[mayo]

The SR will be available on limited production in 2020. This yrs on farm testing went very well. Apparently handles pea stubble with ease wether harrowed or not.

I think the fear of wide spacing is clouding all the benefits this machine will bring farmers. 400hp and 35gpm and you’re seeding at 45 ac/hr. So no need to invest in a huge expensive tractor. The drill will be way cheaper than conventional systems. Would have to be losing significant yields in cereals to make up for that....which you wouldn’t experience anyway so long as you increase your seeding rate accordingly based on spacing. Even on 12” guys are generally seeding to low cereal rates. Should be at 170lbs on 12” and pushing 200lbs on 15”. It’s essential to pushing yields on wider spacing. I’ve experienced yield increases on 14” from 12”. Also my fungicide application needs diminished in a big way.

Instead of being stuck on cereal yields let’s look at the big benefits.

Low HP
Low oil
Cheaper to purchase
Precision row metering
No towers to mess with
No crawling under drills
No more rank bunching in corners
True terrain following
Better field finish

And the big question nobody asks....what are we sacrificing on canola yields when using narrower spacing?

 

[mayo]

SR in heavy pea stubble right behind the combines this fall. Impressive. Perfect field finish. Other great thing of single rank drill is no row bunching in corners. Metering works like a charm. Iso plug and play.

 

[mayo]

Video link of SR in non harrowed fall pea stubble. https://youtu.be/onsOX9cU63k

 

[mayo]

I have the row spacing discussion with guys very often. I have a lot of experience with 14” row spacing on small grain crops. We’ve seen tremendous results while lowering equipment cost, fuel consumption and soil moisture loss.

Now with the new Ultra SR hitting the market at 15” row spacing it’s sparking the convo all over again. More guys are adopting it and seeing the benefit but some guys think it’s insane until we have a convo....

There is much to consider when buying a seed drill. The Ultra SR is a 15” unit but the cost of purchase is 40% less than a standard drill design. Also with the added benefits of the
on-board metering there is a huge increase in precision and gentleness. Single rank technology allows for incredible terrain following.

So my convo always goes like this....some “data” claims a 5bu/Ac drop from 10 to 14” spacing in wheat. I have not seen this myself in all the years of using wider spacing but let’s say it’s true....

The 60ft Ultra SR covers acres like a standard 80ft unit due to faster seeding speed and is 4 compartment 735bu.
Big drill capacity.
Way more mobile.
The SR costs under 400k. A standard 80ft with similar tanks...625-700k.
250k avg savings.

With the SR you only need 375HP and 36GPM. Use an older existing tractor.
250-550k savings

Fuel consumption drops 30%
$$$ savings

Wide row spacing canola will yield better
$$$ increase

You’d have to lose 5bu/Ac of wheat per acre every year on 2000 acres of wheat for 20 years to make up the difference. It’s a moot point in my opinion.

 

[mayo]

I have a 7.5" spacing drill and had one hose out of the boot for a couple of fields of wheat. My excuse is that the blockage monitor was still fine, just crooked and seed not going in boot.

At any rate if you want to go find weeds in that field the place you will find it is on that 15" row. With weed resistance looming I can't understand why someone would give up the effective weed control tool of crop competition. I see the same thing in pulses and canola.

I do applaud Seedmaster, they are definitely trying to think outside the box and have some very innovative products.

So what if you were on wider spacing and that row where your hose was off hadn’t been tilled up in the first place? Would there be as many weeds growing if it hadn’t been disturbed? Not trying to be a jerk just asking. The more you disturb the soil the more weed seeds will grow.

I can honestly say that I’ve never seen weed issues due to wider spacing drills.

 

[mayo]

Thought I’d throw you guys an update from our side by side trials in northern Alberta from last season.

15” UltraSR vs 10” bourgault and 12” hawk in barley we saw no yield difference. Same in wheat. Canola was better by 3 bushels per acre.
Having said this.....these results are in an area that isn’t super dry. I can see that further south where canopy close up early is needed due to low moisture conditions most of the time this probably isn’t the answer. I sold one to a fellow in Innisfail Alberta last august which is central area. He’s moving from 10” to this. We did fall rye with it and it looked perfect going into winter. We will see what the results are come this fall and what the customer experienced on his other crop yields compared to his last drill on 10” would produce.

 

[mayo]

If you are wanting to confirm the 15" spacing is not a drag on yield you need to compare to a seedmaster 10" and 12" spacing with same rates of fertilizer. Then you should have an independent drill that can seed at 7-8" spacing that has a comparable opener to the seedmaster. This should also be done for 3-5 years. This will be the only way to truly put the issue to bed. We have been looking at the SR but the wide spacing on cereals of all peer reviewed third party testing shows decreases as spacing increases. Can't ignore those till you prove it right, not anecdotal of how a farmer thinks the 15" yielded compared to the last 10" drill. Useless information, things every year are so variable.

Ok but how are side by side trials that are recorded vs 10” or 12” competitor drills in the same field with same rates of product and same treatment through the season not viable info? I agree it needs to be done for at least a few years in a row which is what we are doing through my dealership for customers. I also have 10 years experience on wide spacing and I’ve never seen a yield variance that was significant. As far as 7-8” spacing well that’ll never happen here unless someone has a box drill. I’ve thought about double seeding with the SR to mimic 7.5”. Would have to seed slow and interow with two half applications.

 

[mayo]

Is there any chance of a paired row opener that can be used on this SR drill? Like the Dutch conversion kit? This would help immensely in my opinion with the spacing issue. Love the idea of a SR, so easy to check, fix, etc. No more crawling under a drill would be seeding heaven!

Just recently Dutch released some new stuff for SM opener designs but no reports yet on how they’ve worked. Dutch designed and inline rework for the SM opener. We will see once people try. Not sure how well an in-line would work on the SR