Row Spancing

[SASKFARMER3]

Peas we use 10in on Bourg 1
Canola 12in on Bourg 2
Wheat early is seeded with both drills and year in year out no real difference.
Most drills up in the NE are 10 in with a 2 inch boot.
Further south wider spacing and narrow openers.
Funny one area typical wet other dryer.

[JDGreen]

Peas and lentils are healthier and stronger I find in 12" rows.. However the catch I find is the stubble I'm able to seed between and leave standing. With the Seedmaster seeding between rows works great as the previous 12" of cereal stubble remains anchored and standing even after rolling. Every area is very different and all should do what works best for them.

[farmaholic]

JD, you must farm in wide open area without many obstacles or field patterns dont change much from year to year. Between the row seeding wouldn't work well here. Things sure can vary here.

[JDGreen]

Yes I do.. Nearly all fields are flat to gently undulating. Square fields with pretty much zero obstacles. Totally different world as compared to many. Makes inter row seeding very manageable.. Of the few small pieces we farm or tight areas inter row is far more challenging

[ado089]

My other motivation for. 7.5" disc is my organic land. I would rather work it once in the spring seed with a disc get good seed placement and establisment then heavy harrow the shit out if it rather then work it again.

[furrowtickler]

It would be interesting to see if anyone has set up a 7.5 in disc drill that can be switched easily to a 15 in ( block off every second run ? )
Much like the 15/30 corn planters

[ado089]

It would be pretty easy. I would just jigger the hoses and manifolds and use the double shoot on the cart to control what goes where. Single shoot on 7.5" MRB on 15". I was thinking of doing it anyway for double cropping organic stuff. I just need to find another section to farm to justify spending the money.

[Klause]

We run a 12 inch spacing 5 inch spread boot... like it much better than a knife on 7.5


We are able to boost plant populations.


We have more main stems per square foot and more seeds on that foot as the average numbers of seeds a head is higher.
Canola we couldn't do a good trial.


Peas they don't seem to stand quite as well on the 12 in spacing but we will adjust plant populations to help with that.


Because our SBU went up so much we don't see more weed pressure with the move to wider spacings... The higher the SBU the higher the yield capability if you have moisture. Very different planting in Swift Current vs. Humboldt.

Just my 0.02

[furrowtickler]

I tried to get a 14 or 15 in Bourgault to go with our 3 in paired row openers - no can do unless you reconfigure it yourself . Had to go with 12 in , it works well but 14-15 in would work better to reduce disease plus less iron to pay for and drag through the ground .
Seed master makes a 14 in , but they will not make a single shank like the Bourgault 3320.
Horsch Anderson makes one we were looking at, I think it was a 14 in .
Not realy relevant to your idea ado though lol - just throwing it out there .
Some research points to max wheat yields at or below 7.5 in spacing . Some say it don't matter in this part of the world ?

[JDGreen]

I spoke with Morris about the 7.5/15 concept furrow with their razor drill.. It's something they are looking at.

[furrowtickler]

That's the main reasons we did the paired row as well Klause . I don't like running high populations in a narrow seed row for the exact reasons you said. I would like to see a 14 or 15 in machine with 3 to 4 inch paired row for wheat then plug one row for canola at around 3.5 to 4 lbs/ac.
I dry springs I may kick myself for moving too much soil in the seed row but overall it may have a lot of merrit ?

JD - that will be interesting to see - someone will make it work .

[hobbyfrmr]

Ado, dont't do it, there is no money in it.
Keep what you have, upgrade your sprayer.

[Hamloc]

I read an interesting article describing seed placement acurracy with canola using a dutch low draft opener with three inch spread. On one field they put the seed out the twin row and the other they reversed it and put it down the center. The single row down the center had more even germination and much less fluctuation in seeding depth. The agronomist's opinion was the soil was fractured more by the wings of the tooth and that the seed shooting out each side gave less accurate placement. I seeded my peas down the fert tubes this year on my dutch low fraft worked very well. I realize peas germ good but I liked the single row better than the twin row the previous year. Both on 10 inch centers.

[farmaholic]

Hamloc. We were using those openers and I didn't like the canola emergence at all when we placed the seed using the paired row, I never tried using the fert tube. The fert option would have to be dry for this to work. Part of our success now might be the fact we are getting most of the fert about 5 inches away from the seed. We are now using a Dutch 2 inch spread knife, but I think the independent shank is still contributing a lot to the establishment success.