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Fall/winter cover crop mix seeding

5.7K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  r82230  
#1 ·
I have read everything I could find and am now sold on the cover crop concept for our pastures for the next several years.

Fertilizing 200#/ac 20-10-5 to meet soils test requirements this weekend, that followed by the cover crop mix going in and a late winter drilling of what ever cool weather pasture grasses I come up with.

The mixture the local seed company has for "Fall/Winter Cover Crop" is Winter Rye, Hairy Vetch, Turnip, Radish, Dwarf Essex Rapeseed and Winter Peas, pre mixed and recommended at 40#/ac, 3/4-1" deep. Due to the varied seed size I asked the best method to sow the mixture and was told to use the grain boxes on an old IH press wheel seed drill I have.

Prepping to get this drilled in this weekend, last evening I made a test run with the drill (first time used after its mechanical restoration, K model I think) and monitored the seed drop out of each compartment at various settings with some left over Dryland wheat seed I had. All appears to be fine but even at the lowest setting, that is a Lot of seed going through the large grain drops!

My drill also has grass seed boxes and have put new drop tubes on those but, while having not yet seen the seed mix I suspect the peas wouldn't meter out of those. I also have a 3 point broadcast spreader, a terribly used up disc and a cultipacker.

Duct tape to restrict the flow in the grain bin or lightly disc, broadcast and cultipack?
 
#6 ·
Thanks FB2, yes, I had those adjusted to the smallest window already. It turned out it was more a problem with expectation vs function. I was looking at the adjustment scale for Rye and expected to have to have the adjustment open far more that it needed to be for the CC mix.

Gotta love the weather in the Mountains, 12% chance of rain, my daughter and I left work early and scrambled to get the fertilizer spread as quickly as possible, finishing up the southern two pastures just as it started to sprinkle. Given my old 3 pt spreader had rusted out years back and I had fabricated and welded on a new stainless bottom and metering gate, the spread rates were at best a guess. As it turned out it was almost exactly 100#/ac at 1400RPM in 3rd gear. With Jenni shadowing me on the ATV and marking the spread width, we were able to come back over the pasture a second time for the correct finished rate.

1/2" of rain over night and no indication of fertilizer left on the surface in the morning, I waited until the surface dried enough not to leave ruts and got the CC mixture drilled in to the noted depth and then cultipacked those pastures later in the day. The north pastures got all the seed drilled but were too damp to fertilize given 90* forecast for the next few days. Those will have to get fertilizer following the seed as soon as a chance of rain is forecasted.

A complete NOB, everyone's advise on here proved priceless, I was able to adapt, modify and repair things as the problems presented themselves! The equipment shortfalls are now all identified and noted to repair over the winter so they are ready by Feb for the pasture seeding. Triage is the best way to describe the effort given 70-80 yr old equipment... but it all worked.... now its a 'wait and see'.
 
#7 ·
Two weeks after planting, the winter peas are just now showing, with the hairy vetch and Rye showing only sparely where shallow seed set happened.

Our fickle weather here last week had us with 83* midweek then down to 9* with 5" of snow the next day and back up to 70* over the weekend and for the coming week plus.

The fertilizer has given a kick to the cool grasses already established in the pasture, those are starting to show back up with the snow moisture we got last week.

Dealing with the seed drill repair list generated in this last effort a few weeks back, I removed the grain box and small seed box metering levers and got those all freed up with new lock bolts installed. Its looking like I will be planting a dryland wheat mix with alfalfa come late Feb., so I will need both boxes working properly at that time.

I read a lot of folks remove the small seed tubes and just let them hang in front of the packer wheels when seeding small seed like alfalfa. Is this common practice on old equipment like I have or do I just keep them feeding into the grain box tubes like originally designed?

Given the late start of the cover crops my thought is to drill through what ever cover makes it to Feb and then cultipack the wheat mix / alfalfa following the drill, mowing back any cover weeks later that survives the cultipacker.

Have I got this right or are there alternate suggestions?
 
#8 ·
I read a lot of folks remove the small seed tubes and just let them hang in front of the packer wheels when seeding small seed like alfalfa. Is this common practice on old equipment like I have or do I just keep them feeding into the grain box tubes like originally designed?
They are designed to run either way depending if you want in rows or broadcasted.And if you want shallower then what other seed you may be putting down the seed openers.

I have best results seeding by dropping it from hanging seed tubes and following with a brillion roller.
 
#9 ·
I read a lot of folks remove the small seed tubes and just let them hang in front of the packer wheels when seeding small seed like alfalfa. Is this common practice on old equipment like I have or do I just keep them feeding into the grain box tubes like originally designed?
On the John Deere (Van Buran sp.), we just let it fall from the small seed box, removing the tubes completely. Now, that was plowed, dragged/field cultivated ground and we followed the drill with a culi-packer.

Now I'm no-till, but a neighbor just had some alfalfa spread by an air seeder (same one used to spread fertilizer), then packed and it's looking pretty good. BTW, ground was ran over by field cultivator prior to planting.

Larry
 
#10 ·
Once again, Thank You for the thoughts and suggestions!

Those small seed cups and tubes have been my biggest challenge to date, eliminating those tubes for this quest will be welcomed, at least for the short term. I have been reading up on Sainfoin and am now considering throwing down some of that on one of the pastures and alfalfa on the other, both mixed with dryland wheat mixtures, both going down late winter.

After much reading of all your posts regarding No Till, and now with a limited understanding of why, I am trying to do that as best I can. The cover crops went in with only disc opener disturbance and I see only the seed I planted coming up.

Good fortune remaining just beyond my grasp, Its now gone warm and dry and I am in hopes that the winter peas that have germinated will get some moisture before they die off.... time will tell, at least the rye is looking like it might make it.
 
#12 ·
You're looking for Brunt
Still have a couple of them setting in the bone row, just can't read the spelling any more (could hardly read it way back when I was a young, too). Seems the paint is faded just a little. ;)

Larry