Ron and Rita St. Croix, along with son David and his wife Steph St. Croix, farm at Kenmare, North Dakota about 75 miles northwest of Minot. 1999 was the wettest spring on record.

We seed about 5000 acres with a 48-foot Concord air seeder. In the fall of 1998, we knifed in about 1500 acres of anhydrous into wheat and barley stubble. The balance of the stubble was left as harvested.

The fall anhydrous land was about 90% seeded during June 5^th through the 12^th. The broadleaf stubble (peas, mustard and sunflowers) was about 75% seeded during June 12^th through the 22^nd. None of the standing cereal stubble was seeded. Overall, about 50% of our acres were seeded.

On the non-anhydrous land, we first tried spring anhydrous application to dry out the soil and eliminate the load of the anhydrous tank at seeding. This resulted in two passes on the field – one to anhydrous and one to seed. The result was dryer soil, severe compaction and a fair stand.

Next we tried spreading urea and ammonium sulfate. We still applied with DAP with the seed. We only filled the seed trailer 33% full of fertilizer and 60% full of seed. We were using six-inch openers on twelve-inch spacing. We put duals on the rear axle of the 3400 Concord trailer at eight PSI pressure. Finally to reduce the air seeder load, we went to two-inch openers seeding at about ½ inch deep. We increased the speed to seven mph. In some cases, we harrowed the next day to cover the seed. The result was less compaction and better stand.

In summary, we lucked out on a late fall frost. The crop that was seeded was good. Because of compaction, I wonder if the long-term results will show we should have seeded less.

The duals on the trailer worked great although Concord did not recommend them. The low-pressure packer tires worked well. A weight transfer hitch to help lift the front of the center section would help every year.