I’ve Got Trials

We seeded a cover crop trial plot today.

Seeds
Seeds

From left to right there’s triticale, hairy vetch, buckwheat, rapeseed, phacelia, cowpeas, and a radish and Austrian winter pea mix.

Cover Crop Seeder
Cover Crop Seeder

Tom’s seeding the plots using a hand seeder that belonged to his Grandpa Hively. We use that seeder all the time; for seeding filter strips, grass waterways, and test plots.

Our plots are small, about 1000 square feet. We’re just trying to find out which of these will grow seeded this way. We really like what cover crops do for our soil, and we’re trying to figure out how we can get them seeded in a way that doesn’t take too much labor or cost. This is about the time we’ll spray the soybeans for the last time, so if we can find something that will grow when seeded now, we can strap a seeder onto the sprayer and essentially seed our cover crops at no extra cost.

Or maybe we’ll just have Tom hike over 1000 acres with his Granddaddy’s seeder!

One thought on “I’ve Got Trials

  1. If we get to vote, I vote for Tom walking the acres with a hand seeder. That way he can also find all the sinkholes.

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