[AT] Check planting

Al Jones aljones at ncfreedom.net
Thu Dec 27 14:24:49 PST 2007


Dean, a clarification:  The fertilizer and herbicide rates are most
likely not as high as you think.  Randomly putting down hundreds of
pounds of fertilizer per acre costs money.  I'd be willing to bet they
soil sample yearly, and try to match the fertility, and especially soil
pH to the crop.  In eastern NC, the recommendation is 120-150 lbs. of
total nitrogen per acre for a crop of corn.  That is not a really big
amount of fertilizer, Golf courses generally use way more nitrogen than
a field of corn.  I think the rate for Roundup for weed control is
around a pint per acre, on our farm I never have used more than a quart
per acre of anything, and a lot of stuff now you measure out in ounces
per acre.

Al

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Dean Van
Peursem
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 2:41 PM
To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
Subject: Re: [AT] Check planting
Today
that same land produces well over 200 to 250 bushels per acre in good
years.
Using much higher seed density with a no-till procedure and heavy
dosages of
commercial fertilizer and weed killer. Dean A. Van Peursem
Snohomish, WA 98290

"He who makes decisions in haste repents at his leisure."

www.deerelegacy.com

http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm


-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Dean Van
Peursem
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 10:29 AM
To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
Subject: Re: [AT] Check planting

Len,

I have the same recollection of row spacing 40 or 42". We used check
planting in the 1940's and 1950's. I don't have a good recollection of
how
many  kernels were dropped per hill but I would guess two to three. We
cultivated both ways, the third time, hillers (disc blades) were used to
hill the dirt around the roots to add additional stability as the corn
grew
taller.   Check planting was used to control ground weeds and to keep
more
of the upper soil surface closed to contain moisture until the corn got
tall
enough to provide shade. Cultivating was never done at a 45 degree angle
as
a simple geometry calculation will determine that the spacing isn't the
same
at 45 degrees.  We were dry land farmers and we had to be a bit careful
on
how many stalks per acre there were due to limited rainfall. 

As I recall in the mid 50's our corn crop yield was in the 50 - 60
bushel
per acre average for dry land farming in NW IA using only farm manure
for
fertilizer and/or also crop rotation.  I recall running a 10 acre 4H
plot in
the mid 50's, the best 10 acres of the whole farm, where the corn seeds
were
drilled at a much higher rate on 40 or 42" rows and then side dressed
with
liquid nitrogen as a test plot. The results were 80 bushels per acre
which
was much higher than the typical local average. My father said I had
grown
the best crop of foxtail he had ever seen. :-)


Dean A. Van Peursem
Snohomish, WA 98290

"He who makes decisions in haste repents at his leisure."

www.deerelegacy.com

http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm


-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Len Rugen
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 9:55 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Check planting

I've never seen check planted corn, I've seen the equipment and used
some of
it in "drill" mode.

I'd suspect the rows were way wider than 30", I seem to remember 42" as
the
number, but CRS...   

What was "good" yield in the years after the dust bowl?  I'd say 40
bu/acre
might have been good in the 40's.  I would guess that there was a lot of
open pollenated seed planted.  We can still get that locally and it will
do
OK.  I've planted 2nd gen hybrid (IE feed corn) for food plots and had
good
looking corn.  I've planted open polliated corn as well.  

There was more than one seed per hill, the planter still "drilled" at
whatever rate, but the seed accumulated  until the knot on the wire
tripped
it.  What commercial fertilizer was often applied with the planter
attachment.  Manure was used as far as it went.  After picking, cows
were
turned in and hay even fed on the field for fertilizer (and weed
seed...)  

Remember, they often picked this stuff by hand.  

Now there usually isn't anything over the field after the planter until
the
combine.  
 
Len Rugen
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