The explanations and photos in this post about tillage and corn planting aren’t all that advanced, but they got me thinking and learning.
On April 25, 26 and 27, 2012, I was in northwest Iowa to experience tillage and corn planting in Sections 13 and 24 of Roosevelt Township, Pocahontas County, Iowa. My dad was born in Section 24; I was raised in Section 13.
I had a blast spending part of the time with Roger Allen as he tilled, and part of the time with Dan Allen as he planted. They add color commentary to remedial (due to my having so much to learn) explanations about farming. My resident consultant does the same.
The photos aren’t crystal clear. But…most of them were taken through a tractor cab window and during a bumpy (but still, pretty smooth for a tractor) ride.
To see the photos in slideshow view, click on the first thumbnail image. The captions are somewhat sequential. Depending upon the size of your device/monitor, in slideshow view the captions might get truncated. If so, return to the thumbnail view to read the captions in their entirety.
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- If you look carefully, you can see the yellow tile surface intake under the raised planter. Whenever there is an intake like this in the field, the tractor reduces speed and the planter is raised to go over the intake.
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- The planter needed to be raised in order to go over, and not damage, this tile surface intake.
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- In the mirror: the planter. The farmstead: Gunderland.
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- These gauges monitor the vacuum to indicate that it is working correctly. The vacuum secures seed to a plate inside the seed metering mechanism which is inside the row unit. In the plate are equidistantly spaced holes in which seeds ride. When the planting unit stops the vacuum at the precise point where a seed is on the plate, the seed at that location falls off the plate and slides down a tube into the soil.
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- A view of Gunderland (just outside of Rolfe, Iowa, and where I was raised) from inside the tractor cab during corn planting.
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- Had the residue from last year remained, it would shade the soil making it less warm. Less residue = soil warming more quickly = better germination.
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- Also, because of the tillage the night before, the row unit (which includes the seed tube and is immediately behind the teeth-like row cleaners) then has a smooth area allowing for consistent depth placement of seeds. (This consistent depth is critical for optimum root and seed development.) Because the row cleaners make a clean area for planting, they help leave the soil dark (i.e. without residue).
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- The day after the ground was tilled, corn was planted in the same field. The planter is shown here in raised position. The wheels that are teeth-like are called row cleaners*. They move some residue (e.g., stubble from the previous year) and clods (that the field cultivator didn’t already reduce in size) out of the way. The row units (each including a seed tube) are immediately behind the row cleaners.
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- If you look closely, you’ll see three ridges — due to tiling — running perpendicular to soybean stubble from last year’s crop. This tiling took place in the fall of 2011.
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- Looking south in the same Section 13 field as the previous photos, the tractor/field cultivator are soon to appear on the horizon. Visible at left are corrugated edges of two grain bins. In the distance, near Palmer, Iowa, the red lights are located at the tops of windmills — 11 miles away.
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- Late at night the moisture made it so dirt started to pack on the field cultivator transport wheels (at center of this photo), making the wheels unevenly shaped. The residue in this photo is stubble from last year’s soybean crop.
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- The tilling leveled the ground (including breaking up clods of dirt), killed weeds, and mixed crop residue (i.e., soybean stubble from the previous year) into the dirt. Also, herbicides and fertilizer (that had been applied within a day or so prior to tillage) were incorporated into the soil.
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- Late at night (and into early morning) the field cultivator tilled this Section 13 ground in preparation for corn planting the following day. The camera is looking west from the lawn at Gunderland.
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Information about row cleaners is here and here.
(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)
Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter) 
April 29, 2012 at 5:12 pm |
Great shots and data, Louise. I can imagine the time spent with Dan and Rog is very special.
April 30, 2012 at 10:06 am |
I can’t wait to read this! Thanks for being my “eyes” there for me–in a place I love but can’t get to just now. ❤ It's a definite forward to J, J, and J.