SEEDING EQUIPMENT And SEEDBED PREPARATION

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SEEDING EQUIPMENTAndSEEDBED PREPARATION
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SEEDING EQUIPMENT
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Types of Seeder

• Grass Drill
• Grain Drill
• Air Seeder
• Broadcast
• All methods can be successful under certain
  situations

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Components of a Good Grass Drill

• Separate seed boxes with agitators
• Large seed hoses for fluffy seed
• Depth control (depth bands)
• Packing system

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Multiple Seed Boxes
LEGUME BOX (Usually in front)
FLUFFY BOX
WHEATGRASS BOX
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Legume or Small Seed Box

• Flowable small seed
• Switchgrass
• purple prairieclover
• alfalfa

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Fluffy Box
Picker wheel
Seed Agitator
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Wheatgrass Box or Grain Box
Simple shaft seed agitator
Fluted feed system
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Debearded vs. Fluffy Seed
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Is This Porcupine Grass Flowable?
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Legume Box Small seed tubes
Fluffy box Large seed tubes
Wheatgrass box Medium seed tubes
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Disc Drill Parts
No-till coulter
Disc opener with depth band
Packer wheel
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Some Common Misconceptions

• You must have a grass drill to seed natives
• Debearded seed has poor germination
• Natives are hard to establish
• Grass seed is all the same
• Seeding into fluffy ground is okay because the
  packer wheels will pack the ground

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SEEDBED PREPARATION
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Steps in Seedbed Preparation

• Weed Control
• Reduce plant residue
• Packing-forms a firm seedbed allowing seed
  placement at a controlled depth
• 2 Major Reasons grass seedings fail
• -Lack of weed control
• -poor seed placement

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Why is Seeding Depth Important?
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Types of Seedbeds

• Clean tilled
• Worked and packed
• Cover Crop
• Annual Crop Planted
• No-Till
• Clean standing stubble
• Killed sod

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Properly Packed Clean-Tilled Seedbed
Barely visible adult human footprint
Potential for wind and water erosion
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Is this a desirable seedbed?
Soil clods and weeds
Poor seed to soil contact
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Clean Stubble

• Moisture conservation
• Erosion control
• Firm seedbed
• Weeds controlled
• Is your seeding equipment capable of seeding
  into this and placing seed at proper depth?

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Chemically killed sod can provide an excellent
no-till seedbed

• Results of a chemically killed smooth bromegrass
  sod that was burned and no-till seeded

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Fire removes excessive residue prior to seeding
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Know your species and prepare seedbed accordingly
Fire, time, or tillage may be needed to allow
decay of Kentucky bluegrass residue.
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Rewards of Proper Seedbed Preparation
Results in a well established stand
Uniform germination and emergence
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The End