Till Drilling Catches On Fast

Till drilling catches on fast HITCHES Hitches 17-3-13 Six years ago Dennis Bollig, Fenton, Iowa, came up with a new technique for seeding soybeans that he calls "till-drilling" and last year he put in 2,300 acres of beans using his method. He has also convinced about 50 other farmers to switch away from their conventional grain drills and planters. Bollig's system consists of a 40-ft. DMI Tiger-Mate field cultivator on 6-in. spacings. It's pulled ahead of a Concord air seeder to loosen soil. The seeder holds 200 bu. of soybeans - or six tons of dry fertilizer for corn planting. Bollig says till-drilled beans consistently outyield rowed beans and do at least as well as any other drilled beans. He plants at 225,000 plants per acre into chopped corn-stalks. He seeds slightly deeper than a drill at 2 1/2 in. but doesn't pack with press wheels. Compared to conventional tillage, till-drilling eliminates several trips over the field and a lot of extra equipment. And in comparison to no-till, using a field cultivator reduces the need for pre-plant herbicides. It also leaves 30 to 60 percent of residue on the surface, depending on field speed. Bollig generally tills at 4 to 8 mph. Bollig, who works as a part-time consult-ant for Concord, says DMI introduced a commercial Till-Drill last winter. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup,DMI, Inc., P.O. Box 65, Goodfield, I11. 61742 (ph 309 965-2233). (Excerpted from ' USA-griculture)

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