The planter performance on no-tillage ridge farming

The following planters equipped with different attachments were tested during field evaluations for continuous production of corn (Zea may L.): Buffalo Till-planter, John Deere MaxEmerge planter, MaxEmerge Conservation planter, and rotary-tiller slot planter. The attachments tested on the MaxEmerge planter included: free-rolling coulter, powered coulter and trash-whipper. The functional performance of a planter (including population control, spacing control, depth control, and seedbed preparation) was evaluated;Buffalo Till-planter made a cleanly tilled seedbed with strips of residue windrowed between the rows. But the slippage of gauge wheel which powers the metering system may change with different soil and residue conditions. No trouble was encountered when operating the MaxEmerge planter in a no-till ridge field. A lower emergence rate, however, was found when compared with MaxEmerge planter with an attachment. The trash may affect the function of power coulter, when the field is under wet and heavy residue conditions. The rotary-tiller slot planter was a trouble-free planter under heavy trash conditions, but the planter needs to be redesigned for a better seed metering system;The effect of residue quantity on planter function, corn growth and yield was not significant in 1983 season. There are larger average corn grain yield differences between years than between planter treatments. This shows the overriding importance of temperature and rainfall on corn production