Spring wheat and canola response to nitrogen placement with no-till side band openers

The development of successful no-till crop production systems has led to the practice of applying all the seed and fertilizer in a single field operation. This study was initiated to assist producers in the selection of commercially available bolt-on side banding openers. Field trials were conducted at 10 locations in Saskatchewan over a 2-yr period (1995 and 1996) to evaluate the performance of five bolt-on side band openers on the establishment and yield of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and canola (Brasica rapa L.). Trial locations were selected to provide a range of soil and environmental conditions. The openers tested included the Flexi-coil Stealth (TM), Dutch-Vern Eaglebuster (TM) Swede SW470 (TM), GEN 200 and Morris Edge-On (TM). Fertilizer nitrogen (N) as urea was applied in the side band at rates of 0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha(-1) with a side banded starter fertilizer blend of phosphorus, potassium and sulphur. When properly adjusted for individual site soil conditions at seeding, no difference was recorded between the side band openers tested in the establishment and grain yield of spring wheat. Averaged across all N rates, three of the five openers showed poor canola seedling emergence, indicating inadequate seed-fertilizer separation. However, the ability of the canola crop to branch and compensate for poor crop establishment prevented any significant grain yield loss in this study. In cases where differences between openers were observed, the Flexi-Coil Stealth (TM) and GEN 200 (TM) openers provided the best crop establishment. Given the importance of crop establishment to achieving optimum grain yields, the bolt-on side band openers that provided good crop establishment should be recommended to producers.