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Randy Johner of Midale, Saskatchewan, Canada Randy Johner Shares His Experience with a Dual-Shank Seeding Unit.
Randy Johner farms 17,000 acres near Midale, Saskatchewan, which is located approximately 25 miles northwest of Estevan. Randy has over 20 years of experience selling seeding systems with Prosper Tractor located at Estevan. He has used a large variety of seeding systems on his farm over the years as it grew from 1600 to 17,000 acres and because of his position as Sales Representative with Prosper Tractor, he has seen most of the seeding systems that have been on the market in operation. He is also one of the early pioneers with 5710s and Mid Row Banders. In the spring of 2006, Randy used a dual-shank machine alongside his two 5710s. This is a summary of his experience.

	“When I began seeding this spring, the soil was overly wet but because I have many acres to cover, I began seeding before the conditions were ideal. In only a few days, the land dried off quite well and we were soon seeding in ideal conditions. No moisture fell during seeding so we rolled through the acres very quickly with nearly perfect seeding conditions for the first half of the season. However, as the conditions became drier, I became more and more concerned about the job that my dual-shank seeding unit was doing. I seemed to have trouble penetrating into the harder, drier ground even with full pressure on the openers. There was seed and fertilizer on top of the ground. I was very concerned that the last 3,000 acres that I had seeded with the dual-shank machine was going to have spotty germination unless it rained. I decided to leave the dual shank unit in the yard and completed the last 11 quarters of seeding with my two 5710s.”
“The emergence results clearly showed that the light compaction that the dual-shank unit provides, was not adequate to produce good emergence without rainfall when the ground became hard and dry. Fortunately this spring it rained nearly 2 inches about 10 days after seeding allowing the acres seeded with the dual-shank machine to complete their germination. I do not want to think what would have occurred had this rain not fallen. In spite of the rain to aid germination, when combining, my father would repeatedly comment that there were areas where emergence had not occurred with the dual shank machine until that rain — making the crop later and lowering the yield. These areas were random and intermittent suggesting that the dual-shank machine was riding up and not penetrating these areas. I realize that if conditions had been ideal, this would not have been a problem, but the emergence with the 5710s was excellent through the whole season. We need good germination in all conditions not just on the ideal years.” “I found the dual-shank machine wanted to bunch straw in front of the openers leaving piles of straw throughout the field, especially in the mornings. I don’t have the luxury of waiting until the fields are dry to seed. Also, I seeded the peas with the 5710s because I wanted to seed them at a deeper depth. Adjusting the depth deeper on the dual shank unit does not result in much more soil cover on the seed.” “This year, we seemed to be picking more stones with our combines. At first we didn’t understand what was happening, as our fields are usually quite free of rocks because we spend a good amount of time cleaning them up. Later we concluded that the combines were picking up rocks where the dual-shank machine had seeded. With the 5710 the gang packers will press down any stone over six inches in diameter, which keeps them out of the combine.” “You often hear the phrase ‘normal seeding conditions’. Well, normal conditions are simply the average of the two extremes that we are faced with. Either it is too wet or it is too dry. Ten years ago we moved to the 5710 to get back to heavier packing as I always felt uncomfortable with the packing behind the air seeding cultivator. With the 5710s, we have packing similar to that of the box drills from the 1980’s. We realized we had taken the 5710’s performance for granted. With the 5710 I have never had to worry about penetration, maintaining a well packed seed row, having adequate seed to fertilizer separation or being able to V-groove deeper down to the moisture without leaving too much soil over the seed. The dual-shank unit does not give me that piece of mind. To be successful I need to have the ability to seed any crop, in any field, in any condition while insuring seed safety even at the highest rates of fertilizer.” “In this industry, you have to keep looking for more efficient ways of farming or you won’t be around. With this experience behind me, I believe that I better understand what it takes to ensure good emergence on my farm. I will continue to experiment and do side by side comparisons with a dual-shank machine and the 5710s. I am sold on the benefits of mid row banders and can see where the new PHD drill, that provides variable rates of packing and independent depth control on each opener, could potentially be a good implement. However, right now, for my farm, I feel the 5710 is the best drill for me.”

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