This machine is greatly appreciated, not only it drops the seeds at a set rate but it also pushes them into the ground. Running this attachment through the tilled fields should place the Rye/Oats/Orchard Grass/Clover seeds into the ground and wait for a good rain to germinate them. I asked the farmer that dropped off the machine how you can how if it will rain good enough, he said there's no way to know for sure and a lot of it is just luck. So we will take a chance and put down the seed and hope we get normal amounts of rain, the South tends pretty high levels so as long as it plays out as it has in the past we should be good.
I rented this machine, as we only would use it once every 5 years or so. Seeding the field we hope many of the crops come back each year by dropping their own seeds or some based on their perennial nature.
The machine was dropped off by a local USDA office operating in the area, I learned about this by speaking with some locals about how they seed their fields. Renting this they charge the acre used, in the end we will seed around 25 acres.
We hooked up the machine was the guy that dropped it off showed us how to use it.
This machine holds the seed and drops it through those tubes based on a setting. The drop rate and depth of planting can be changed.
Each wheel that pushes the seed into the ground has a drop tube all the seeds fall through, we need to make sure they do not clog up every so often.
The Haybuster 107C suited our needs and we were thankful we could rent one near by.
It attached right to the back of the tractor hitch and we controlled dropping the wheels by hydraulics.
Many stickers showing proper using and warnings about the farm machine.
The seed bins were separated by three partitions, so you can have a grass bin, a clover bin and a grain bin. Each has its own settings for drop rate and depth.
We stocked up each bin with many 50 pound bags of seed.
The tubes can be seen above with the grains all around. When we filled it up the first time we forgot to close the doors and some fell out before we could close them in time.
These wheels use the weight of the machine and hydraulics to drive the seed at the right depth.. around 1 inch but it can vary on the seed used.
Clover can be seen above, it has a nitro coat on it. This coating keeps the seeds from germinating if we get small amounts of rain. But will activate when I get enough to germinate them. Interesting idea so we shall see if we get no rain, and then nothing but clover comes up.. haha
We are mixing some Orchard grass into the fields as well. That way we have more than just Rye growing as a dominant grass.
We got lots of oats, about twice the amount needed. We wanted barley, but the bags the supplier had mites in it so they did not end up selling it to us. So instead we got double the amount of oats.. We can save this for animal feed as well, or seed by hand without the machine for the remaining oats.
Not sure if the Oregon grown and the Potomac is the same, but more grass seed bags.. each are around 50 pounds.
The oats we have left over we will need to keep them safe from rodents.
Taking the seed drill into one of the smaller fields on the property.
We can see how the lines are made, this is where the seed drill has pressed in seeds into the ground.
Will need to watch out for birds trying to get at all those seeds.
My foreman driving the tractor, we can see the wheels are dropped down and putting the seeds into the ground.
After we are all done with it we have to clean it out good. We scoop out what we can and then blow the rest out.
A leaf blower works well, you have to get up on top of the machine to get the bins cleaned.
We cleaned it up real good and it was picked up the next day. Now we just need to hope for rain.
Cleaning out the machine with the leaf blower sent all kinds of seed up in the air and all around where the machine was. So we spent a few minutes just disbursing the best we could.
Can you imagine the work our ancestors had to do to plant a 25-acre field?
So true, seeing people trying to do this with a horse seems quite a lot more work than just using the machine.. let alone trying to do this by hand.
Nice work on getting all that seeded!
If you get areas that do not work out well from that seeding method perhaps try hydroseeding them.
As far as getting rain on time goes... maybe look at running some temporary irrigation if possible so you get more than clover.
Thanks man, ah okay yeah I have seen that done on hill sides.
I think we will get rains, around here its pretty common.
Interesting is all of this for animal feed/grazing?
I'm doing substantially smaller scale agriculture on our homestead. I've been experimenting with planting into red clover. Clover and legumes can fix atmospheric nitrogen, or add biomass to the soil. I've found that clover and some of the cereal crops extensively improves my soil here in North Carolina. Dense planting tomato plants with red clover gave me a bumper crop of tomatoes.
I've also been broadly planting black peas (cowpeas) for soil improvement for areas I will cultivate next year.
Again our scale is much smaller than yours - I am halfway in between a kitchen garden and a market garden.
It would be nice to have quality enough hay to sell to horse owners. We have a square baler which they prefer for the smaller size. But we may just keep the bales and break them back down into soil.
Yep I hope the clovers indeed pull up the nitrogen and then we can cut it back to make good fertilizer for all the plants.
Nice you are planting crops for soil improvement as well. I think that is the secret to getting strong crops the following year.
Best of luck with your farm.
Looks very good man, I'm not sure I've seen this machine in Turkey, maybe because I'm not very involved in farm work. Technology makes everything so easy.
Ah okay, how do they plant seeds there? Maybe by hand or some other machine. Its all good if you do not know, like you said you are not that into farm work.
But yeah this machine does make it much more easy.
I think we are using another machine man.
Very beautiful photographs! Thank you very much for sharing them and plenty of success with your hard work in agriculture! It is well worth it! Plenty of success here on HIVE and in general! All the best! 🙂
Thanks much, I think it will all be worth it in the end. Now we just need the rain.
Indeed, it is always well worth in the end working with the land. I truly hope it will rain as soon as possible there! All the best once more!
Greetings friend, a total show so good machine, it was excellent, I always emphasize that having the necessary tools is the best, I think that with that you have everything friend, it is a good time saver for the process and everything is very well done.
Yeah it sure is, having the right tools for the job is quite important.
Indeed it does save lots of time trying to do it in a more manual process.
Yeah bud, looking forward to the day the rains come.
Should be soon. The tropical storms just passed us..
How interesting to know a little more about this world so far away from mine, I only dedicate myself to consume what reaches normal people hehehehe. The machine is amazing and very functional for what they do, I understand that you have a special affection for it. It's a good thing you cooperate with the merchants in the area and you didn't acquire that barley, it's better to put the oatmeal to good use, you know more about that than I do. I liked everything very much, excellent publication my friend! 👍
Glad you enjoyed reading up, so true we all do it differently around the world when it comes to farming.
So true glad we did not get spoiled seeds and we have much to make oatmeal.
thanks much!
In the technology world, work become easy n interesting too... can you imagine in india still farmers do's everything by their own... there is no such hi-tech machines available.
Love that Kubota. I opted for the smaller B7800. But it has done the work of a larger one. I could not do without it.
I grew up on a farm. They were just switching over from horses to machines when I was born in 1966.
I love these posts you do about planting and gardening.
I'd like to do some agriculture myself, but the place I live is full of apartments and a little % of people have a garden, let alone a land to work on.
I am very surprised with this Splo publication. And I wonder if you are an agronomist, did you study agriculture or have you obtained these skills that you have as a result of a family tradition, that is, you have always been a farmer.
I really like the world of farms, what type of seeds do you grow?
This is amazing and I really enjoy it!
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