Fargo, North Dakota – Some producers say speed is more important than size at seeding time. On heavy clay soil, many prefer a small drill they can run fast rather than a big 60-foot frame that bogs down.
That’s precisely the niche market Eugene Breker had in mind when his company introduced the Fargo Aire double disc system.
“Our seed placement at nine miles per hour is as good as five miles per hour,” Breker said.
“I know of at least one of our customers who seeds all his beans, wheat and barley at 10 mph plus. Never slower than 10.”
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The key is how seed is dropped.
“Seed goes down ahead of the bearing assembly, right at the pinch point where the two discs come together.
“So no matter what ground speed you’re running, the seed gets metered directly into the bottom of the trench, just as the trench is forming.”
He said older conventional systems drop seed behind the bearing, where it is mixed in with soil and improperly positioned at the bottom of the trench.
“As a result, you need to get down to five mph or slower for accurate placement. With the Fargo Aire, we’re totally comfortable telling a producer he can seed at nine mph.”
If at first glance the Fargo Aire looks like a Concord double-disc drill with fresh red paint, that’s not surprising. It is a close replica, but with numerous improvements.
Breker spent many years working for Concord. As a sideline business, in addition to farming, he and his brother Joe ran a seeder rental business with a half dozen Concord drills.
When Case took over, it discontinued the double disc drill because it served such a small regional market. It had been designed for heavy clay soil with low residue cover. The drill may have been perfect for the Red River Valley and Regina Plains, but this was not a big enough regional market to entice Case.
“When I left Case, I started up Fargo Products,” Breker said.
“A small company like ours can feasibly build a drill to fit the needs of a small niche market like this.”
All the Concord patents had expired, so Breker was free to use what he wanted from the original design and make improvements.
The Fargo Aire is now a focused design for fields with heavy soil, lots of moisture and little residue.
“Our customers are the guys who do conventional tillage out of necessity, either because of their crop rotations or because they need to dry out the soil before seeding. This drill is perfect for that situation, plus it gives you the advantage of speed.”
The drill is only available as a 40-foot or 45-foot model with six-inch row spacing. Larger cultivator frames are not on Fargo’s agenda.
The product cart is also similar to the Concord, but with stainless steel tanks and metering, plus stainless wherever corrosion might be a problem. The eight-inch fill-unload auger is available with polycupped flighting. The cart is available in 280 or 335 bushels.
“I know that doesn’t sound very big by today’s standards,” Breker said.
“But most of the guys on these heavy soils have found they get too much compaction with bigger carts – 335 is about the biggest they will buy.”
The Fargo Aire uses a dual zone manifold system, with many of the components imported from Australia. The standard variable rate system is a simple manual control from the cab, designed by Fargo.
“Anything we build for a customer who wants a GPS mapping or variable rate component gets turned over to Zynx. Our metering system is fully compatible with everything that Zynx does. We can do variable rate liquid or anhydrous.”
To date, Breker has sold 72 Fargo Aire drills. Thirty more will be ready for next spring. The price for a 45-foot drill with a 280 bu. tank is $104,000 US.
Fargo has also introduced a hoe drill intended for fields with higher residue levels.
“This is also classified as a drill, with packers, but it’s still not a no-till unit. It’s got lighter shanks so it will handle more residue than the double disc system. Our next step will be a true no-till drill.”
What about the half dozen Concords he co-owned with Joe? That business is now up to seven rental units, with five of the new Fargo Aire drills plus two of the original Concords.
“There’s still a demand for those old Concords, so we keep them around,” Breker said.
