This file was created by scanning the printed publication.
Errors identified by the software have been corrected;
however, some errors may remain.
DRILL SEEDING IN WESTERN
CANADA
John Waddington
F.BenDyck
Garry G. Bowes
Duane H. McCartney
ABSTRACT
until freezeup in early November. The snowmelt will normally produce a fully saturated soil profile in the northeast,
to anywhere from good moisture to near bone dry depending on the year in the southwest.
The best time to seed, because we use cool-season species,
is in early spring. The second-best time is into cold soil in
late fall for an early spring germination. The worst time
is in late spring because of the short interval for seedling
growth before the increasingly hot and dry part of the growingseason.
Reports on the degree of success in Saskatchewan of various forage seeding equipment in relation to methods ofland
preparation prior to seeding. Research sites varied from aspen parkland pastures to semi-arid rangelands. Land preparation included complete and partial cultivation and the
use ofglyphosate {N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine} for complete or partial vegetation control without cultivation. Seeding equipment included roller-broadcast, disk-opener, and
hoe-opener drills. In all cases, seeders that had independent depth control on each opener were best.
SYMMETRIC AND ASYMMETRIC
DOUBLE-DISK OPENERS
CLIMATE AND SOILS IN
SASKATCHEWAN
Each disk of a standard 34-em diameter double-disk
opener was fitted with 2-em-wide depth control bands
attached 2.5 em from the cutting edge. This opener was
compared with an experimental asymmetric double-disk
opener designed and built at Swift Current Research Station. The experimental opener has a 38-cm vertical disk
and a 28-em disk angled at 7 degrees to the larger disk.
The center for mounting the smaller disk is 5 em below
and 2.5 em behind the larger disk mounting so that the
bottoms of the disks are on the same horizontal plane.
A rubber-tired wheel 5 em wide and 33 em in diameter
is mounted beside the large disk as an adjuntable gauge
wheel depth controller (Lawrence and Dyck 1990).
The experimental opener proved to be superior to the
standard opener for seeding a wide range of forage species
(table 1). The asymmetric openers have been fitted to all
plot seeding equipment and some field-scale drills at the
Research Station, and are giving us excellent forage
establishment.
In general, the climatic, soil, and vegetation zones run
from southeast to northwest across Saskatchewan (Anon.
19~6). Much of the province is in the brown soil zone (AridicTypic Borolls), with native vegetation of short-midgrass
rangeland, mostly cool-season species except on the sandy
soils of the southwest where some warm-season grasses
either are or can become a major component. To the northeast are black- and grey-wooded soils (Cryic soils) as the
precipitation/evaporation ratio improves.
Average precipitation increases only slightly across the
province from 360 mm at Swift Current in the southwest
to 400 mm at Melfort in the northeast, with between 25
and 35 percent coming as snow between October and April.
The probability of the snow remaining on the ground until
spring increases from southwest to northeast. The peak
probability and amount of precipitation is in late June over
the whole area. The precipitation/evaporation ratio during
the growing season improves from 1:5.6 at Swift Current to
1:3.0 in the northeast at Nipawin on the edge of the boreal
forest zone. At all places, moisture is usually increasingly
deficient as the season progresses.
The best moisture conditions are from the start of the
growing season in April or May, through June. Usually
there follows hot, dry weather until late August. Frosts
increase in frequency and severity from mid-September
Table 1-Forage seedling emergence after planting with a standard
double-disk furrow opener and an experimental asymmetric double-disk opener
Forage species
Standard
double-disk
opener
Experimental
double-disk
opener
- - - - - - Percent emergence - - - - - Paper presented at the Symposium on Ecology, Management, and Restoration of Intermountain Annual Rangelands, Boise, ID, May 18-22, 1992.
John Waddington and F. Ben Dyck are Research Scientists, Agriculture
Canada Research Station, Swift Current, SK S9H 3X2, Canada. Garry G.
Bowes is a Research Scientist, Agriculture Canada Experimental Farm,
Indian Head, SK SOG 2KO, Canada. Duane H. McCartney is a Biologist,
Agriculture Canada Research Station, Melfort, SK SOE lAO, Canada.
Altai wild ryegrass
Russian wild ryegrass
Intermediate wheatgrass
Crested wheatgrass
Tall wheatgrass
307
29
46
33
34
70
52
30
42
50
94
EQUIPMENT TESTED
Swift Current Range Drill-This is a heavy, triple-disk
drill, designed and built at the Research Station for seeding
in rough northern range conditions. It has large cutting
disks that have no trip mechanism, so at least half of the
weight of the drill can come to bear on any one disk. The
cutting disks are followed by large double-disk assemblies
with depth-control bands, and at the back are U-shaped
packers, one of which drives the seed metering.
Each seeding and packing run is suspended independently, and can follow quite uneven land contours. Transport wheels at each side are raised when seeding and have
only a minor stabilizing function (McLaughlin and Dyck
1986).
John Deere Powertill-This drill has powered rotary
disks that cU.t slots in the soil about an inch wide when the
disks are new, and about a quarter of an inch wide when
they are badly worn. Seed is dribbled behind the disks and
some of it falls in the slots.
Cover is provided by soil thrown up in a spray behind
the rotating disks and dismally inadequate packer wheels
run over the (hopefully) covered seed. Seeding depth is
controlled by a shoe that slides on the ground between
pairs of disks.
Moore Unidrill-This drill has single-offset disks that
have a shoe on the back through which seed is dropped in
the opened slots cut by the disks. A heavy T-section packer
wheel runs behind each disk. Seeding depth is controlled
by an adjustment on the hitch and trailing land wheels.
Zero-Till Hoe Drill-This drill was designed and built
at Swift Current for seeding grain crops directly into standing stubble. It has narrow hoe openers with high and wide
clearance for trash. Seeding depth is controlled by a caster
wheel in front and steel packer wheels behind the openers.
Swift Current Forage Drill-This drill has the asymmetric disk openers described earlier (Lawrence and Dyck
1990), and was built at Swift Current for seeding forages
into fallow or standing stubble. A plastic packer wheel runs
behind the disk assemblies. Each opener-packer combination is suspended independently and can follow uneven soil
surfaces. Landwheels at each side of the machine provide
stability.
Connor-Shea Zero-Till Pasture Drill-Rolling colters
cut slots in the ground and are followed by narrow-winged
hoes, which open the slots for seed and undercut 2 to 3 inches
on either side of the seed placement. Each opener is fixed to
the frame by a coil tyne. Depth control is provided by land
wheels at each side of the frame.
Oregon Range Drill-This drill has large, steel wheels,
each with a V-ridge that presses a furrow into which seed
is dropped. A drag chain covers the seed. Each wheel is
suspended independently from the frame.
British Columbia Rangeland Drill-This drill uses a
Brillion style of opener, where the first set of ridged rollers
open a furrow, and the second set are offset enough to split
the ridges and cover the seed that has been dropped in the
furrows, and pack the soil.
308
The Manitoba Brillion Drill-A front set of ridged
rollers open a furrow. A seed box is mounted on the back
set of rollers, which are articulated to the front set. Seed
is dropped immediately in front of the back rollers and covered by their ridge-splitting action.
EXPEBrnMENTSCONDUCTED
A Comparison of Mechanical and Chemical
Methods for Vegetation Control Prior to SeedingThe Swift Current range drill was used as the seeder in a
test to compare the effects of resident vegetation suppression
on establishment ofbromegrass (J3romus inermis Leyss.)alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) or crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertn.)-alfalfa mixtures in the greywooded soil zone. Glyphosate {N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine}
was applied broadcast at the standard rate of 2.5 kg/ha a.i.
to the resident vegetation, which was primarily Kentucky
bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) sod. Lesser rates of 2.0 and
1.0 kglha were also applied together with 1.7 kglha of
ammonium sulfate. A fourth treatment was rotavation to
control the vegetation. Both alfalfa and grasses were seeded
at 80 seedslm of row. Vegetation control and seeding were
carried out in late May or early June in each of 4 years
(Bowes and Zentner 1992).
Better establishment of the seeded species was obtained
when the resident vegetation was suppressed, but the method used to suppress it was not critical (table 2). The lower
rates of glyphosate were equally effective as the standard
rate when ammonium sulfate was included in the spray
mixture. The alfalfa established satisfactorily with or without suppression of the bluegrass, although establishment
and productivity were better after bluegrass suppression.
Bromegrass establishment and production were much
better if the bluegrass was suppressed before seeding the
brome. None of the treatments permanently reduced the
bluegrass. It recovered, probably from a seedbank in the
soil, and also perhaps from rhizome fragments not killed
by the suppression treatment. An economic analysis indicated that over the long term there was no benefit to suppressing the resident bluegrass prior to seeding an alfalfabromegrass mixture.
A Comparison of Three Drills for Direct Seeding
After Resident Vegetation Suppression-The site of
this experiment is about 100 miles north of the site of the
experiment described earlier; the soil and climate are much
the same. We wished to replace the resident smooth bromecreeping red fescue (Festuca rubra L.)-weed vegetation with
meadow bromegrass (Bromus biebersteinii R.&S.).
We sprayed the pasture in October 1984 with glyphosate.
This was late in the season, but a satisfactory kill of the
resident sward should have been obtained. The poor kill
was probably a result of inactivation of the glyphosate by
clay suspended in the water we used. Consequently, we
resprayed the following June and seeded in August. We set
up a four-replicate test of the three machines, and measured
success by how much of the drill runs were occupied by the
desired meadow bromegrass in 1986, 1 year after seeding,
and again in 1988.
The Swift Current drill was significantly better on what
was mostly dead, untilled sod (table 3) (McCartney 1985).
Table 2-Comparison of various glyphosate treatments or rotavation with an untreated check for establishment of
bromegrass alfalfa in bluegrass sod
Po~ulatlon
Alfalfa
In ~ear seeded
Bromegrass
- - - - - Plantslm of row - - - No suppression
Glyphosate 2.5 kglha
Glyphosate +am. sulf.
2.0 kg+ 1.7 kg
Glyphosate +am. suit.
1.0 kg+ 1.7 kg
Rotavated
-------------~a-----------1,290
1,980
91
490
2,240
3,040
10
9
1,600
410
2,780
10
7
10
8
1,690
1,580
550
610
2,920
2,830
1
NS
Percent of drill run occupied
by meadow brome
September 1986
August 1988
87
Total
5
10
Table 3-A comparison of three drills for seeding meadow bromegrass into turf suppressed by glyphosate in northeastern
Saskatchewan
Drill
Bromegrass
6
10
Significant contrasts (percent)
No suppression
vs. suppression
Rotavate vs.
glyphosate
Swift Current Range
Seeder (triple-disk)
John Deere Powertill
(powered disk)
Moore Unidrill
(single offset disk)
D.M.~Ield
Alfalfa
64
1
Signlflcantly different (p < 0.05) from the range drill.
However, in 1991, dry matter production of both the meadow
brome and the rest of the vegetation was not significantly
different among the three drill treatments.
NS
NS
NS
1988. Establishment success was measured as numbers of
seedlings established by late summer of the year following
seeding.
The various disk machines performed best {table 4).
A satisfactory stand of alfalfa was obtained in 1986 only
after using the Swift Current Range Seeder. In 1987, all
the disk seeders produced satisfactory stands. In 1988,
the very dry conditions prevented the development of any
adequate stands. Of the drills tested, the Swift Current
Range Seeder was clearly the best under Saskatchewan
conditions. The Connor-Shea drill also showed promise.
It performed as well as the range drill in a very dry year.
These experiments also showed the importance of independent suspension for each drill run so that they can follow
the land contours. Otherwise, the seeds are placed either
too deep or too shallowly much of the time.
The effect of overall climatic conditions can be seen in
table 5. With good seeding equipment, we usually obtained
satisfactory stands in the moister areas. In the drier areas
A Comparison of Six Drills for Seeding Alfalfa
Into Untilled Sod-In each of 3 years, 1985-87, we ap-
Table 4-Effect of drills on percentage of alfalfa established at the
end of the seedling year
plied glyphosate at 2.2 kglha plus 0.5 percent v/v Agsurf
{nonylphenoxypolyethoxy ethanol) at several sites throughout Saskatchewan to kill strips of resident vegetation at a
time during the growing season when it was actively growing. The width of the killed vegetation strip varied from
site to site and from year to year but was within the range
30-100 em. We seeded alfalfa at 100 seeds/m (1985) or
at 200 seeds/m {1986-87) into the dead vegetation late in
October, using three or four drills {table 4). A more detailed description of experimental technique can be found
in Waddington {1992). The seeds germinated the following
spring.
Assuming that an alfalfa content of about 20 percent
is needed to provide the optimum benefit to a pasture
{Sheehy 1989), about 10 percent or 5 percent of seed needs
to establish at these seeding rates. Soil moisture conditions
were fair-excellent in 1986 and 1987, but extremely poor in
Drill
Swift Current Range Drill
(triple-disk)
Swift Current Forage Drill
(double-disk)
Moore Unidrill
(single offset disk)
Connor-Shea Zero-Till
Pasture Drill
(winged hoe)
Swift Current ZeroTill Grain Drill
(narrow hoe)
John Deere Powertill
(powered disk)
309
1985-86
19a&.a7
1987-88
9
10
2
6
2
2
2
3
5
Table 5-Percent of alfalfa seeds established after seeding with the Swift Current Range Drill on several sites in Saskatchewan
Dark-brown-soli
zone
Brown-soli zone
Year
1985-86
1986-87
1987-88
Swift
Current
(loam)
8
0
<1
Webb
(sand)
0
0
Black-grey-soli
zone
Indian
Head
Pathlow
(clay)
(loam)
Crane
Valley
(clay)
Lanigan
(loam)
Scott
(loam)
<1
<1
3
15
3
13
36
2
2
of the brown-soil zone, and in a very dry year such as 1988,
we usually failed to establish the alfalfa. In more recent
experiments at Swift Current, we have established excellent alfalfa stands after spraying and seeding in early spring
(Waddington and others, these proceedings).
A Comparison of Heavy Roller Drills-Often in
northern pastures, seeding must be done in stony, roughly
cultivated land, often with dead branches or roots of trees
lying on or near the surface. We compared the Oregon,
British Columbia, and Manitoba drills for ability to seed
bromegrass-alfalfa in these conditions.
We were unable to make measured comparisons of seedling establishment, but seedling emergence after using the
Oregon drill was about 10 days earlier than after the other
two. There was a rain immediately after seeding, so germination conditions were good. All three drills drop seeds in
the bottom of a furrow made by the roller or wheel ahead of
the seed spout. The Oregon seeder leaves the seed there
and covers it with a drag chain, so water moving into the
furrow during a rain soaks into the soil immediately above
the seed. The other two drills split the ridge with a second
roller and bury the seed at the bottom of the new ridge. Consequently, water soaks into the soil at the side of the seed
rather than directly above it. Establishment was good for
all three drills by the end of the growing season.
310
24
2
REFERENCES
Anon. 1976. Agroclimatic atlas of Canada. Ottawa, ON:
Research Branch, Agriculture Canada. [17 maps].
Bowes, G. G. 1992. Effect of vegetation suppression on the
establishment of sod-seeded alfalfa in the aspen parkland.
Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 72. [In press].
Lawrence, T.; Dyck, F. B. 1990. A comparison of two fur.
row opener-depth control assemblies for seeding forage
grasses. Journal of Range Management. 43: 82-83.
McCartney, D. H. 1985. Reseeding roughland pastures.
Ottawa, ON: Research Branch Report, Agriculture
Canada. 295 p.
McLaughlin, N. B.; Dyck, F. B. 1986. Directory of research
equipment developed at the Swift Current Research Station. Tech. Bull. 1986-9E. Ottawa, ON: Research Branch,
Agriculture Canada. 22 p.
Sheehy, J. E. 1989. How much dinitrogen fixation is required
in grazed grassland? Annals of Botany. 64: 15~-161. .
Waddington, J. 1988. Renovation of pastures by direct drilling. Report to the Saskatchewan Agricultural Research
Fund, Regina, SK. 69 p. [Mimeo].
Waddington, J. 1992. A comparison of drills for direct seeding alfalfa into established grasslands. Journal of Range
Management. 45: 483-486.