Maintaining soil fertility is a never-ending challenge for farmers, who are tasked with feeding a growing population using the same (or even less) land mass every year – and crop rotation is just one strategy farmers can deploy to keep their lands fertile.

For decades, it was thought that artificial fertilizers were an easy solution to soil degradation – after all, what could be simpler than just applying a man-made product to replace what nature lacks?  

But as we’ve learned more about more about soil, it’s become clear that artificial fertilizers aren’t a cure-all for nutrient depletion, and that their overuse can actually have a negative effect on soil quality as well as the wider environment.

Crop rotation is a natural method of soil enrichment that works with the soil ecosystem to preserve structure, encourage biodiversity and fix nitrogen and other nutrients.  Let’s take a look and how and why farmers do it.

What is crop rotation?

Crop rotation is a farming practice that involves systematically changing the type of crop that is grown in a particular field or location, usually from one year to the next – so instead of planting say, corn, in the same field year after year, the farmer rotates his crop by planting a different crop or group of plants in a specific sequence.  The types of crops in a rotation will depend on climate, soil type and the farmer’s goals.

Why do farmers rotate their crops?

In almost every aspect of the living world, variety is a good thing.  The more diversity that exists in any ecosystem, the healthier it will be – and soil is no different.  By rotating their crops, farmers can change up the variables when it comes to their soil ecosystem – factors like root depth, the volume of organic matter, moisture uptake and even the presence of insects can all have beneficial effects for the soil, and therefore subsequent crop yields.

Key benefits of crop rotation

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of crop rotation as opposed to monocropping (growing the same crop in the same place every year).

1. Soil health improvement

Crop rotation is primarily used as a method of enriching the soil by rotating crops that deplete nutrients with crop that add nutrients – particularly nitrogen.  Leguminous crops like clover, vetch and peas are known as ‘nitrogen fixing’ plants, which means they capture nitrogen from the air and sequester it in the soil via their roots.  As well as being cheaper and more environmentally friendly than using man-made nitrogen fertilizers, it’s thought that using nature in this way makes nitrogen in the soil more readily available to subsequent crop cycles.

2. Erosion prevention

Certain crops in a rotation can be used to minimize soil erosion.  Plants like grasses have deep roots and underground rhizomes that bind the soil together, reducing the risk of topsoil being washed away by rain or carried away by high winds.  Plants with deep, penetrating roots also help prevent soil from becoming compacted, which allows moisture to travel deeper and encourages the presence of earthworms and other organisms that work to break down organic matter and enhance the soil’s structure.

3. Weed management

Crop rotations that include cover crops can aid with weed management by physically suppressing weed growth – stopping weed seeds from getting the moisture or light they need to germinate.  But changing up your crops – and therefore the wider conditions in the field – can also stop any one weed species from becoming dominant.  In monocropping systems, it’s common for one or two particular types of weed to thrive in the conditions that crop creates, and after several years, those weeds can become highly established and even resistant to herbicides.  Changing the crop means changing the conditions, which stops unwanted species from getting a strong foothold and makes all weeds easier to control.

4. Pest and disease control

Much like with weeds, specific crops are vulnerable to specific types of pests and disease.  If you monocrop, the life cycles of those pests and diseases will quickly become established and can be increasingly difficult to break.  Switching crops prevents these cycles from occurring, giving your crops and soil a break from pest and disease problems that could otherwise become endemic – but also attracting beneficial insects and bacteria that work to keep soil ecosystems in balance long-term.

What does a typical crop rotation look like?

Crop rotations can vary a lot depending on climate, soil conditions and the farmer’s business objectives.  Here’s a very simplified example of a crop rotation and the reasons for the sequence:

Year 1: Legume Crop

Legume crops like peas and soybeans are nitrogen-fixing plants. They have a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their root nodules, allowing them to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that can be used by plants. Planting legumes in the first year of the rotation enriches the soil with nitrogen, making it available for subsequent crops without the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Year 2: Grass Crop

Corn, wheat and sorghum are all examples of grass crops.  They are heavy nitrogen users and will therefore benefit from the nitrogen fixed into the soil by the legumes in year one, reducing the farmer’s dependence on synthetic fertilizers.  Grass crops also have a different pest and disease profile than legumes.

Year 3: Root Crop

Root crops like potatoes, carrots and other vegetables are typically grown last in a rotation because they are less demanding on soil nutrients and also because they naturally break up the soil structure as they grow, and during harvesting.  Since legumes prefer a loose soil structure, this is a useful characteristic.  As with other crop groups, the pest and disease profile of root crops is different, and helps to break the cycle.

Many crop rotations are more complicated than this – particularly when cover crops are added in between cash crops or during fallow periods. The length of rotation can also vary – some farmers will grow their main cash crop for several consecutive years before going into a rotation. 

What planting and tillage tools are needed for successful crop rotation?

When it comes to tillage and planting in a crop rotation, efficiency is really important.  The more complex your rotation is, the less you can afford downtime, so it’s important that tools like disc blades are long-wearing to avoid frequent changing, especially halfway through a busy season!

Soil compaction can be a problem in complex rotations due to the sheer number of passes required to plant and harvest multiple crops each year.  Thinking about how you can reduce passes – by switching to no-till, or using multi-purpose machinery – can reduce the amount of compaction.  It’s also really important to ensure your machinery and parts are well-maintained, with appropriate tire pressures and sharp blades to reduce drag.

Precision planting is also important, and you can save valuable time and energy with Guaranteed True® seed disc openers from Wearparts – we test every assembly in-house to some of the tightest wobble and lope tolerances, so you don’t have to. 

To find out more about how quality parts from Wearparts can enhance your crop rotations, get in touch.

Sweeps – or shovels and plows as they’re known in some parts of the US – are an important tillage tool, used at various points throughout the farming year to aerate and condition the soil.

A sweep is a v-shaped or curved wing metal blade, typically designed to attach to the shanks of a row crop, or field cultivator or chisel plow.  The sweep penetrates the soil to a fixed depth, and then as it is pulled through the soil it lifts and turns over the top layer.

The primary purpose of agricultural sweeps in tillage farming is to disturb the top layer of soil, break up any compacted soil, and incorporate crop residue or cover crops into the soil. This process helps to improve soil aeration, water infiltration, and nutrient availability, which are essential for healthy plant growth.

But there’s another important use for sweeps, and that’s weed control.  With planting season now well underway, it won’t be long until farmers have to start thinking about suppressing weeds to ensure their crops receive optimal levels of light, nutrients and water.

How can sweeps be used to control weeds?

Controlling weeds with sweeps is referred to as mechanical weed control.  It can be done prior to planting, or during the growing season.  Some farmers will do both in order to give their crops the best chance of successful germination and growth.

Mechanical weed control is suitable for organic systems, and if done meticulously, can negate the use of chemical herbicides.  Farmers may also use mechanical weed control in conjunction with herbicides.  Here are some of the ways sweeps can help farmers to control weeds in their crop fields:

Weed removal

Using sweeps can physically uproot or sever young weeds as they push up through the soil.  The young plants will then wither and die before they have a chance to become established or set seed.  Shallow sweeps are usually sufficient for this task because the plants are still tender with poorly developed root systems, so soil disturbance is minimal.  Regularly using sweeps can help farmers keep on top of weeds without the need for any other treatments.  

Incorporating cover crops

Planting a cover crop is one method farmers can use to prevent soil erosion and reduce weed problems.  Cover crops may be planted in the season before the main crop (for example, winter wheat), or they can be planted a short time before the main crop is due to be planted.  In the latter case, the most common crops are fast-growing legumes like clover, peas, soybeans and alfalfa.  These plants accumulate biomass quickly, crowding out weeds.  The cover crop is terminated right before planting of the main crop, and the residues are incorporated into the soil using sweeps.  This process is sometimes called ‘green mulching’.

Disturbing weed roots

For more established weeds, sweeps are a great way to cut through their root systems beneath the soil, preventing the plant from absorbing water and nutrients so that they wither up and die.  It’s important to use strong, sharp blades and set the sweeps to a sufficient depth where they can cut through tough tap roots effectively.

Enhancing herbicide application

In some cases, sweeps are used in conjunction with herbicide application. The sweeps disturb the soil, which allows herbicides to reach the weed roots more easily. Combining mechanical and chemical weed control can significantly reduce the farmer’s dependence on expensive herbicides.

What’s the best type of sweep for weed control?

Sweeps come in a variety of shapes and widths for different tillage applications.  Some are very narrow and pointed, while others have a shallower angle for less aggressive cutting.  Sweeps also come in different depths.

Sweep shape

The angle and crown of a sweep wings will determine how it moves through the soil.  Narrower winged sweeps are subject to less soil resistance so they can move more quickly and easily, especially in row crop cultivation.  These sweeps are suitable for shallower cutting.  Sweeps with a steeper angle will be met with more soil resistance and may be used in very dry or rocky conditions, so they move more slowly and smoothly, but are only suitable for use at shallow to medium depths.  

Sweep width

The width of a sweep determines how much ground it can cover in a single pass.  Wider sweeps typically have a shallower angle, and vice versa.   

Sweep depth

The depth of a sweep is determined by the length of the stem or mounting bracket.  A longer bracket will allow the sweep to penetrate more deeply, as will increasing the downward pressure on the plow or cultivator itself.  Some machines have adjustable shanks so that farmers can get variable depths.

Narrower sweeps are better for cutting through the roots of established weeds.  Wider, shallower sweeps are better for removing young weeds, or incorporating cover crops.

What should I look for when choosing sweeps for my machinery?

The most important thing is to ensure the sweep you choose are compatible with your machinery brand.  At Wearparts, we offer a range of sweeps to fit all common chisel plow, row crop, and cultivator brands, including FallowMaster.

The second thing to think about is the durability of the sweep versus the cost.  Think about your soil type – is it dry and rocky, or heavy clay?  Perhaps it’s loamy and easy to work.  If you’re going to be working in difficult soil conditions, it’s worth investing more in heavy duty sweeps that can withstand the intense friction and loading that will occur as you pass through the field.

In these conditions, cheaper sweeps are usually a false economy – they wear much more often, so you have to replace them more frequently, and you lose valuable time while your machine is down for maintenance.

Hardfaced sweeps

At Wearparts, we use premium-grade materials like boron steel to manufacture our agricultural sweeps.  This gives our sweeps a unique balance of strength and flexibility that increases wearlife and reduces the risk of breakage, while maximizing efficiency even in tough soil conditions.

We also offer custom hardfacing as an option on all sweeps.  You can choose to have your sweeps hardfaced on the top or bottom plus the stem.  CMT Hardfacing is a cold welding process that adds material to the ground-engaging portion of the blade, without superheating the base material.  This stops the formation of weak spots that can lead to premature wear.  Our own independent tests show that our hardfaced sweeps can deliver up to 30% longer wear life in the field.

To find out more about our range of sweeps for chisel plows, row crop and field cultivators, get in touch!

If planting season was a rock concert, seed opener blades would be the stars of the show.  But just as a rock star is nothing without the band, so seed opener blades rely on a supporting act – gauge wheels – to do their job.

The seed opener and the gauge wheel work in tandem to open a furrow at the correct depth, leaving enough soil in the right place for the closing wheel to place back over the seed.  The specification of your gauge wheels will depend largely on which planter you’re running – but factors such as soil moisture, tillage system and even crop type can all inform your decision about which gauge wheel to choose.

Here’s a look at some of the options available on gauge wheels, and the factors to consider when making a choice.

Gauge wheel placement

The vast majority of planters have the gauge wheel positioned right next to the seed opener blade – and for good reason.  This is the closest practical point to where the seed drops, and therefore the point at which you can achieve the most precise depth control, which has a direct impact on soil contact and seed germination. 

Locating the gauge wheel alongside the blade also prevents soil from being thrown out of the furrow by the opener blades. This is important in no-till systems where minimal soil disturbance is the name of the game, and is also vital for successfully closing the furrow, since the close wheel can’t replace soil that is thrown too far from the furrow.  It’s also important if your soil is prone to waterlogging, since moving too much soil out of the furrow can lead to depressions in the surface that collect water and can cause seeds to rot.

Soil compaction

The function of the gauge wheel is to hold down the sidewall of the furrow that naturally wants to rise up as the seed blade passes through.  This results in a clean furrow that facilitates precise seed placement, and enough soil to effectively close it again.  But an unwanted side effect of this is compaction of the sidewall, which can in itself cause problems with seed-to-soil contact, resulting in restricted root growth, poor emergence, and lost yield potential.

Some manufacturers – such as Case – have attempted to get around the problem with design tweaks to their machinery.  The Case IH gauge wheel uses a Reduced Inner Diameter (RID) tire with a unique relief profile that leaves space for the soil to bulge upwards along the edge of the furrow, while still retaining a clean furrow profile.  The system works thanks to a ‘seed boot’ that runs along inside the furrow itself, preventing the loose soil from collapsing inwards before the seed is placed.

Choosing a width

Gauge wheels are available in a range of widths, typically 2.5”, 3” and 4.5”, with the latter being the most common.  The width you choose depends on the importance of depth versus compaction – the narrower the wheel, the more depth you’ll achieve since the wheel is less prone to obstruction by trash or clumps of soil.  

2.5-inch wheels are typically run on twin row planters because there isn’t room for a wider wheel.  3-inch wheels tend to be used in strip or ridge till systems, where they help to achieve a good balance between depth and soil compaction – but there’s an increasing movement towards their use in no-till systems too because of their ability to run smoothly through trash.

Gauge wheels over 4 inches in diameter are most commonly used in conventional tillage systems, but in no-till they’re an ideal choice on heavy soils where plugging is an issue.  They serve to keep the row unit out of the ground and maintain consistent depth.

Spoked or solid?

Gauge wheels come in both solid and spoked profiles and the choice really comes down to soil conditions, farming system – and personal preference.  The idea of spoked gauge wheels is that mud and residue can escape between the spokes so they don’t get clogged up, and also so that it’s easier to clean out any debris that gets lodged between the seed disc and the gauge wheel.  However, in no till systems – particularly corn fields – the leftover corn stalks and other trash can end up getting tangled in the spokes, leading some farmers, especially those in drier climates, to opt for a solid wheel profile.  

Which tires?

Gauge wheel tires always have a convex profile to reduce drag and therefore increase agronomic efficiency. They have traditionally been made of rubber, which has a key benefit – its flexibility allows the tire to easily shed mud and debris as it moves along.

But rubber tires struggle to stand up to the extreme wear they encounter in conservation tillage system – especially no-till, where corn stalks can shred up a tire like nobody’s business.  For this reason, polyurethane tires are becoming more popular for gauge wheels.  Polyurethane wheels retain their lips for much longer which results in a superior furrow – but they can also be heavy and hard, leading to increased soil compaction, and the risk of the tire bouncing over an uneven surface, leading to inconsistent depth.  In addition, polyurethane wheels don’t shed mud easily so they are prone to plugging.

The solution?  Rubber semi-hollow tires like the FarmFlex range by Otico, available from Wearparts.   These tires are manufactured from rubber and are hollow like a normal tire, but the proportions have been altered to deliver superior performance.  The void in the centre is just big enough to give the tire that necessary flex, while the rubber is thick enough to be puncture-proof and deliver that long-wearing, semi-rigid lip.  Superior shock absorption ensure consistent planting and crucially, less wear and tear on your planter.  Tire profiles vary by machine, and FarmFlex has options to fit them all – including the RID option for the Case IH planter.

For more advice on which gauge wheels are best for a specific planter or how you can tackle particular in-field challenges, contact our knowledgeable sales team.

If necessity is the mother of invention, it follows that when it comes to knowing what tools farmers need to get the job done, nobody knows better than farmers themselves.

Almost every piece of farm machinery we use today can trace its roots back to an implement that was designed by a guy looking to solve a problem on his own land – because when you see the problem close up, you’re best placed to develop a solution.

That’s why our customers – ag dealers and the farmers they serve – are integral to the NPD process here at Wearparts.  Where OEM manufacturers are focused on the big, ‘one size fits all’ solutions, as an independent business we’ve got the agility and the grassroots knowledge to respond to the specific challenges farmers are facing in a much more intuitive way.

Inspired by experience

Take our seed opener assemblies, for example.  The points of difference between OEM openers from different manufacturers are negligible – but after attending a workshop with a group of farmers, we learned that most conventional assemblies were coming up short on some key factors: hardness, bearing size, sharpness and bevel length.

So we took this information to our NPD department, and the result is our unique seed opener assembly, developed in conjunction with French company, Forges de Niaux.  

Our seed openers look the same as most – but look closer and you’ll find we’ve used an innovative heat treatment process that delivers a harder edge while retaining flexibility through the center; a longer bevel that stays sharp for longer; and a larger bearing and rivet.  What this adds up to is precise performance, a longer wearlife in the field, and less costly downtime for the farmer.  The differences are subtle, but in a game of fine margins, they can add up to significant uplift in a farmer’s bottom line.

Innovating for excellence

This NPD process isn’t unique to our seed opener blades.  We’re always listening to farmers and thinking about ways we can improve or update our products to better meet the challenges they face, in an industry that gets more competitive every year.

At any given moment, we’ll have a number of products at various stages in our NPD process, which starts with our sales team gathering feedback from customers and culminates in the launch of a new tillage or planting tool.

For obvious reasons, we can’t develop a new product every time we get a query or some feedback from a customer – but over time, we’re able to build up a clear picture of where there is a need, based on the volume of requests for a specific product adaptation or new solution.  

Our sales team are out on the ground right across the USA, listening carefully to what dealers and farmers are saying about our products and about our competitors, so once we’ve established there’s a need for something new or different, we move to the next stage of the process.

Advanced agronomics

We start by scoping out the design and product engineering parameters, as well as the commercial side.  Do we need to develop something new from scratch, or can we adapt an existing product?  What will it cost to make?  What do we need to sell it for – and how do the costs stack up for the farmer in terms of cost per acre?  Only when we’re sure that it makes agronomic sense will we proceed to actually develop the concept.

This process begins in our engineering department where, following a product request from the sales team, our designers begin by creating a CAD drawing and/or a 3D model of the product.  Once they’re happy with this, they submit it to the preferred manufacturing vendor – we use vendors across Europe, North and South America and some in the Far East – for one or more prototypes to be made.

Once we receive the prototype/s at our headquarters in Gothenburg, Nebraska, we proceed to carry out fitment and field tests.  The fitment tests are to ensure that the prototype/s are fit for purpose – that it fits the intended machine, and that it moves freely, interacting with any other components as it should.  Once we’re confident that the product works ‘on paper’, it’s time for the real test – in the field!

Field tested, farmer trusted

We carry out field tests to establish the precision, effectiveness and wearlife of all our ground-engaging components, comparing them against data from our own similar products where available as well as comparing directly with competitor products where appropriate.  

This process quickly shows up where any adjustments need to be made on the design and manufacturing side.  Prototypes may travel back and forth to the manufacturer a number of times until we’re completely satisfied with the performance and specification.  As a result, the time frame for our NPD process varies significantly from product to product – it can take up to a year or more to bring a product from concept to market-ready component.

Once we’re satisfied that the new product meets our stringent requirements on performance, wearlife and value for money, we place our first batch order, and recurring purchase orders thereafter.  All product is received into our Nebraska HQ and quality checked before it’s stored in our warehouse ready for shipping to our nationwide dealer network.

We want your feedback

Whether you’re a farmer or an ag dealer, if you’ve got an idea for a new product or a modification to our existing range that would save you time and money, we want to hear from you!  Get in touch to add your feedback to our database, and shape the future of tillage and planting with Wearparts.