Revolutionizing cover crop seeding

December 12, 2024 | Kriss Nelson

Iowa farmers planted more than 3 million acres of cover crops last year.

Each fall those farmers face logistical hurdles in synchronizing cash crop harvest and cover crop seeding.

Until now.

Red Barn Solutions of Manning has developed a solution to this problem: the Harvest Seeder, a combine-attached air seeder.

Upon learning of Red Barn Solutions’ innovation, Joe McClure, ISA’s director of research, immediately saw the potential for Iowa farmers to plant more cover crops.

“Time is a huge component,” he says. “Advanced cover crop growers have answered the agronomic and return on investment of growing cover crops but have not answered the issue of time. If the Harvest Seeder can provide the value of doing two passes at once, I think it will be a huge cost and time savings and help more farmers meet their goals related to cover crops. In addition, it can help get cover crops seeded weeks earlier to increase fall growth.”

The future of cover crop seeding

Nancy Trapolino of Red Barn Solutions says the Harvest Seeder was developed to address a local retired farmer’s need: convenient cover crop seeding for his custom operators during the harvest.

“They liked the idea of having the cover crop be put on with the combine to get the seed under the chaff,” she says. “They tried to come up with the idea on how to attach a seeder and decided Dan Puck at Red Barn Solutions would be the right guy to figure that out.”

Puck, Red Barn Solution’s product engineer, had to overcome a challenge in designing a seeder that could function as a removable and reusable attachment on a combine.

Raised on an Iowa farm, Puck is an Iowa State engineering graduate, Iowa farmer, husband, father and entrepreneur.  He was Puck Custom Enterprises’ lead engineer for years until the family business was sold.  He now uses his skills at Red Barn Solutions, creatively collaborating with local farmers on unique, customized solutions.

“Puck thrives on bringing ideas from concept into design, fabrication and through prototypes for revisions until they become market-ready products,” says Trapolino.

Red Barn Solutions is ready to develop Harvest Seeders to be compatible with other brands of combines.

“We just need a committed farmer looking for this solution on their machine,” she says.

Proving product performance

Red Barn Solutions has been demoing the Harvest Seeder on several acres throughout Missouri and Iowa.

Thanks to McClure and ISA Conservation Agronomist Evan Brehm, ISA farmer Jim O’Connell had the chance to test the Harvest Seeder this past fall.

O’Connell, a Linn County farmer, plants cover crops on 100% of his acres. With a side hustle as a high school football coach, he was searching for a less time-consuming, more efficient way to seed his cover crops in the fall.

“I am sold,” he says. “It’s a game changer for seeding cover crops. I don’t have to have a tractor on the planter seeding cover crops, burning the midnight oil and combining during the day. This completely alleviated the nighttime seeding. It gave me so much more time, and you can’t put a price on time.”

The savings O’Connell can put a price on is fuel and equipment wear and tear.

The Harvest Seeder was fitted to the frame on the side of O’Connell’s combine, and variable rate broadcasted his cover crop seed while he combined corn and soybeans. Once it rained, the cover crop seed beneath the combine chaff emerged uniformly.

“This is another cover crop application opportunity for farmers who are up against weather, time and labor issues,” says Brehm. “The Harvest Seeder eliminates the extra stress of getting cover crops on after already working long hours harvesting.”

Currently, Red Barn Solutions has a few Harvest Seeders in stock that are compatible with John Deere combines. Harvest Seeders are delivered by Red Barn and attached to the combine on-site.

Plumbing the combine heads can be done at Red Barn, or they can supply a self-installation kit for the head.  The Harvest Seeder has a quick-connect coupler to the combine head, so it’s simple and easy to connect and disconnect for travel or a change of crop.

“Overall, I was impressed with the installation process when I showed up on the farm,” says ISA Conservation Agronomist Evan Brehm. “When I saw the finished product, it looked like a piece that belonged on the combine. Fabrication doesn’t always look that way. I was impressed by the immaculate installation and overall impressed with how it performed.”

The Harvest Seeder uses Raven Rate controllers to set and monitor the seeding rate and can be configured based on the in-cab technology of the combine. The Montag air-seeder uses a weigh scale for accurate measurement.

“It is easy to run and fits the combine and heads well,” says O’Connell.

McClure is excited about further collaboration between ISA and Red Barn Solutions.

“They are a local, Iowa company serving a need that aligns with goals of the Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa farmers,” he says. “I especially look forward to our partnership growing into a research component.”

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