Randy operates a very successful farm in South Eastern Saskatchewan, near the town of Midale. The Johner farm produces a wide variety of crops including, canola, lentils, peas, chick peas, flax, wheat and durum. He has used a multitude of different seeding implements over the years from discers, hoe drills and air seeders until 1995, when he switched to the 5710 Air Hoe Drill. In 1996, nitrogen was prebanded followed by the 5710 seeding the fields in a single shoot application. Randy realized that he needed to switch to one pass seeding. "We didn't have the time for multiple passes and I wanted to conserve the moisture by direct seeding."
A double shoot paired row opener was chosen for use with dry fertilizer for the 1997 and 1998 crops. "The double shoot boots worked reasonably well in the cereals. However, in both 1997 and 1998 I had to reseed the canola. The double shoot boots rooted up the ground too much. The canola seed fell down too deep and was stranded with the fertilizer. The poor emergence was unacceptable. There just wasn't a crop there! Both years I had to cultivate these fields and reseed through the knife points."

Randy purchased Mid Row Banders® in 1999 and is very happy with their performance in all crops and field conditions. "In 1999 we switched to Mid Row Banders and mudded in 8500 acres without stopping for plugged coulters. We had bumper crops that year. In 2000 we had dry conditions. Again the Mid Row Banders performed very well. It is a given that Mid Row Banders pull easier than double shoot boots. I used to have 66 knife points operating 2 to 3 inches deep now I have only 33 discs slicing to that depth. With the lighter load my tractor has extra reserve power and undoubtedly this results in increased fuel economy," Randy explains.
It is important to maximize your productivity with every piece of farm equipment that you own. It is also important not to overextend it. "When I first made the switch to Mid Row Banders I calculated how long it would take for the banders to pay for themselves. Last year I added an extra unit and I calculated how long it would take for the banders to pay for the whole unit. I was finding that the seeding of the last 2000 acres was sometimes too late resulting in yield and quality loss. Adding a 5710 Air Hoe Drill at 40' last year reduced my acres seeded per foot of drill to about 85 acres." comments Randy.
Applying fertilizer in the spring while seeding is a huge benefit to the Johner farm. "The last two Octobers have been very dry therefore farmers were unable to apply fall fertilizer. This year spring is late pushing guys out into partially frozen fields to contend with the frost to apply fertilizer. When applying nitrogen in the fall, it can be lost from denitrification, immobilization, leaching, or volitization. I feel I receive an extra 20% more value when placing fertilizer in spring. In 1999 we had 1600 acres under water. If that land had been fertilized in the fall $26,000 worth of nitrogen would have been lost. If we seed it or not that nitrogen is gone!"
When seeding large acreages, durability is a necessity. The modern farm can not tolerate down time. Large capital investments, like seeding equipment, have to last for many years.
"I must comment on the durability of the 5710 Air Hoe Drill. It has seeded 40,000 acres with zero dollars put into it. Last summer, after 6 years of use, I decided we would check it over closely and fix it up. There was nothing that needed replacing. Pins, bushing and linkages are not showing any excessive wear. Even the packer gangs were tight." The Mid Row Banders are also proving to be durable. "They are costing about 10 cents per acre to maintain,” says Randy.
For the Johner farm, the 5710 Air Hoe Drill provides a seedbed environment conducive to growing good crops. "In the dry 1980's we successfully seeded with hoe drills on 10" spacing. When we switched to air seeders I felt comfortable with the on-row packing. The 5710 duplicates the success of the hoe drills from the 1980's with the same 'V' groove field finish and heavy on row packing. With the 5710 we also gain trash clearance and the convenience of moving and filling the unit. To date nobody has shown me anything better."