|
 A
low-input planting system under study by the University
of Arkansas Division of Agriculture may help soybean
farmers with heavy clay soils save money on the front
end of their production season.
"We're looking at a system that reduces labor and equipment
costs during planting," says Arkansas Agricultural Experiment
Station Agronomist Terry Keisling.
The system uses an airflow truck, provided by many
agricultural service providers throughout the state,
for planting the seed.
In a study funded by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion
Board, Keisling is testing the system on fields prepared
in three different configurations for irrigation: conventional
wide-row bedded fields, hipper-planted fields and flat
fields with corrugated furrows.
"Traditional planting systems require four people
to cover 100 acres a day," Keisling says. "This low-input
system can cover 200 acres a day with two people or
300 acres a day with three people.
"Producers can rent the services of an airflow truck
for a typical charge of about $3.50 an acre, compared
to a cost of $8 to $12 an acre for a conventional planting
system."
Field preparations in the study are adaptations of
methods producers are already using, says Earl Vories,
U of A biological and agricultural engineer. He helped
Keisling adapt irrigation methods for the study.
In the traditional wide-row fields, soybeans grow
in raised beds and irrigation water runs between the
rows. "This method had been around a long time," Vories
says.
For the hipper-planted method, rows are thrown up
with a disk hipper when the field is tilled in the spring
to control weeds.
"At planting time, you knock off the top 6 inches of
the rows to give good moisture contact for seed germination,"
Keisling says.
 "Seed
is broadcast with the airflow truck, then the ground
is rehipped and rolled to cover the seed."
Once it's set up, hipper-planted fields are irrigated
the same way as traditional wide beds, with water running
between furrows. But the soybeans grow in a broadcast
pattern instead of in straight rows.
The third method is similar to traditional flat-field
planting, but the soil is corrugated with a shallow
plow to guide water down the field.
"This is especially helpful in fields with a side
slope that would otherwise cause the water to run off
the sides before reaching the ends," Keisling says.
In any of these, Vories says producers may need to
modify their irrigation practices after planting.
"Farmers may want to use surge irrigation, in which
water is turned off when it reaches the end of the field,
or earlier, to allow it to soak into the ground," he
says. "This prevents the loss of water that just runs
off the end of the field if it's left running."
The study is in its second year and Keisling expects
two more years before firm conclusions can be drawn
concerning effectiveness. But he has some idea of where
the data is leading.
"The jury will be out for another two years, but I
see it going this way: the hipper-planted beans will
be as good as the wide-row beans and as cheap or cheaper
to plant," he says. "Last year, the first year observed,
the hipper-planted beans gave a better yield. There
was no yield difference between wide-row and flat-planted
beans." In any case, Keisling is convinced the low-input
approach to planting will prove economically effective
for clay soils.
"If the soil is dry and has clods, this system is
head and shoulders above traditional planting methods,"
he says.
"The savings in planting costs are significant with
these systems. If there's a yield advantage, it'll be
even nicer."
Soybeans Today January 2000
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