ORIGINAL: yeoman
Answerguy,
The farmer has been using no-till to grow and harvest soybeans and corn, alternating years.
I have not charged anything because the previous owner didn't, I ask him to leave some standing rows, and I didn't want to lose him.
He wouldn't plant plots because of the need to go back and forth with different equipment, multiple times.
The ground is very level and clean because it has been no-till for years.
You suggest I don't need no-till equipment, but maybe a seeder. To plant no-till beans and corn, I would need a no-till drill or planter..isn't that a "seeder"? They are very expensive and I don't know that I could pull even the smallest no-till planter with my tractor. How do you plant the 3.5 acres? Is it in corn/beans or a broadcast crop likeclover or oats? There I can see getting by with a "seeder".
Thanks for the input.
I plant my land with a hand seeder like this:
http://media.doitbest.com/products/737119.gif
Broadcasting soys works out better than broadcasting corn, because corn doesn't like to be crowded. But it's my only choice until I can find something like a two row corn planter.
I'm thinking that 7 acres is going to be way too much land to use a hand seeder with because I'm right on the edge with my 3.5 acres.
I can't say that I know much about no till farming but couldn't you just disk under the accumulated trash with your tractor and then plant the old fashioned way?