We received an exciting task. We had to support autumn direct seeding. Of course, since we were involved, it wasn’t direct seeding anymore, but it was sensible.
The area was a mix of looser and tighter sandy stubble and meadow, where soil preparation was of utmost importance. However, due to the recent drought conditions, we had to minimize soil disturbance. For weed control, shallow cultivation was necessary, as ryegrass, johnsongrass, and other weeds would compete with the sown crops for water and nutrients.
I chose the big iron, in case there was a lot of crop residue or the soil was hard, it needed weight, but also needed a good flow-through cross-section.
We started on the sandy part first, and I was worried that I had brought too big a machine because it was sinking. It worked with suspension and wheels, but if the whole area was like this, I would go home and bring a mounted two-row machine. The situation wasn’t easy, and I’m curious about the quality of the emergence. If we went shallow, it pulled out the weeds but couldn’t chop them up because the sand didn’t support it. The “hay” left on the surface is a problem during seeding because seeds sown on plant residues don’t have soil contact and won’t germinate.
The terrain changed quickly; after the first few hectares of sand, the tightest part came, an area mowed for several years. Here, the weight and aggressiveness of the machine were definitely needed. The machine was just enough; we managed to cut the entire surface 4-6 cm deep in one pass, so the emerging seeds won’t face competition here either. Since the soil held here, the rotors could chop and shave the plants, so there was no question about the quality of the seeding. In these tight areas, a simpler machine would probably have had to go over the area twice because weight and extra overlap were needed.
We are eagerly waiting to see how the emergence will be; we tried to provide the best foundation for it.
