Performance of hoe and triple disc furrow openers on no-till grain drills in a fine sandy loam soil

Abstract

The success of no-till crop production depends largely on achieving initial crop establishment. Many designs of no-till grain drill furrow openers have been developed to cut through surface residue and plant seeds into undisturbed soil; the opener performance can vary widely under different soil and residue conditions. A field experiment was conducted to compare seeding performance, implement draft and tractor fuel consumption for two no-till grain drills with contrasting opener types, hoe and triple disc, for planting wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under Atlantic Canada conditions. A randomized complete block experimental design was employed with two no-till openers, three ground speeds, 5, 8 and 11 km h−1, and three target seeding depths, 20, 40 and 60 mm. Emergence counts and actual seeding depths were measured. Drill draft and tractor fuel consumption were measured with an instrumented tractor. Opener type and ground speed had no effect on seeding depth, vertical scatter of seed, or emergence rate indicating that both opener types performed equally well. Effect of ground speed on opener draft was not significant (P > 0.05), but effect of seeding depth was highly significant (P < 0.001) for both opener types; opener draft was about 200 N higher for the hoe than the triple disc opener at the same speed and depth. Tractor fuel consumption (L h−1) was higher for higher ground speeds, but when fuel consumption was expressed on an area basis (L ha−1), the fuel consumption was lower at higher ground speeds owing the improved tractor operating efficiency. This demonstrates opportunities for fuel savings by proper matching ground speed to tractor size. The results are applicable to similar soil conditions throughout the world, but may not be applicable in different or more difficult no-till seeding conditions such as a fine textured cohesive soil, compacted soil or large quantity of surface residue.