Bryan Anderson
42766 136th St, Webster, SD 57274, USASDSU Extension
Sounds like from all the other comments, I plant too many seeds. I'm on 10 inch spacing and seed 160,000. When we started notilling in 1991, we seeded 225,000!! Yes, that much!! I do know from research plots that fields at 100,000 can do just as good as higher rates. I do not use seed treatment and I want canopy as quickly as possible, so this is why I have settled at 160k.
Mentor
Depends on conditions and what kind of residue you are planting into. I like to see a final stand of 110-120k. If planting into standing stalks and in good dry conditions with not many complete stalks to cut and you can stay off the existing corn row plant 140-150k. If you are crossing old corn rows you will have more seeds that do not get good seed to soil contact because of bouncing over stalks and root balls in existing rows I would up rate to 155-160k. If the ground is on the wetter side and stalks don’t cut easy I plant at 175. I went away from JD notill drill for beans 3 years ago and bought a Great Plains corn planter on 15” spacing to accomplish better seed to soil contact. I have been able to lower seeding rates with this to a 130-140k and only loose 5-7% loss on stand. We could accomplish that with the notill drill in good dry conditions but in my 27 years using the notill drill those conditions only happen 4or 5 times. Another thing to watch to get a good stand is make sure you have enough weight on 7 1/2 inch spacing. Maybe that box drill is heavy enough but most older JD notill drills did not have enough weight when planting on 7 1/2 and needed about 100 lbs per row unit added to the frame to get good seed to soil contact. If planting into a wheat residue seeding rates can be reduced. Every area,soil type, crop residue and conditions will be different so take your time and do some digging to see what kind of job you are getting done and adjust accordingly. These seeding rates are what I have experienced on my farm but doesn’t mean it will be exactly the way it will work on yours.
Mentor
