New deep furrow drill packer prototype demonstrated

New deep furrow drill packer prototype demonstrated

Farm and Ranch June 22, 2010 Farmers attending a field day last week at Washington State University’s Lind Experiment Station saw a demonstration of a packer prototype for a new deep furrow drill. Farmers in the low rainfall wheat production area are still using drills from 50 years ago and are seeking newer technology and a design that will work with today’s conservation tillage systems to seed through higher crop residue.

Tim Smith, an Agricultural Research Technician at the Lind Station, says one common factor from meetings over the winter with producers was the need for bigger packer wheels so that‘s were the design work began.

Smith: “We have problems with our dust mulch out here of being so deep, since we are so dry, that these smaller packers on these deep furrow drills will want to push the soil ahead of the drill rather than roll over it. We worked with Barnes Welding in Waterville. We did a lot of drawing, throwing it away, drawing again, and we came up with a couple of designs of a 36-inch packer that we think will work better in this area.”

Smith says the furrows from the packer prototype look good but then it’s been a wet spring.

Smith: “We won‘t really know till later on in summer when our dust mulch dries out and it becomes more powdery like our normal seeding conditions, what it‘s going to do.”

Next, handling residue. That story tomorrow.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.

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