When the soil is too wet or muddy during the spring season it is NO time for a farmers to plant their seed. When this happens repeatedly for a couple of years, the land could turn out to be a mess for planting crops. Although, you may try to push the throttle ahead planting the grain, you are going to develop more furrow opener side wall smear and compaction from the agriculture equipment row-units.
Even though innovative and advanced technology is used in the planting and growing of grains and crops, the technology comes with its own limits and boundaries. Thus, when you are increasing the compaction of the field, it is going to have a directly negative impact on the yield of the grain. Farmers are well aware that the sidewall compaction is not desirable and it can be common during wet springs when the fields are muddy and wet. Although you may be using a good tillage Standard Closing Wheels with your planter, it may not eliminate the sidewall compaction, and it will be difficult for the producer to maximize production. It is clear that the occurrence of compaction can lead to uneven emergence of the grains within the field, causing uneven (delayed) pollination, and the resulting poor yield and maturation.
A recent survey in the USA shows more than 48% of farmers agree that delayed planting is their biggest factor when planting grains and it affects the crops as well as the profits.
SIDEWALL COMPACTION IS A BIG ISSUE FOR REDUCING YIELDS
Apart from the deep soil compaction, the other issue faced by producers, is that the planting in wet conditions can cause micro-compaction of sidewalls of the furrow. When there is sidewall compaction, it is going to provide a compromised root ball and lower yields of the crop. However, the problem of sidewall compaction can be reduced when the weather conditions improve and turn dry before planting the seeds. The sidewall compaction can result in forcing the roots to grow along the seed trench, unable to expand out in an effort to maximize nutrient uptake because of the smeared sidewall and unsuitable soil compaction.
HOW TO DETERMINE IF SOIL IS TOO WET FOR PLANTING
There are various methods to determine in case the fields are too wet to plant the seed, such as mentioned herewith:
- Collect some soil in your hand from the depth of the field where you are planning to plant the seed. Now try to squeeze the soil in your fist. With excess moisture and soil is able to cling to your palm, then the soil maybe too wet and not suitable for planting seeds.
- Take some soil from the field, shape into a ball. Then raise it about waist high and drop or throw it to the ground from that height. If the ball remains intact or if breaks into only a few pieces, the field may be too wet.
- Take a look at the planter on your farm. If you notice soil is building upon the tires, the gauge wheels even the germinator closing wheels, the soil may be too wet and muddy for planting. Apart from this, you must inspect the seed furrow time and again for similar signs of soil smearing as well as sidewall compaction.
Apart from the muddy field conditions, check the sidewall compaction. You can do this by digging across the seed furrow. If you observe there is broken V-shape wall creation, then the soil may not be fit and may be too wet for planting. With wet conditions, the seed furrow may not closed properly or there may be an opening left; this will increase with shallower planting depths in the field.
The Germinator closing wheels are made to provide the best planting depth of about 2 inches deep for corn and 1-1.5 inches for soybeans. They reduce the needed down pressure, as well as eliminate sidewall compaction leading more even germination and emergence of the seeds on time!
