Chris Teutsch, Ray Smith, and Jimmy Henning

Grain drill calibration is a critical, yet often ignored part of successful forage establishment and pasture renovation.  Most farmers just use the seeding chart that is already on their grain drill.  As drills wear, and tires and cogs get replaced, actual seeding rates can vary significantly from seeding charts found on drills.  We designed a simple and straight forward calibration method that can be applied across a wide range of grain drill types and manufacturers.  

This heart of this method is a pre-made chart that allows producers to determine the quantity of seed to catch for each disk opener for a desired seeding rate.  This minimizes the need for producers to carry out detailed mathematical calculations.  This procedure and chart were made into a decal that can be affixed to grain drills.   This decal has been distributed to counties and Soil and Water Conservation districts in Kentucky that have drills that are loaned or rented.  

With the help of UK Ag Communications, a video of this procedure was made and has been posted to the UK Master Grazer webpage.  A poster highlighting this procedure was also presented at the American Forage and Grassland Council’s Annual Meeting held in St Louis, MO.  A popular press article featuring this procedure was published in the March Issue of the Progressive Forage Magazine.