Two weeks ago, Big Roy (my husband's dad) drilled proso.  Proso is a type of millet.  Like all millet varieties, it is used for bird seed, livestock feed, and also some for human food, like gluten-free flour and multigrain breads. 

Take note, I said he drilled the seed.  Drilling is a method of planting seeds, BUT it makes a difference if you say.  Drilling and planting are two different methods done with different types of machinery.  The way Little Roy (my husband - and he is smaller than his dad)) explains it, drilling is used for plants that can grow in close proximity and not be affected.  Planting is for plants such as corn that need a certain amount of space to grow straight and produce their crop.  Drilling broadcasts the seed while planting puts one seed at a time in the ground at even intervals.

I missed getting a picture of Big Roy out in the field drilling (I promise I'll stay more on top of things in the future!), but I did get some pictures of them loading the proso seed to be drilled.  Roy is going to provide the descriptions of each of this photos so I don't butcher this . . . take it away Roy!


We're loading bulk fertilizer from the truck into the rear hopper of the seed cart (white thing) using an auger (black pole).


In these two photos, above and below, you can see the fertilizer coming out into the base of the auger.


In the picture on the left, we're moving a bulk bag of seed into position.  It holds 2000-2500 lbs of seed.  Our seeding rate is around 20 lbs/acre.  In the next picture, the seed is released through a hole in the bottom of the bag and we're running it into the front hopper of the seed tank. 


Here you can see the fertilizer in the rear hopper.  We don't use the center hopper (the closed black door) for proso, but we use it when we drill wheat. 

Here you can see into the front hopper while we're filling it with proso seed.  The front and rear hoppers each will hold 120 bushels (definition of bushel - its a volume measurement, about 8 gallons).

Here you can see the fan (center right, behind the steps) that is used to blow the seed and fertilizer back to the drill (seeder) portion of the air-drill (pictures below).  You can also see the bottom of the auger (left) as the extra seed is being emptied out. 


Here you can see the drill (or seeder) folded for transport.  In the field, the sides are down and it looks flat.  The large black tube on the hitch is where the seed and fertilizer comes from the seed cart.  It is blown through the tube with the fan (shown in the last picture) up into the distributor head where it is divided and sent through smaller distributor heads that are mounted on the equipment.  So, one more time, the seed and fertilizer go from the big black tube (coming from the base of the picture) to the distributor (borg-looking assembly in the middle) through the smaller black tubes to the secondary distributors.  The secondary distributors divide it into equal parts into the small white tubes that take it down to the soil. 


In this picture you can see one of the small black tubes coming across the top.  You can also see the white tubes that carry the seed from the final distributor to the soil.  At the bottom of the white tube is the point that cuts a furrow into the ground and places the seed.  Interesting note, these points are carbide tipped, so they're very durable and will last a couple of years.  The yellow springs are trip-springs that will give way if the tip or point hits a solid object that cannot move.  It takes about 500 lbs of force for this to happen.  This way, the point will pop out of the way if it comes across something very large and hard, such as a boulder in the ground. 


This is the back-side of the air seeder.  The narrow black wheels are packer wheels.  They pack the soil back on top of the seed to aid germination and a better stand.  If the packer wheels pack too hard, the seed will germinate but won't be able to penetrate the soil to come up - a problem that rarely happens with no-till. 

This is the backside of the seed cart.  Mounted in the center using a magnet is a video camera.  This allows the operator to see directly behind the seed cart and monitor to make sure there is not any trash building up or plugging the seeder.  In the tractor cab is a 9" LCD display that works day or night so it can be operated all hours.


This is what Melise thinks of standing out in the heat to take pictures of equipment . . . Don't worry, she'll think this all very cool some day.

P.S. Don't forget the giveaway!