Agronomy
Ag Fundamentals
Bourgault One-Pass Seeding Systems
The Early Years
Minimal Till and One-Pass seeding
Work being completed at various research stations, along with personal observations by farmers, began to sway the agriculture industry to less tillage in the late 70s and into the 80s. The cost of glyphosate was decreasing, which allowed for less tillage to control weeds. The decrease in tillage was found to conserve soil moisture, which allowed the crop to put this moisture, which was commonly the limiting factor, towards yield. Reducing tillage at seeding and the number of passes over the field created demand to apply both seed and fertilizer in a single pass. This initial observation lead to a great boost in crop productivity across Western Canada, but created challenges on the equipment design to get through previous years residue, maintain a good seed bed, and apply fertilizer in a safe manner.
Introduction of Side-Banding
When side-banding was first introduced, nitrogen placed one inch below and to the side of the seed was accepted as the ideal location for adequate fertilizer separation from the seed. Many companies released various side-banding systems which were developed with the belief that this distance would protect the emerging crop.
The first major downfall that was realized with side-banding systems was the openers could not produce an adequate field finish, allowing the seed and fertilizer to mix, seed to germinate at various seed depths, and the soil moisture to evaporate.
Manufactures attempted to redesign existing side-band openers, release new openers, or suggest practices that would help improve the seedbed quality, but there were seriously impediments that decreased producer’s efficiency. Minor improvements were noted in certain locations or conditions, but overall the results were similar to before.
A second major downfall to side-banding began to emerge at this time. Fertilizer damage was being noted more as the implementation of side-banding grew. The initial assumption of 1" x 1" of separation was found to be too close to the seed. Studies were conducted that confirmed that nitrogen fertilizer can have negative effects on the seed due to its proximity.
Manufacturers now scrambled to increase the seed-to-fertilizer separation of their systems. New side-banding products such as paired row openers and dual knife came onto the market which advertised a greater degree of separation. Again, each of these systems were prone to both seedbed disruption and inadequate fertilizer separation. In some cases, additional issues of poor residue flow, reduced seeding speed, and increased draft resulted from these new designs.
The Bourgault Side-Band Opener
In the early 90s, side-band openers were promoted by a number of agronomic experts as a practical method of placing all the nitrogen requirements down safely in a single pass. Various manufacturers developed and released a wide range of openers. Just as each of these manufacturers did, in the early 90’s Bourgault began developing a side-bander opener. Considerable time and money was invested in the attempt to develop a one-pass opener that worked well in all the conditions that can be present at seeding time. Despite numerous attempts, Bourgault could not achieve the seedbed quality, or the fertilizer separation that was vitally important to crop safety. Surprisingly, Bourgault found after conducting side by side comparisons, competitor's side-banders worked no better than the Bourgault prototype. It was then that Bourgault realized there were fundamental flaws with the actual practice of side-banding.
Bourgault Prototype Side-band opener
Side-banding Test Showing Soil Disturbance
It was during this testing phase that Bourgault designers found that side-banding in many cases caused unacceptable seedbed disruption resulting in premature seedbed dry out, uneven seeding depth, and/or seed-to-fertilizer contact.
Bourgault determined that the side-banding concept was a very high risk method of applying seed and fertilizer in one pass, and decided to pursue an alternative method. The development of a Bourgault side-bander opener was terminated.
Development of Mid Row Banding Systems
Bourgault worked with Garry and Glen Meier of Ridgedale, Saskatchewan, Canada to develop an innovative one-pass seeding system. Development focused on a coulter style bander that could incorporate the complete nitrogen requirements for the crop between every second seed row. Mid row placement also provide enough distance to prevent the nitrogen from injuring the seed, but close enough for the seedling roots to quickly find the fertilizer. Coulters allowed for fertilizer placement with very little soil disruption, helping to preserve existing moisture and standing stubble. A narrow seed opener could now be used to also minimize soil disturbance.
Prototype Mid Row Banding System
Early Systems Placed MRBs Behind Seed Openers
Initial prototypes and testing proved that they had a winning concept in their hands. Bourgault entered the marketplace in 1996 with the first generation of Mid Row Banders. Designs were updated and perfected as the market became more aware of the Bourgault MRB® system, and continue to improve to this day.
On the left, a side-band opener was used. On the right, the Mid Row band system was used