There is a movement afoot in cereal growing world to push farmers to wider row spacing. Some researchers say that this is a great way to prevent a covered canopy which will naturally minimize crop leaf disease while others are more skeptical.
One of the skeptics is David Bergen from GEN Manufacturing. GEN engineers openers for shank drills and is based in Coaldale, Alberta. David believes that moving to wider row spacing is really asking for issues in terms of increased soil disturbance and weed competition. David believes that 12 inches is possible but 14 inches is possibly asking for trouble. Based on Dave’s engineering background he believes in seed bed utilization to maximize efficiency. I spoke with David at CropWeek 2011 in Saskatoon.
SEE MORE CROPWEEK 2011 COVERAGE
If you cannot see the below embedded video, click here
Please register to read and comment.