Mike Ellis, Mt. Hope Seed Co.
Schaffert Seed Rebounder Review:
Context:
I’m part of a small family farm located in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We primarily grow seed crops (Annual and Perennial Ryegrass, Tall Fescue, Red Clover, Crimson Clover, and Radish). All of these crops have a relatively shallow planting depth, typically around ½”. Some of our production is grown under contract and these contracts often stipulate that the crop must be certified. This certification typically requires several crop inspections and there are rigorous standards for how much crop can be outside of the drill row (often times no more than 1%). The reason for this is it’ s impossible to tell if crop outside of the drill row is from seed bounce or volunteer from a previous year potentially from a different variety. If you fail certification in the best case, you will have your sale price docked and in the worst case it may void the contract and leave you without a home for your crop (in a poor market this will mean a significant price reduction and possibly not being able to find a sale for that crop for several years). Needless to say, seed bounce is not acceptable for us. Which leads me to the intended benefit and why we installed our first set of Seed Rebounders.
Intended Benefit:
The first time I took apart one of our openers on our drill I was appalled. The seed tube ended at the hub where the double discs bolt on. From there we had been relying on gravity to guide seed to the bottom of the furrow, which is not ideal for the small seeded crops that we grow. There was absolutely nothing behind the seed tube to keep the seed in or direct it down. As I installed the Seed Rebounders, I immediately saw that wide-open gap to the back of the double discs get filled. Between the bracket and the Rebounder, the only place left for the seed to go was to the bottom of the furrow. After using them in field we saw a significant reduction in seed bounce, if not an elimination of it.
Unintended Benefits:
With our shallow planting depth (typically ½”) we tend not to use much to close our furrows because of the risk of moving seed out of them. These Seed Rebounders have acted as a closing system for us. They gently pull loose soil around the furrow back in over the seed without moving the seed out of the furrow. This becomes all the more important because of one of our biggest pests in our region, slugs. Slugs cause nearly $100 million worth of damage to the $500 million Oregon Seed Industry annually (Capital Press & Oregon State University). As my dad has said, “Every time we leave a furrow open, we’ve built a home for slugs and when we drop seed into it, we’ve set the table for them.” These Seed Rebounders don’t decrease the slug population, but they do help us manage the risk for early season damage (which can be the costliest). By closing the furrow, we have managed our fields to not create a slug home where our crop is sprouting. This by no means solves all of our slug problems but it is an indispensable tool in our management of this pest.
Straight Shot:
Over the years we have been using more biological products in our fertility program. These include microbial inoculants as well as plant and microbe stimulants. Many of these products can be damaged and even killed with UV exposure, AKA direct sunlight. The Straight Shot has allowed us to shift our starter fertilizer from being banded over the row to being applied in furrow with the seed and covered with soil. This allows the more sensitive products in our starter mix to have a better chance to be fully effective. There are still many variables that are outside of our control that can affect how well our biological products work but this tool has taken one major variable (sunlight exposure) out of the equation.
