Cover-crop Seeding This Fall
by Matt Hagny If you don’t already have your cover-crop rye and triticale seed purchased, now is a great time to get that plan underway for when your corn crop is harvested. The benefits and management techniques I’ve written about previously here still hold. The...
read moreDrilling Wheat in Wet Conditions
by Matt Hagny Once again, it looks like much of North America’s winter wheat region will be faced with an early fall, with lots of rain—so says a forecasting service that I subscribe to and follow closely for long-range forecasts and who’ve proven remarkably accurate...
read moreKeep corn stalks standing
by Matt Hagny Following up on my Dec 2013 newsletter: To keep more corn stalks standing (thus making it easier to seed into, as well as making them last longer), it appears that one of the most effective tools is to get the head slowed down sufficiently. For instance,...
read moreCase P-500 closing arm: bushings pack with dirt
by Matt Hagny The pivots for the Case P-500 / NH 2080’s packer/closing arm have a bad tendency to pack full of dirt and stop moving, often requiring yearly removal and cleaning. Several producers have installed grease fittings to prevent this (see photo): “It seems to...
read moreJD 50/60/90 seed boots
by Matt Hagny An oft-discussed topic is the repair of the boot attachment holes to minimize the up/down slop (which is important for seed placement). But it’s crucial that this slop be addressed in a way that doesn’t cause plugging. Even the smallest gap between boot...
read moreJD 50/60/90/Pro-series NT drill tips, Part 2:
by Matt Hagny Continuing on from our previous email with seed firming and furrow closing steps: 5) Seed firming is mission critical. Unless you’re willing to rely on a rain every time you seed (not wise!), you must achieve good seed-to-soil contact, and this is...
read moreJD 50/60/90/Pro-series NT drill tips, Part 1:
by Matt Hagny All of our past newsletters and tips on these drills are compiled and updated here (if you hate reading, this material was also presented in a recent webinar, although there’s certainly some value in reviewing both). These things matter—the no-tillers...
read moreIntroducing Forges de Niaux 200 blades for JD 50/60/90 drills!
Exapta is pleased to now offer a truly superior blade for your JD no-till drills, the Forges de Niaux 200. Extensive field testing has proven these to last an average of 20% longer than the next-best, the Ingersoll, and to stay sharp longer—due to a unique steel and...
read morePlanter Downforce, Depth Settings, and Levelness
by Matt Hagny If you have new blades on a Deere planter with the depth mechanism set as shown in this photo, the furrow being cut should be 2” deep consistently. If it’s less than that, you don’t have enough downforce on the row unit. (For corn, sunflowers, and...
read moreProfile of Success: Kent Stones, Lebanon, KS
by Matt Hagny Case studies of some top-notch no-tillers (there are many). Kent Stones examines the oldest no-till field in Brazil. In touring what was supposedly some of the best no-till in Brazil, he wasn't impressed, noting far too much soil disturbance and lack of...
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