Planting – Liquid or gas soil treatment – Treating substance includes ammonia
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-14
2001-01-30
Novosad, Christopher J. (Department: 3671)
Planting
Liquid or gas soil treatment
Treating substance includes ammonia
C111S124000, C111S152000, C111S187000, C111S188000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178900
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to agricultural apparatus for combining primary soil tillage and select fertilizer placement in a single working device so that both functions can be accomplished in a single pass.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
No-till farming which contemplates little or no soil tillage between harvesting and planting, has been practiced for many years to reduce soil erosion. Farmers have learned, however, that at least some tillage is desirable to promote water absorption and retention by the soil and to facilitate crop root development.
In an effort to reduce erosion while allowing some tillage, it has become desirable to leave as much crop residue as possible on the surface consistent with the farmer's desire to perform some tillage to increase moisture absorption and retention. The tradeoffs made between, on the one hand, the desire not to disturb surface crop residue, and, on the other hand, the desire to provide some primary tillage, even if in selected paths, have become of increasing significance in the design of tillage tools because the two objectives militate against each other. Thus, chisel plows have been re-designed to fracture soil in narrow, spaced bands at a primary tillage level while attempting to reduce or eliminate disturbance of surface residue. Residue on the surface not only retains the soil and reduces the effects of water run-off, but it also enhances moisture retention and reduces evaporation, and this, in turn, promotes crop emergence. These practices of no-till or minimum residue disturbance are particularly important in those fields which carry H.E.L. (i.e., highly erodible land) designation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
When the only tillage performed leaves the crop residue on the surface substantially undisturbed, mixing of the surface soil with deeper soil is very much reduced. In the past when primary tillage was accomplished with moldboard plows or parabolic shank chisel plows, fertilizer was spread on the surface of the soil, and the soil was then tilled with disc gangs, field cultivators, moldboard plows or chisel plows with parabolic shanks. Not only the surface soil, but deeper soil as well, were mixed together and the fertilizer was distributed throughout, both laterally and at various depths. As a result there was a better distribution of surface soil, fertilizer and residue; and nutrients were available to the crop at the root level. In addition, with these practices, some deeper soil, where compaction is greater, is rotated to the surface.
Crop residue also contains significant amounts of nutrients, and mulch. When the crop residue is incorporated in the soil, those benefits also are returned to the soil. Even when the residue is left on the surface, eventually, with tillage planting and cultivation, those nutrients are returned to the soil and surface mulch is provided.
Chisel plows that are characterized as “no-till”, such as shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,288, accomplish the purpose of leaving the surface residue intact while relieving deep compaction caused by planting and harvesting equipment and also heavy rainfall which causes hydraulic compaction. Another tillage point, which is more aggressive in tilling the soil is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,337.
It has also become desirable to reduce the number of “passes” made on the soil with different farming functions. For example, fertilizer and/or chemicals may be applied during planting. Fertilizer knives have been used to apply both dry and liquid fertilizer below the soil surface. These knives are generally operated at the depth at which it is desired to place the fertilizer for availability to mature crops, which is in the range of approximately 4-8 in., sometimes referred to as the “root zone”. This practice satisfies the need to place fertilizer at the desired depth, but it falls short of performing primary tillage at the desired depth range, which is approximately 10-12 in. A chisel plow as disclosed in the above '288 patent is often run at 10 or 12 inches deep, but the placement of fertilizer should not be deeper than 4-8 inches for most applications. It is a prevailing belief that if fertilizer is placed at a depth below 8 in., it is not available to the crop (primarily corn and soybeans). It is also prevailing belief, in connection with row crops, that fertilizer is placed more cost effectively and more efficiently if it is “banded” in the “root zone” of the crop—that is, distributed at the proper depth and in a band of fairly well defined width so that it is available to the crop as the roots develop during growth.
With present commercial systems designed for modern agricultural practices, there is no present device which will accomplish, in a single pass, those results which are believed to be the most desirable. These results include:
(i) Providing some deep tillage in the range of approximately 10-12 in., thus fracturing, raising and mixing of some of the deeper, more compacted soil;
(ii) Leaving surface residue and soil substantially undisturbed; and
(iii) Depositing fertilizer in the desired depth range of approximately 4-8 in. below the surface and in a defined band to enhance availability for developing roots. The present invention is designed to achieve these results in a single pass.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes a chisel plow with a rigid shank which has a tillage work unit mounted at the bottom of the shank for operating in the depth range for primary tillage. A delivery (or “drop”) tube is mounted behind the shank for depositing particulate fertilizer, normally with air assist. A discharge orifice of the delivery tube is located at the desired depth for the particular application, usually in the range of approximately 4-8 in.
A combination diverting plate and wing, called a “shoe”, is mounted to the shank at the level of the desired fertilizer placement for forming a soil pocket or shelf to one side of the shank as the shank passes. The shoe intercepts at least part of the fertilizer stream flowing from a discharge opening in the fertilizer delivery tube, and diverts it into the formed pocket in the form of a band defined by the shoe. This places the fertilizer at the desired depth, and the formed pocket traps the fertilizer at the desired depth and prevents it from falling further to the tillage depth because the shoe is shaped and located to close the furrow formed by the chisel plow shank before the fertilizer is placed into the pocket formed by the shoe.
The shoe and drop tube and, if desired, an anhydrous ammonia delivery tube are formed into a weldment which is adjustably mounted to the shank of the chisel plow by any suitable structure permitting height adjustment. Thus, the operator may adjust the depth of fertilizer placement relative to the tillage depth. Preferably, there is a difference in the range of approximately three to nine inches between the bottom of the tillage furrow and the level of fertilizer placement. More than one shoe may be installed on each shank so that some of the fertilizer will be placed by the upper shoe, and the remainder by a lower shoe. In this case, the upper shoe may be located at a depth of 2 or 3 inches below the surface to place a small amount of fertilizer for crop emergence and initial growth; and the balance of the fertilizer is placed at a depth of 6 to 8 inches in more moist soil where it is available during a dry spell when the crop is mature.
Moreover, with the system of the present invention, conventional row markers can be mounted on the implement frame, and the shanks can be located the same distance apart and in the same number as the planter row units which will be planting the succeeding crop. For example, 8 combination tillage/fertilizer shanks can be set 30 inches apart to match an 8 row, 30-inch planter spacing, intended to be used in the following planting season by the farmer. By using a planter with the same number of row units and the same row spacing planter, row indexing occurs, and the next year's cro
Case Corporation
Emrich & -Dithmar
Novosad Christopher J.
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