Drill furrow opener effects on wheat and sorghum establishment in no-till fields

Further investigations on no-till openers are needed to better understand their effects on crop performance. Five different furrow opener points on shank-type drill units, a triple-disc opener and three types of presswheels were evaluated in terms of wheat and grain sorghum stand establishment and early plant height, for the no-till field conditions of dryland fanning and over-wintered partially deteriorated corn stubble residues. The field experiment was conducted with eight treatments and five replicates for wheat or sorghum. The results of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that the different types of no-till openers had statistically significant effect on wheat emergence and sorghum early growth height on the Texas Blackland Prairie. Significantly higher wheat emergence percentage was obtained using a 95-mm wide opener point rather than using narrow points of 25- and 35-mm widths. In contrast, the narrow opener point of 35-mm width had better performance on sorghum early growth height than the wide point of 95-mm width. Hoe-type drill furrow openers produced equivalent or higher wheat emergence percentages and sorghum height than a comparison disc-type furrow opener A single presswheel provided equivalent or improved seeder performance over dual angled presswheels. The consideration of the effect of the width of an opener point on early plant performance is recommended for the selection or design of no-till drill openers.