New strip-till options from John Deere

Nov 01, 2022

Three new pieces of strip-till equipment debut for order from John Deere in February of 2023.

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image from John Deere showing the ST16 strip-till equipment

Fresh for 2023, John Deere has launched its new series of strip-till equipment available for order this upcoming February.

There are three--or five--new options: the ST12 and ST16 Integral; or ST12, ST16 and ST18 Drawn models. Each offers different shanks, coulters and row-spacings for operator customization to find the best fit for your field.

ST12 Strip-Till Solution

Available in Integral or Drawn options;
12-row offerings;
Spacing Options: Integral: 30-inch (76.2 cm) rows;
Spacing Options: Drawn: 20-inch rows (50.8);
Air-adjust row cleaners;
Speed: Integral: Coulters 9.7 to 16 km/h; Shanks eight to 13 km/h;
Speed: Drawn: Coulters 9.7 to 16 km/h; Shanks eight to 13 km/h;
Working Depth: Integral: Shanks up to 11-inches (27.9 cm); Coulters up to six inches (15.24 cm);
Working Depth: Drawn: Shanks up to 11-inches (27.9 cm); Coulters up to six inches (15.24 cm);
Fertilizer capacity, Drawn only: 10 tons

ST16 Strip-Till Solution

Available in Integral or Drawn options;
16-row offerings;
Spacing Options: Integral: 30-inch (76.2 cm) rows;
Spacing Options: Drawn: 22-inch (55.9 cm) rows;
Air-adjust row cleaners;
Working Speed: Integral: Coulters 9.7 to 16 km/h; Shanks eight to 13 km/h;
Working Speed: Drawn: Coulters 9.7 to 16 km/h; Shanks eight to 13 km/h;
Working Depth: Integral: Shanks up to 11-inches (27.9 cm); Coulters up to six inches (15.24 cm);
Working Depth: Drawn: Shanks up to 11-inches (27.9 cm); Coulters up to six inches (15.24 cm);
Fertilizer Capacity, Drawn only: 10 tons.

ST18 Drawn Strip-Till Solution

Drawn-only option;
18-row offering;
Air-adjust row cleaners;
Working Speed: Coulters 9.7 to 16 km/h; Shanks eight to 13 km/h;
Working Depth: Shanks up to 11" (27.9 cm); Coulters up to six inches (15.24 cm);
Fertilizer Capacity: 10 tons.

Launched on October 31, 2022, orders will begin in February of 2023 for delivery in the Summer of 2023 for use in the Fall of 2023.

Video: Wheat Yields in USA and China Threatened by Heat Waves Breaking Enzymes

A new peer reviewed study looks at the generally unrecognized risk of heat waves surpassing the threshold for enzyme damage in wheat.

Most studies that look at crop failure in the main food growing regions (breadbaskets of the planet) look at temperatures and droughts in the historical records to assess present day risk. Since the climate system has changed, these historical based risk analysis studies underestimate the present-day risks.

What this new research study does is generate an ensemble of plausible scenarios for the present climate in terms of temperatures and precipitation, and looks at how many of these plausible scenarios exceed the enzyme-breaking temperature of 32.8 C for wheat, and exceed the high stress yield reducing temperature of 27.8 C for wheat. Also, the study considers the possibility of a compounded failure with heat waves in both regions simultaneously, this greatly reducing global wheat supply and causing severe shortages.

Results show that the likelihood (risk) of wheat crop failure with a one-in-hundred likelihood in 1981 has in today’s climate become increased by 16x in the USA winter wheat crop (to one-in-six) and by 6x in northeast China (to one-in-sixteen).

The risks determined in this new paper are much greater than that obtained in previous work that determines risk by analyzing historical climate patterns.

Clearly, since the climate system is rapidly changing, we cannot assume stationarity and calculate risk probabilities like we did traditionally before.

We are essentially on a new planet, with a new climate regime, and have to understand that everything is different now.