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Jim

Posted 11/18/2008 22:57 (#510348)
Subject: Kansas Terraces, NH3, Dry, RTK, VRT & Strip Till (pics)

Driftless SW Wisconsin

I was helping to start up a new strip till system in NE KS last week. Let me just say I now have even more appreciation for the differences in farming in this country! It seems every area has its own special challenges. Too much, rain, too little, too flat/no drainage, too steep/too much drainage, long flat straight, point rows, curves, too hot, too cold....on and on.

You Kansas terrace guys have your own unique combination. It was amazing to see all these curves and terraces with wet spots that empty into standpipes or long curved slopes that empty into a sweeping grass waterway.

It is hard to convey the real panorama of this field in limited flat pictures. Let me just say that there were more curves, ups & downs, point rows etc than I have ever seen in one field.

I had the pleasure of working with some very innovative farmers who are blending together a lot of new technology. It was really working amazingly well for as many new things as they were starting up at the same time. A tribute to their thoughtful planning and hard work.

They are using a Trimble RTK system with variable rate on two separate dry products while applying 150 units of NH3 (with Nserve) through an Anh3 high pressure system on curves and terrain that at times made me wish I had a hard hat on in the cab rather than my Dawn cap. They also use a TV camera to see in a blind spot behind the dry tanks.

This soil varied a lot. Mostly damp but downright wet in the terrace insides. They were running our Dawn units with dry and NH3 tines at about 8.5 mph. This was a real education for me. Maybe this is all in a days work to you Kansas guys but I was impressed. I have also not seen RTK work as well as this Trimble system did on these curves and slopes. I have blown up the screen so you can see where we were filling in the blue spot in the middle. Look at the shapes and curves.

Here are some pictures of this amazing operation. This is a very efficient one pass system including all tillage and extremely precise fetilizer useage and placement. It can also cover a lot of acres. The next tool in here will be the planter in the spring. They like most everyone else this fall are really hustling to get any fall work done but will do most of their ground in the spring.

Jim at Dawn

Here's a link to a very short one-pass video from this field in KS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqYNLyjODtc suggestion - if you have a high speed connection, click on "view in high quality" in the lower RH corner of the picture box for a much better picture.

nh3 sealing was not too bad for the amount we were putting on and as wet as the soil was.

Edited by Jim 11/19/2008 09:52