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Liberate the Roots!

by Matt Hagny, consulting agronomist for no-till systems since ‘94.

Many of you are fighting to get your corn crop planted in the mud across the central & eastern corn-growing areas of the US/Canada. Just a reminder that in damp conditions, it’s especially important to make sure you break the sidewall adequately with spoked closing wheels—make sure you’ve got enough spring pressure on them to break up the sidewall as much as possible, but without disturbing the seed placement. (If in doubt about spokes pulling seeds loose, tie-up the closing bracket on a row and compare—sometimes seeds are misplaced before the closing wheel gets there. If some seeds are loose or misplaced, check to see that you’re not allowing the sidewall to lift too much, and that your seed tube & guard are up to snuff. Also, the better the seed is embedded in the bottom of the furrow—with a Keeton + Mojo Wire, or a seed-lock wheel—the less likely it is to roll loose as the sidewall is broken by the closing wheels.)

I’ve been guilty of over-emphasizing being gentle on the furrow closing and have been complacent at times in not getting after clients to do more sidewall breakage. That was a big mistake last year…continue reading here: Liberate-the-roots

Derek Tjaden

Derek is Kansas native who grew up in a 100% no-till farming operation. From an early age the benefits of no-till were made known to Derek by his father and by attending no-till conferences. From there he furthered his passion for soils while at Kansas State University getting his agronomy degree. He has had the experience of working in various roles and sectors of agriculture from sales and consulting to management, which have all been within production agriculture. Derek has also worked in specialty ag markets such as turf and ornamentals.

Bob Pagel

Sales & Service Representative

Prior to joining Exapta, Bob Pagel was an Agricultural Territory Sales Manager for Ritchie Brothers, serving parts of MN, WI and IA. He continues to support his family farm in SE Minnesota.

Jon Zeller

Current Product Engineer

He brings hands-on experience in no-till planting equipment, agricultural research, and design engineering. With a background in farming in NE Kansas and an engineering degree, he spent seven years at Kansas State University and three at Landoll Company. He’s passionate about solving engineering challenges and developing durable, user-friendly products.