Drill settings for buckwheat

[5312]

I plan to try growing just an acre of buckwheat as an experiment.

I have converted an Accord cultivator drill to Sim-tec tines and cut it down from 4m to 3m.

The drill has gone from 32 tines at 12.5cm to 14 at 22cm.

The seed rate is recommended at 20kg per acre. How should I set the metering?

Sorry, I am a newbie at this arable stuff

 

[Brisel]

https://ien.kverneland.com/Seeding-Equipment/Seed-Drills/Seed-rate-calculation-tool

 

[5312]

https://ien.kverneland.com/Seeding-Equipment/Seed-Drills/Seed-rate-calculation-tool

Thanks for that it is a good app for the phone.

It would be better if you could search for a specific crop.

Which of the seeds on the app would be closest to buckwheat?

Regarding the drill being cut down to 3m from 4 do you just use 3/4 of the recommended rate?

 

[Brisel]

I haven't got he app and the web version doesn't work on my computer so I can't help much. Buckwheat seed is fairly small but not oilseed rape small. Even if the metering wheel would do 50 kg/ha (20 kg/ac) on the small seeds setting you'd grind a fair bit up. Run it on the large seeds setting. My Claydon has an Accord metering system & that's what it says to do.

3/4 of what you'd set for 4m sounds right. Row spacing is irrelevant. Wider rows just mean more seed per row to get the same number of seeds/acre.

 

[Simon Chiles]

3/4 of what you'd set for 4m sounds right. Row spacing is irrelevant. Wider rows just mean more seed per row to get the same number of seeds/acre.

This^^^^. If it has a chart on the side look up the setting for 37.5kg/ha of oats and set it at that. Calibrate out 1/10th of a ha and obviously you’re looking for 3.75kg. Adjust either up or down according to how much is in the bucket. Don’t forget that the scale is linear so if it’s 20% too high just move the cell wheel 20%, it saves having to keep having wild guesses.

 

[5312]

This^^^^. If it has a chart on the side look up the setting for 37.5kg/ha of oats and set it at that. Calibrate out 1/10th of a ha and obviously you’re looking for 3.75kg. Adjust either up or down according to how much is in the bucket. Don’t forget that the scale is linear so if it’s 20% too high just move the cell wheel 20%, it saves having to keep having wild guesses.

Thanks Simon. Worked out almost exactly right