| Introduction
The Alberta Farm Machinery Research Centre was approached by a local Conservation 2000 group to assist in the operation of a one pass seeder plot. The plot site was owned by Lorne Hickey and located at NW 20-7-20-W4. The site was suitable because it was sprayed with Glean the previous year. The plots were also located near a major road for good access.
Description
The plots were seeded to Kyle durum wheat at 75 lb/ac (84 kg/ha). Fertilizer (29-26-0) was applied at 40 Ib/ac (45 kg/ha) with the seed. Total plot size was 25 ac (10 ha). Length was 850 ft (259 m) and total width was 1325 ft (530 m). The individual plots were seeded from east to west. The plots were seeded with four different seeders: the John Deere 752 All Till Drill, the Victory Seed-o-vator, the Great Plains No-Till Drill and the Morris Airseeding System.
The Morris System consisted of a 6130 Air Seeder with an 8900 cultivator and a shank mounted ground rod. The John Deere drill was borrowed from the County of Lethbridge. The Great Plains and Morris units were test units from the AFMRC. The Victory unit was owned and operated by a local farmer. Every other Morris plot was packed with a packer drawbar. The arrangement of the plots was as shown in Figure 1.
The individual plots were swathed with a 21 ft (6.4 m) John Deere self-propelled swather and harvested with a Case IH 1482 pull type combine. Yield measurements were based on the 21 ft (6.4 m) width of the swather and the 850 ft (259 m) length of the plot. Yield data for the plots are shown in Tables land 2. A weigh wagon from the AFMRC was used to weigh the plot yields. The plots were seeded on May 1st, swathed on September 6th and harvested on September 12th.
Results And Discussion
A statistical analysis of the yield data showed that the plot yields significantly varied because of seeding equipment and plot location. In other words, the field was not uniform in yield. A further statistical analysis showed that the John Deere yields were significantly different from the Victory and Morris without the packer drawbar plots. The Great Plains and Morris packed yields were statistically no different from the other seeders.
John Deere 752 All Till Drill
The John Deere seeded plots were lower in yield because of the weed competition. The crop should have been sprayed prior to seeding with the John Deere drill. Soil disturbance with the 752 drill was not significant.
Victory Seed-o-vator
The Victory Seed-o-vator completely tilled the soil while seeding. Spraying prior to seeding was not necessary.
Great Plains No-Till Drill
The Great Plains drill left many soil lumps on the surface after seeding. This was due to the moist soil conditions during seeding. This soil disturbance provided some weed kill during seeding. Spraying prior to seeding with the Great Plains drill is necessary under normal soil conditions.
Morris Airseeding System
The Morris Airseeding system completely tilled the soil while seeding. Spraying prior to seeding was not necessary. The packer drawbar behind the airseeding system made no noticeable difference in yield because of the rainfall a few days after seeding. The shank mounted ground rod also may have provided enough packing for the seed in these conditions.
Table 1. Yield data from Conservation plot on Lorne Hickey's farm.
Seeder
Make | Initial
Weight | Final
Weight | Weight
Diff. | Yield
bu/ac |  | Average
Yield |
|
| Morris with packer | 0 | 932 | 932 | 37.9 | | 38.0 |
| Morris with packer | 1709 | 2644 | 935 | 38.0 | | |
| John Deere | 932 | 1709 | 777 | 3 I. 6 | | 31.6 |
| Great Plains | 2644 | 3550 | 906 | 36.8 | | 36.8 |
| Victory | 3550 | 4544 | 994 | 40.4 | | 40.0 |
| Victory | 4544 | 5518 | 974 | 39.6 | | |
| Morris w/o packer | 6530 | 7562 | 1032 | 42.0 | | 41.6 |
| Morris w/o packer | 5518 | 6530 | 1012 | 41.2 | | |
| Great Plains | 908 | 1814 | 906 | 36.8 | | 36.9 |
| Great Plains | 0 | 908 | 908 | 36.9 | | |
| Victory | 2818 | 3726 | 908 | 36.9 | | 38.9 |
| Victory | 1814 | 2818 | 1004 | 40.8 | | |
| John Deere | 3726 | 4534 | 808 | 32.9 | | 32.9 |
| Morris with packer | 4534 | 5351 | 817 | 33.2 | | 36.2 |
| None | 6316 | 6930 | 614 | 25.0 | | |
| Morris with packer | 5351 | 6316 | 965 | 39.2 | | |
| John Deere | 0 | 668 | 668 | 27.2 | | 27.2 |
| None | 668 | 1382 | 714 | 29.0 | | |
| Great Plains | 1382 | 2138 | 756 | 30.7 | | 30.7 |
| Victory | 2138 | 2932 | 794 | 32.3 | | 32.1 |
| Victory | 2932 | 3718 | 786 | 32.0 | | |
| Morris w/o packer | 3718 | 4558 | 840 | 34.2 | | 35.3 |
| Morris w/o packer | 4558 | 5454 | 896 | 36.4 | | |
| None | 5454 | 6338 | 884 | 36.0 | | |
| Great Plains | 6338 | 7208 | 870 | 35.4 | | 35.4 |
| Victory | 7208 | 8105 | 897 | 36.5 | | 38.2 |
| Victory | 0 | 982 | 982 | 39.9 | | |
| None | 982 | 1670 | 688 | 28.0 | | |
| John Deere | 1670 | 2586 | 916 | 37.3 | | 37.3 |
| Morris with packer | 2586 | 3524 | 938 | 38.2 | | 31. 2 |
| Morris with packer | 3524 | 4120 | 596 | 24.2 | | |
| None | 4120 | 4532 | 412 | 16.8 | | |
| John Deere | 4532 | 5250 | 718 | 29.2 | | 29.2 |
| None | 5250 | 5968 | 718 | 29.2 | | |
| Great Plains | 5968 | 6804 | 836 | 34.0 | | 34.0 |
| Victory | 6804 | 7688 | 884 | 36.0 | | 37.1 |
| Victory | 7688 | 8630 | 942 | 38.3 | | |
| Morris w/o packer | 0 | 824 | 824 | 33.5 | spilled | |
| Morris w/o packer | 824 | 1800 | 976 | 39.7 | | 39.7 |
| None | 1800 | 2522 | 722 | 29.4 | | |
| Great Plains | 2522 | 3420 | 898 | 36.5 | | 36.5 |
| Victory | 3420 | 4379 | 959 | 39.0 | | 37.7 |
| Victory | 4379 | 5276 | 897 | 36.5 | | |
| None | 5276 | 5818 | 542 | 22.0 | | |
| John Deere | 5818 | 6560 | 742 | 30.2 | | 30.2 |
| Average | | | | | | 35.2 |
.
Table 2. Plot Yield Summary (bu/ac)
Seeder |
| Repetition Number | Morris Airseeder | John Deere All Till Drill | Great Plains No-Till Drill | Victory Seed-o-vator | Average |
with Packer Drawbar | without Packer Drawbar |
| 1 | 38 | | 31.6 | 36.8 | 40.0 | 36.6 |
| 2 | | 41.6 | 32.9 | 36.9 | 38.9 | 37.6 |
| 3 | 36.2 | | 27.2 | 30.7 | 32.1 | 31.6 |
| 4 | | 35.3 | 37.3 | 35.4 | 38.2 | 36.6 |
| 5 | 31.2 | | 29.2 | 34.0 | 37.1 | 32.9 |
| 6 | | 39.7 | 30.2 | 36.5 | 37.7 | 36.0 |
| Average | 35.1 | 38.7 | 31.4 | 35.3 | 37.4 | |
| Standard Deviation | 2.9 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 2.5 | |
| CV (%) | 8.2 | 6.8 | 10.2 | 6.2 | 6.7 | |
|