"Speed compensates for late seeding date"

Seeding conditions turn sour

Last year, seeding conditions were "just super" at first, but it was still cold and early. "Nobody was pushing real hard. You were scared you'd put all the grain in and maybe it would just die because it was too cold," says John.

Everything changed on May 11, when a cold rain changed to heavy snow. When it was over, southern Manitoba was under about 12 inches of wet snow. It took about a week for the snow to melt and soak in, but then came a series of light showers.

"You couldn't go back on after that snow for about three weeks, maybe four," John recalls. He estimates that, at mid-June, he still had 800 acres to seed for himself as well as 2,000 acres of custom sunflowers. It wasn't really dry, but conditions were hopeful again. The Fehr family started seeding as fast as they could.

The fields had been loosened earlier, with cultivating and fall anhydrous applications.

On June 15, the family fired up two New Holland TJ500 4WD tractors and went out to see what they could do.

Sarah's tractor was pulling a 60-foot Flexi-Coil field cultivator with 9-inch row spacing and three harrow bars. John and Rick split the rest of the spring workload. One was pulling a 57-foot Flexi-Coil 5000 air drill and heavy harrow with the second TJ500; the other was bringing seed, fertilizer and supplies.

The drill is set up with 9-inch spacing using 9-inch shovels and an adjustable seed boot that gives a 4-inch spread. The drill also has harrows and a 4-inch packer wheel system.

Fehr's normal seeding rate is 6.5 to 7 mph.

"The last while, we didn't have much time, so we were seeding 60 acres-an-hour at 8.5 mph," Fehr says. "Once it's cultivated, you have no problem going 8, even 9 mph, if you want to. If it's not cultivated, and solid, 6 mph is about all it can pull."

He was seeding at well over the recommended seeding rate and dirt was being thrown out of the seed row — but he already had tried it before on a smaller scale.

"We've seeded slow and fast (in the past). Later, when it came up, we looked and there's no difference," he says. He's also tried it without a harrow, but didn't like the results.

In the end, all but about 150 acres was planted. The only seeding that wasn't completed was in the wettest areas.

Crop emergence

Fehr observed crop emergence carefully. Just about all the early seeded crops in his area were very patchy.

He'd seeded nearly half the crop before the snow. "It was packed pretty good, and then we had almost a month of mud, every day. Most of my land was so hard, when you went to look for those kernels you couldn't even get your finger in there!"

His late-seeded crops, however, had much better results.

"We were pretty lucky this time," Fehr says. "The last grain we seeded was 100 percent. It was just perfect. You couldn't even see where the cart has gone."

By the time the last sunflowers were seeded on June 20, one TJ500 tractor had approximately 125 hours and the other had 205 hours of operating time. Those operating hours represented 5,500 acres of cultivating and seeding. The remaining 300 acres was put in with a corn planter and New Holland TG210 tractor.

New TJ500 tractors

The TJ500 tractors were a 50-hp upgrade from a pair of TJ450 4WD tractors he had run the year before.

"They do quite a bit better shifting," John says. "It's a 16-speed power shift you just shuttle with a lever."

Hydraulic power was not an issue. "The Flexi-Coil air drill uses a lot of hydraulics. It has very big cylinders. You do about four things when you come to the end of the field: you turn, you lift, you have markers going and your fan keeps going. The TJ450s were good at that, and these TJ500s do well, too. You can lift the air drill up and everything keeps going."

The comfort of the operator's seat is another plus. John says, "When the tractor's going over rough ground, your seat doesn't jerk with the tractor. It goes back and forth if your tractor bumps. You can adjust it sideways, so you don't have to turn your neck so far when you're half-turned and want to look behind you. You have big arm rests with all your hydraulics and everything, so they're always in the same place no matter where you turn your seat. You have such a good seat in there."

In more than 30 years of farming, John says, "I've always driven Ford tractors — and New Holland now. They're actually built better now than they were before."

He replaces his fleet of New Holland tractors every two or three years. "My main thing is farming. I try to drive good equipment, and I enjoy it," he says. The trade gives him high reliability for the hours the tractors must be working; minimum service issues and keeps the tractors under warranty.

"I'm happy with the company and with my New Holland dealer. We have a good dealer," he says. "They treat me well. They give me good deals. I started with New Holland, and my farm is just about all that company — New Holland and Flexi-Coil."