A well above average corn crop is on the way at Pat Breen's farm at Seneca, South Dakota.....about 5,000 acres.

 

A good rainfall year for South Dakota.

 

A three year rotation of Corn, Soybeans, and Dark Northern Spring Wheat.

 

A portion of Pat Breen's corn crop was seeded with a Kinze Planter.....and about 1,000 acres was seeded with an Exactrix equipped, TAPPS Formulator, Horsch Anderson, 15 inch band spacing, 60 foot Track Drill......And guess what?...the  HA Track Drill looks to be 20 to 30 bushel better than the Kinze 60 foot and 40 foot planters. 

 

The Kinze planters used top dressed solution 28 as the primary nitrogen source.  The application of solution 28 over the top is a recommended practice in South Dakota....evidently based on cheap nitrogen.

 

You can review the Horsch Anderson, paired row corn seeding without singulation in the enclosed pictures. The HA Track Drill Corn ears were 18 around and 42 to 45 up showing top N P and S, ZN functionality..... ....the seeding population was 27,000. 
 

           

Adding some confusion to the corn yield estimate was the off row light effect of the paired row seeding...... and the zig zag in row plant spacing allowed the corn plant to produce 2 and even 3 ears making a yield estimate very difficult........so stand by for news....this corn propagation technique looks really good.....

 

Also keep in mind.......maybe certain corn varieties perform better with Zig Zag seeding of paired row 7/23.

       

       

 

My conclusion....this 15 inch banding technique with Exactrix works in South Dakota rotations and conditions.  The TAPPS formulation is 2 inches below and 2 to 3 inches to the side of each seed row.  The first access to the bands occurs in 5 to 10 days with seed row access to NPS and Zn....since the under seed row bands are not over-concentrated and have uniform application there is no corn seminal seed root burning.  The seed root cap showed no damage at emergence and yet highest nutrient efficiency was taking place very early in the plants life.....the best nutrient performance results are assured since a second tier of nutrients is available at 5 to 10 inches away at the mid-row band.

 

The 15 inch band spacing Exactrix TAPPS, Second Tier, delayed indexed access by the corn roots may be another powerful factor in why this technique is so powerful. Second Tier Indexed Access may be very similar to a second pass with a side dress tool bar which is known to boost yields 7% to 10%.  

 

As corn roots colonize in second 30 day period the corn roots find additional bands of NPS and Zn.  Almost a turbo boost with a aftercooler kicking in following combustion.  The corn roots can now move to the second tier of plant growth.....A Second Tier Access of indexed corn plant roots in second 30 days of the critical elongation period....in fact any corn plant stress in the 7th week will hurt yields.....So this Pat Breen proven approach of Second Tier Access adds double barreled protection of nutrient efficiency.

 

The 15 inch, TAPPS Paired Row....HA Airseeder can be used to seed Hard Red Winter Wheat, Hard Red Spring Wheat., Soybeans and Corn....which makes for a powerful tool....not that I would sell the planter.   For planting corn on 30 inch centers an insert is added to the metering system.  A very impressive engineering advantage for the airseeder and spacing and population is pretty darn good.  Seeding depth is more important than in row spacing.....and the Airseeder proves the point.

 

       

 

The Kinze planter can still produce good yields.....but the Kinze planters require Exactrix pre-plant banded TAPPS nutrients on 15 inch centers.....and indexed........Yes..... using Pat's track drill tool to pre-plant apply TAPPS bands for corn production.....just in front of the planter if he elects. Corn taproots and seminal root caps will show no damage with Exactrix dilute and uniform bands of TAPPS.

 

Another advantage of the Horsch Anderson Airseeder is that the heavy residue of the Spring Wheat is a non issue....where it could be a problem with the Kinze planter and the planter hop. Planters often hop up and down under changing residue loads. 

 

The Rest of the Story.

 

The Horsch Anderson Seeder with the Exactrix TAPPS formulation at the track trailer also produced an outstanding Dark Northern Spring wheat crop....

 

Spring Wheat Yields were in the 80 bushel per acre range....the test weights were 65 pounds per bushel.....and the proteins came in at 15.8%.  Yields were as high as 105 bushel per acre and some areas of the fields that were low elevation were flooded out by good and timely rains.  The wheat showed good stubble color and height was about 5 inches greater than normal.

 

Since Exactrix TAPPS nutrients are 40% more crop available.....producers can expect to get maximum nutrient performance at much lower applied rates....and application rates need to be set at .6 of soil lab recommendations.

 

The soybeans were also fertilized with the Exactrix 2KP system using APP 10-34-0, ATS 12-0-0-26S and Ammoniated Zinc..  At August 25 the soybeans showed  excellent field color. The color showed well over the eroded hilltops.  Pat can expect a good crop of soybean.

 

A good crop of Soybean, Corn and Wheat all in the same year...too good to be true....Just add water.

 

 

       

       

   

Track Trailer and Exactrix very key.....to this South Dakota success story.

 

Pat Breen can cover about 150% more acres in a day with the Exactrix Set up on the Track Trailer. ..... As compared to any other dry fertilizer approach.

 

The self loading track trailer can carry 1,500 gallons of APP and ATS and ammoniated Zn. The trailer also carries twin tanks of  2,000 to 3,000 gallons of NH3.

 

Fast loading results with excellent performance in wet conditions....about 10 minutes to load both systems.

 

The Exactrix video tells the story if you would like to see the machine in action.

 

Your Great Plains Reporter.

 

Guy Swanson

ASABE, ASM, ASA, WSDA Certified