# Seeding with a brilion



## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

This will be my first year using a brilion seeder. I've got my ground worked up 3 months ahead of planting time and it's gonna be crusted over on top. My question is do y'all like to have freshly disturbed soil when seeding with the brilion since it's just droping seed on top of the ground or will it plant just fine in my pre worked ground? I'm asking because I need to roundup some rye coming up and this will effect the timing of my spray. Thanks


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Like most of my responses on HT: It depends.

How crusty is it? Just a surface crust? Or deep (1" or more). This depends a lot on the amount of rain you've had.

And how deep did you work it up? A surface prep might be best handled discing again. A deep work-up is different.

If the crust is 1-2", you might be able to go over it with a chain harrow. Otherwise, I think I would run a disc over it once.

Hope this helps.

Ralph


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

The front roller does a good job fracturing crust. Depends how deep it goes. If you can boot heel down through it with a little pressure you will be fine.


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## Circle MC Farms LLC (Jul 22, 2011)

You need to just come borrow my harrow for a day and bust that crust up


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I'm thinking you are going to need to break up and loosen the surface a little bit. Last spring I planted alfalfa with my Brillion seeder in a field I had worked up but got a rain on before I seeded and the ground crusted on top and was too firm for the Brillion to cover a large amount of the seed. Without seeing your ground I'm thinking if you had a cultimulcher you could run it with the teeth down right before seeding to loosen it up some and it should leave a nice seedbed for the Brillion seeder.

http://www.haytalk.com/forums/topic/41785-brillion-seeder-not-covering-alfalfa-seed/


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Thanks for he replys y'all have answered my question. I will roundup the field tomorrow to kill the spring grass and weeds and in another 4 weeks or so the day before planting I'll drag it with a harrow or cultimulcher if I can buy one before then. It's a sandy loam so should only have a thin crust on top.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I honestly do not think the Brillion seeders bury the seed very deep to begin with.....I think its always a good idea to pull a culti-packer back over the ground after being seeded with a Brillion Seeder to ensure good seed to soil contact....especially when sowing larger seed.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> I honestly do not think the Brillion seeders bury the seed very deep to begin with.....I think its always a good idea to pull a culti-packer back over the ground after being seeded with a Brillion Seeder to ensure good seed to soil contact....especially when sowing larger seed.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 Yep, I will second that......I roll it again with the cultimulcher with the tines up after planting.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Vol said:


> I honestly do not think the Brillion seeders bury the seed very deep to begin with.....I think its always a good idea to pull a culti-packer back over the ground after being seeded with a Brillion Seeder to ensure good seed to soil contact....especially when sowing larger seed.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Me, too!

Ralph


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

I will be planting teff so it's a small seed. Not sure how it compares to alfalfa but I do have a brillion packer roller just a single row I can pull across the ground after planting.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

In my experience, Brillion Seeders will sow small seed the very best....as it does not need to be planted but a 1/4".....so if you pulled the packer afterward it should be enough. I sowed some alfalfa with my Brillion last spring. I pulled my Brillion packer over the ground before I seeded with my Brillion seeder. I did not pull it after seeding and got a very good stand....but in retrospective, I would probably pack after seeding next time....I think if would make for even a better stand.

I think Teff is actually smaller than alfalfa....especially coated alfalfa.

Regards, Mike


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Vol said:


> I think Teff is actually smaller than alfalfa....especially coated alfalfa.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Raw alfalfa seed has 200,000 seeds per lb

33% coating be around 132,000 per lb

50% coating around 100,000

Raw Teff grass seed has 1,300,000 seeds per lb

33% coating 858,000 per lb

50% coating 650,000 per lb

The co I sell for has found the best germination with the 33% coating for the Teff plus better handling than the super small raw seed.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

I bought coated seed but not sure how much. It's been stored for 2 years I will look and see, do the brillion seeders have a chart for teff? I'll be renting one from the county


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Teff seed is about the same size as Timothy seed which is considerably smaller than alfalfa seed. Both teff and Timothy have over a million seeds per pound and alfalfa is like 200k seeds per pound. I have not planted Teff with a Brillion seeder but I have no tilled it with my JD 1590. I used the Timothy seed setting on the small seed box as a starting point. Uncoated teff seed metered out about the same as Timothy but coated teff seed metered out faster so I had to cut the rate back by about a third. No sure if your Brillion has a setting on the chart for teff.

Since you have a cultipacker I would plan on rolling it again after planting for good measure. For alfalfa and orchard grass I have seen improved germination and stands by packing after planting......helps seal in moisture and cover any remaining seeds on the surface.

Edit....looks like Cy beat me to it.....he must type faster than me.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

As far as I know they do not. Timothy is very similar in size as Teff....but that would be uncoated. Does your Teff bag tell how many coated seeds per pound or does it tell if it has 33% or 50% coating?

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Saw this....http://covercrops.cals.cornell.edu/Teff.php

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Merry Christmas Lewis!

Regards, Mike

http://teffgrass.com/wp-content/themes/tg/downloads/Brillion_Planter_Settings1.pdf


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Lewis Ranch said:


> I bought coated seed but not sure how much. It's been stored for 2 years I will look and see, do the brillion seeders have a chart for teff? I'll be renting one from the county


 Went and looked on the chart on my Brillion seeder and it does have a setting for coated teff. This is for a SS-10 seeder. The Brillion seeders are also pretty easy to calibrate. If you can get the manual for it when you rent it there should be instructions in there or if it is a recent model I think Brillion has the manuals online on their site.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Vol said:


> Merry Christmas Lewis!
> 
> Regards, Mike
> 
> http://teffgrass.com/wp-content/themes/tg/downloads/Brillion_Planter_Settings1.pdf


Thanks! I saved that to my phone.

Cline the seeder my county has is ancient so I'm not sure of the model. If the teff deal works out I'll buy one of my own, there is no teff grown around here so I'm gonna have a tough time marketing it and with 40 acres I'm gonna have a lot to sell if it all goes well.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Lewis Ranch said:


> Thanks! I saved that to my phone.
> Cline the seeder my county has is ancient so I'm not sure of the model. If the teff deal works out I'll buy one of my own, there is no teff grown around here so I'm gonna have a tough time marketing it and with 40 acres I'm gonna have a lot to sell if it all goes well.


 Good luck on the teff......I tried it here for three years and just couldn't get it to work out for me. Marketing the hay wasn't such a problem but growing it and harvesting was. My problems were that it would lodge terribly and was a pain to cut since it was laying flat on the ground and that it didn't regrow after cutting like it was supposed to. Also if you have armyworms they like teff.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

FarmerCline said:


> Good luck on the teff......I tried it here for three years and just couldn't get it to work out for me. Marketing the hay wasn't such a problem but growing it and harvesting was. My problems were that it would lodge terribly and was a pain to cut since it was laying flat on the ground and that it didn't regrow after cutting like it was supposed to. Also if you have armyworms they like teff.


Shouldn't have a problem with dry down or lodging here in this Texas heat. My main concern is selling the stuff, if it makes 50 bales/acre 3 times that's 6,000 bales I've gotta get rid of. We get army worms but luckily if I catch them I can take care of them real easy. Thank y'all for the help.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

From what I have seen out of Teff here is that a hiccup can make it lodge....especially around cutting time.

Regards, Mike


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Re crusting - I've found my brillions front roller can break a crust a bit but the tractor tires tend to leave marks/ruts.

Can usually hear when the ground is too hard as the rings will really start banging on the rollers.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Sprayed roundup on the teff ground this morning, rye and weeds coming on like crazy with these 88 degree days.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Jeez still below 0 f at night here.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Vol said:


> From what I have seen out of Teff here is that a hiccup can make it lodge....especially around cutting time.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Nearly everyone has all the corn in the ground and most of its sprouted. Beans are being planted with some coming up, soil temperature 58. Rain in forecast for the next week I figure when it gets dry I'll plant the teff. I'll probably be fighting another flush of rye with all this rain coming but hopefully should have good moisture underneath.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I think soil temp needs to be at 65° or so for Teff to germinate well. A good warm rain could get you there.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> From what I have seen out of Teff here is that a hiccup can make it lodge....especially around cutting time.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 Yep, same thing here. Even with no nitrogen applied it still lodged flat about a week before cutting.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

I'll definitely keep a close eye on it and post pictures for more advise when it's growing. After it gets up and goimg I plan on giving it a #100 shot of 32-0-0- or 28-0-0-5


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Ok going a whole other direction. Any of y'all ever seed with an air truck? Good friend has one and can blow the whole field in about 30 minutes mixed with dry fertilize.


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

Popular way around me for some larger acre farms. Blow it on an roll it after. Don't know if they rate is increased to compensate for lower germ rate. Might want to research germination rates.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Yea I haven't made up my mind yet, lots of Bermuda seeded via air truck in this country. Soil temp is favorable so it will be planted soon as I have a weather window.


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