Something New at the NCRS

 So there are some new experiments at the NCRS this spring: organic fertilizers.  Who would have though that?  Well with the success of the organic biological product C-Tech, there are now some AgroLiquid organic experimental fertilizers with nutrient content.  These are liquid of course.  Part of the experimental process is to compare to commercially available products which is what we are doing here.  Most of those other products are dry, so we calibrated a spinner spreader to apply 1300 lb/A of this 4-3-2 organic chicken litter product.  Now that's quite a load.  Seasonal NCRS employee Quinten, who will be a senior at MSU, loads the spreader while interns Jake and Alex make sure none is spilled.

 This is a different application method, but with GPS guidance it went on as planned.  Alex drew the short straw and got to turn the spreader on and off and make sure it flowed through the spreader.

It did a good job of even application over the plot.

 After spreading the ground was worked and then planted.  The test liquids were applied with the planter.  If successful, this will be an interesting new market.

This is the planted field, but where are the rows?  Well another new thing this year is drag chains behind the planter press wheels.  Tim is checking that out this year as they have been said to give more uniform seed coverage and more uniform emergence.  Well that would be nice, but I do miss visible rows in my pictures.  I'll get over it.  Maybe.