Closing Wheel Performance in Various Tillage Conditions ‣ Corn

Key Points

Objective: To evaluate the performance of non-sensing single-stage and two-stage automatic sensing closing systems in four different tillage practices including conventional, strip, vertical, and no-till.
Closing Systems: Closing systems close the seed trench, eliminate sidewall smear, compaction, and to remove air pockets all while achieving good seed-to-soil contact.
FurrowForce: The FurrowForce two-stage manual closing system resulted in average yield gains of 6.66 Bu/A across all tillage environments. This equated to average additional revenue of $32.94/A.
Tougher Conditions: In tougher closing conditions such as no-till and vertical tillage, FurrowForce had the highest advantage. In 2023, FurrowForce’s average yield gains in these environments were up to 10.3 Bu/A and 9.66 Bu/A with increased revenue of $54.48/A and $51.30/A.

For years, growers have struggled with closing systems that have manual settings. These manual systems don’t take into account varying soil conditions and can lead to an increase in sidewall smear, compaction, and air pockets. This has significant effects since our ability to close the seed trench has a direct impact on overall yield.

FurrowForce works fundamentally differently than other closing systems. In the first stage, notched wheels work to close the seed furrow from the bottom up, eliminating air pockets. In the second stage, stitch wheels carry weight on them to firm the soil over the seed to retain moisture and promote even emergence.

This tillage/closing study evaluates yield and economics of six distinctly different types of closing wheel systems, in four different tillage systems including the following:

We tested each closing system in four tillage conditions to evaluate the difference in various closing wheel performance:

Vertical-Till: In the fall after harvest, vertical tillage was used to mix, cut, and level residue in a 3” depth tillage pass. A herbicide was used as a burndown to control early-season weeds in the absence of spring tillage.
No-Till: Planting directly into last year’s corn stalks with no tillage activity performed. A herbicide was used as a burndown to control early-season weeds in the absence of tillage.
Conventional-Till: In the fall after harvest, deep 13” ripping with aggressive cutting and mixing of residue. A spring soil finisher leveled before planting.
Strip-Till: In the fall after harvest, 10” deep strips were created with a strip-till unit. A herbicide was used as a burndown to control early-season weeds in the absence of spring tillage.

In each of these tillage conditions, FurrowForce had the clear advantage. In our 2023 study results, FurrowForce had average yield gains of 6.66 Bu/A across all tillage environments, which equated to additional revenue of $32.94/A.

However, the most significant advantage for FurrowForce occurred in reduced tillage environments such as no-till and vertical tillage. In these programs, FurrowForce had average yield gains of up to 10.3 Bu/A with increased revenue of $54.48/A. This clearly indicates that when it comes to tougher closing situations, a more robust system is needed to effectively close the furrow and protect our yield.