We now pull a 42 foot Edwards with 42 openers with little change in horsepower requirement. These factors allow for improved timelines and management of the seeding program. A second factor that we appreciate is the ability to seed through heavy residue in damp conditions. Pea vines are relatively easy and this fall, winter wheat was seeded into chopped flax stubble without plugging. Dormant seeding of canola into heavy and difficult winter wheat stubble was not an issue.
Early indications are that plant disease levels are somewhat reduced particularly root disease.
Straight combining was a normal part of our operation prior to wider row spacing. If swathing is desired then some effort should be made to avoid laying the swath parallel to the seed row as adverse weather conditions could cause some concern. On our rolling land, the even infiltration of moisture as a result of zero-tillage makes straight combining quite feasible. In the past three years I have not experienced any delay in maturity because of wider rows.