broadcasting oats

Brian806 · Apr 10, 2015

So I want to plant some oats and the weather is looking decent for the next few days maybe she will dry out enough! I can borrow a drill and drill the oats! But I'm trying to stay away from borrow equipment! So I was thinking can I broadcast my oats I know you can but how should I do it I did two acres once I disc spring tooth harrowed spread oats heavy and packed them I know I did t get all the seeds covered with the packer after the harrow think I harrowed to deep and the packer wouldn't level it enough! So I was thinking could I plow disc harrow lightly broadcast and drag my 3 ar coil tune harrow over them if that would cover them enough or lightly harrow in with my spring tooth! How do you cover your broad casted seed!

Billy NY · Apr 10, 2015

You can do it and get most if not all the seed under cover. Being a larger seed, its more forgiving on that end of it. I have plowed, then made one pass with the disc harrow, then broadcast feed oats by hand with a walk behind spreader and then made one more pass with the disc, it all came up. Just not for grain, forage for deer plots. Farmer who used to plant here, did not have a drill one year and hired it out, they broadcast the oats, he made one pass with the cultipacker, and though there was a lot of certified seed on the surface, much of it sunk a root in anyway, at first I thought it was a disaster, but that field did come out nice, so you can definitely broadcast them. Drilled in would be better for a grain crop I suppose, but if you can control the seed application so you don't over populate and get decent soil coverage with the tillage, it should work out, at least I have done it here and seen it work. I'd test an area and see how it is, what I did with the disc came out good, much of it looked drilled in as the seed stayed in the small furrows made by the disc.

Adirondack case guy · Apr 10, 2015

Do yourself a favor and borrow/rent the drill. If your ground is dry enough???? sink a disc harrow in before the drill and loosen up the ground. If the drill has a hitch on the back, hook a rolling packer behind it. If you choose to broadcast oats, all you are doing is feeding all the birds that are schavenging anything to eat in the early spring season. With big seed like oats, it needs to be buried and out of site of any birds.
Loren, the Acg.

pete 23 · Apr 10, 2015

My dad bought a drill in I believe 1946. Before that he used a seeder pulled with the horses that just spread it out on the ground. Then he jumped on the tractor and using a single disc went over it. Lot of people used end gate seeders also and disked it in. It wasn't nearly as good as a drill but we always had an oats crop.

tomNE · Apr 10, 2015

hit and miss broadcasting.....mostly miss. hire it drilled or rent a drill. you will be much happier

fixerupper · Apr 10, 2015

I've been around a drill only a handful of times in my life and I've been on an Iowa farm for 64 years. In my neck of the woods very few farmers had a drill because we have never had enough acres of small grain to justify one. That and the old drills just didn't work well in our heavy damp soil. The new drills are a whole different ball game and can do an excellent job in our soils.

We always broadcast three bushels per acre and then lightly disked them in. I've never had very good luck with just dragging and rolling oats in. Too shallow is worse than too deep with oats. They will come up from a pretty darned deep depth. Following the disk with a roller won't hurt a bit.

That said, a drill still gives you a more consistent stand and if you can get hold of one use it. 2 1/2 bushels per acre works well with a drill and gives you about the same stand as 3 bushels per acre broadcast. It's not the end of the world if you broadcast, you just need to make an extra trip across the field and you will use a little more seed.

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showcrop · Apr 10, 2015

It has been a few years, maybe more than a few, anyway it was a little late in the spring, seeding down, so I decided to put oats in as a nurse crop. I had the ground all worked up, and broadcast dry fertilizer on with 3 point spreader. Then I broadcast the oats on with the same spreader. Then I went over it with my JD KBA disc with it open all the way. Then I seeded my Alfalfa, Timothy and orchard grass mix. That night we got a good light rain, and in a few days the alfalfa, grass and oats were all off and running. The oats came up real well, even though we got no more rain for about five weeks. It continued dry after one decent rain so I left the oats even after they died off, because There was so little moisture. I cut it probably mid August after we finally got some rain, and then the alfalfa came up very nice and thick.

sammydwm · Apr 11, 2015

had good results the last time I broadcast by pulling the springtooth over the field set on the shallowest setting.

TomA in CA · Apr 11, 2015

By all means, broadcast and disc in the seed. Oats need to be planted deep to be in the moisture so it comes up before it rains if possible. Oats doesn't like a lot of rain before it comes up. Don't leave it on top of the ground long or the birds will get it.

Texasmark1 · Apr 11, 2015

I usually drill grain but this winter, I broadcast some oats because the clay was too muddy to drill. Field was prepared for a crop. Just waiting on weather to plant. I used my fertilizer spreader and mixed them with some fertilizer to thin them out so I cold have a decent yield. I then took a light weight chain harrow and drug it over them to get some dirt on them....discussion is on here back in the Jan-Feb time frame. Crop is a flop, not only because of the uneven distribution of the seeds, but also the performance of the crop. I am bring in rye grass I drilled with less effort and fert and it's headed out and I have some of it on the ground just in time for 3 days of rain..............arg.
No more broadcasting for me.

Mark

broadcasting oats

Brian806

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Billy NY

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Adirondack case guy

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pete 23

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tomNE

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fixerupper

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showcrop

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sammydwm

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TomA in CA

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Texasmark1

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