Last week, the first SOIL Service, Inc. Rogue VT^® vertical tillage tool came to Missouri. We were able to run it on the SOIL HEALTH STUDY field after the soybeans were harvested, right ahead of drilling wheat. We were very pleased with the job it did!

There were some winter annuals starting to show up, so we ran most of the field with the tines set at 5 degrees. That moved a little more soil than 2.5-degree setting. The combination of the coulters and double rolling baskets left a very nice and SMOOTH seed bed. My brother, Bruce, was able to sow wheat at 6.5 to 7 mph without any trouble. (Watch for some video of the operation on our Soil Service, Inc. YouTube channel in November).

This vertical tillage tool (in our opinion) is TRUE VERTICAL. The tines penetrate 7 to 8 inches but very little if any residue gets buried. The straight coulter will not only cut and size residue, but will help pin it in the soil, so that it doesn’t blow away over the winter. The double rolling baskets will also help pin that residue and leaves a very nice seedbed.

The soil penetration will help any moisture we get over the next few weeks (before the wheat gets established) be absorbed into the soil and if a big rain event does happen, there will not be any erosion.

The adjustment of the Rogue VT was very straight forward and easy. We tried the coulters at several different depths and decided on the deepest setting which was 3 to 4 inches. We also had a tractor pulling it with enough horsepower to travel at 7.5 to 8 mph. I worked ten acres in one hour easy with the fifteen-foot machine.

I have had this machine running on some other acreages for demos and rental, so if you would like to try one out, contact us soon, so we can get you on the list.

On November 13, we have a tillage day scheduled at the Niota, IL, SOIL Service, Inc. Research Farm. The Rogue will be running (conditions permitting). Plan on attending if your schedule permits.

Hope to see you there.

John Viertel, Missouri Sales Manager