baling and seeded a grass mixture with our cross-slot drill. The seed went to the left side and we put 75 lb. of fertilizer over to the right side. We seeded on a Monday. We were lucky because the conditions were very good. By Friday, we had emergence.”
The vertical centre line slot, which was disturbed by the coulter, is still visually distinguishable after seeding, but the press wheels pack it firmly, Ashley said.
“We’ve seeded at speeds ranging from one mile per hour up to seven mph and I’d say there’s very little difference in soil disturbance. When everything is adjusted correctly, the cross-slot leaves a very smooth field surface.
“Disturbance of soil by the opener is slightly greater than the John Deere series 90 no-till drill single disc opener, but less than a narrow point hoe opener.”
Farmers’ search for a better no-till drill started 50 years ago. That search is going strong in the Dickinson area of western North Dakota. A number of criteria are foremost in the minds of producers.
Although the area doesn’t see the extreme high yields and residue levels found in Washington state, it regularly grows 80 bushel winter wheat, 90 bu. corn and 100 bu. barley. It’s the residue from those yields that force producers to keep up their search for better no-till drills.
Producers in the area handle seed sizes that include everything from canola to chick peas.
Soil variability is another condition found in western North Dakota and across the Canadian Prairies.
“Soil texture, moisture content and crop residue vary across a field, so if a drill is to be useful, it must be able to perform across a wide range of operating conditions.
“Seed in contact with high rates of fertilizer results in lower germination rates or damaged seedlings. If adequate amounts of fertilizer materials are going to be applied in a no-till situation at planting time, then banding fertilizer separate from seed is required. And the drill must have the capability to use fluid, as well as dry fertilizers.”
Farmers in Washington state have successfully put down 300 lb. of urea fertilizer while seeding spring wheat, without injury to the seed.
“Fertilizer can be placed deeper than the seed by using a short or medium length blade for placing seed and a long blade for placing fertilizer,” Ashley said.
His report on the machine said the draft requirements for a cross-slot opener are 25 to 50 percent higher than a vertical triple disc opener.
However, the weight required to maintain the correct seeding depth for the cross-slot is only 25 percent of the weight required by the vertical triple disc opener. Compared to a one-inch wide hoe opener, the cross-slot requires the same amount of weight. The cross-slot requires twice the weight of a single disc opener.
Hydraulic pressure needed to keep the openers running at the desired depth is a different question, according to the North Dakota researcher.
In the fields where the cross-slot system was tested, residue levels varied from 500 to 3,300 lb. per acre.
“Most soil where the drill was operated required from 750 psi to 1,000 psi in the hydraulic system to penetrate soil in grain fields. In a sod hay field under dry July conditions, the drill required 1,350 psi to place seed at the desired depth.”
Ashley said better opener technology must also be affordable, available and ready for adaptation on today’s farm. A new type of opener that can be installed on an existing drill frame meets that criteria.
When Ashley bought the nine cross-slot openers for the experimental drill at the Dickinson research farm, the cost was $1,535 US each.
“The cost may appear high relative to the John Deere 90 series no-till opener single disc at $1,100. But the John Deere would require two of their single disc openers to perform the same task as one cross-slot opener. In addition, it would have required the drill frame length to be increased by at least 50 percent.
“The Flexi-Coil Barton double-shoot openers were considered, but a report from Dr. Gary Peterson at Colorado State University indicated highly variable seed placement with shallow seeding depths of small seeded crops. The length of the drill to accommodate this style of opener would also be a design challenge to maintain drill length within the requested specifications.
“Double disc openers are known to compact soils as well as hairpin residue into the seed furrow.”
Ashley said the cross-slot can be added to most drill frames without major modifications.
“The cross-slot gives us excellent seed placement into just about any stubble you can walk through,” said Keith Saxton, researcher with the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington state. “Or you can seed a crop directly into grass sod if you want.”
Saxton was one of the first North Americans to find out about the cross-slot concept and was instrumental in bringing the technology to North America and passing it on to Ashley.
Although 140 bu. winter wheat is on the high side of average for his part of Washington state, Saxton said 100-110 bu. wheat is the typical stubble no-till farmers seed into.
“Our growing conditions create huge amounts of straw,” Saxton said. “Every hoe drill we’ve tried around here turns itself into a big straw rake. Anything that remotely resembles a double disc results in too much tucking (hair pinning) in soft soil. For years, just about anything we tried for no-till seeding turned into a failure.”
Although farmers in the area were convinced of the value of no-till seeding, the lack of a viable drill forced them to cultivate, causing erosion.
Saxton said they finally conceded that a single disc configuration was the only opener with potential. That was about 1988,when he first heard about the cross-slot idea from New Zealand.
“We imported the first experimental prototypes right away in 1988. We quickly found that this was the only opener that would really work for us. I think the few farmers who have them now are very happy.”
But availability of the new opener was a problem. The cross-slot idea had been in the developmental stage for 30 years at Massey University in New Zealand. One of the chief movers in the project was John Baker.
Saxton said speculators and investors bought the patents but never put them into production.
“Eventually, John Baker bought his patents back and he has now started a small manufacturing firm in New Zealand. He is building the Baker cross-slot drill and it’s finally available on the market as a complete no-till drill machine or as individual openers.”
Baker cross-slot openers will become available in Canada this winter and will be handled by Bruce Gilmore at Rocky View Agricore United in Alberta.
The Canadian introduction of the cross-slot will be at FarmTech in Red Deer Jan. 24-26. Gilmore expects the list price per opener unit to be $2,500, depending on options.
For more information, contact Gilmore at 403-312-1709, or check www.cross-slot.com.
