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About S.O.I.L.
About Us & S.O.I.L.
Larry Hak is an Ohio crop farmer "who’s always looking for a way to maximize machinery" use on the farm. “A few years ago it really bugged me that I needed an expensive piece of machinery to plant small grains and another one to plant corn and soybeans,” Hak says. “One day I came up with a design for solid seed plates so I could plant wheat and other small grains with my corn planter.”
Hak figured out a formula for planting various crops with his plates by planting different size seeds in his fields over a carefully measured distance. “I weighed the seed before planting and weighed the amount left after I planted one acre,” Hak says. “I knew the number of seeds per pound and came up with a formula that matches what Kinze has in its planter manuals. Anyone can figure out the correct amount to plant if they know the approximate number of seeds per pound and can change transmission sprockets on their planter,” Hak says.
Another great application for plates is planting ground cover crops. Hak says, “We’ve come up with a way to accurately plant one type of cover crop seed in the front boxes and different seeds in the rear boxes.” (From: Http://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aide=27656 on April 8, 2019.)
Now moving ahead a few years in late 2018, Larry Hak decided to start Sprouting Our Important Legacy LLC (S.O.I.L.). Larry and his wife Lynne work together on this venture. Larry's experience in the past with planting plate development led to starting the new company. Together they are planning to help crop producers increase the crop production while protecting the vitality of the land. In the long run the plan is to increase the bottom line of the crop producers, sales agents, and S.O.I.L.
Our Company Testing
Testing was completed on a meter stand owned by Precision Agri-Service of Minster, Ohio. We tested Mixed Cover Crops, Oats, Soybeans and Wheat on both the large and small cell Vartillcon Planter Plates. Speeds tested were from 6.00mph to 12 mph at 1/2 mph increments. We also tested 36 different gear ratios for each speed. When we were not happy with the numbers the brush within the meter was trimmed. The results were better but we wanted to try something else. We installed the Kinze 2.0 brush in the meter. The results were great. When completed, our results were presented to the engineering team at Kinze. The engineers were happy with our results. Our relationship with Kinze has grown from there.
Strategy
Cover Crop Benefits
Cover Crops draw Nitrogen from the surrounding air and put the Nitrogen into the soil during growth which improves the soil. Cover Crops also stops the loss of topsoil at the rate of five tons per acre. The use of compost is beneficial to crops and cover crops help with making compost tea after rains fall. This allows for less expense due to the need for supplemental fertilizers. Healthier soil has many more microbes found in the soil.The roots of individual types of plants make different microbes available within the soil. The proper amount of microbes are essential to quality production of plants.
Environment & Sustainability
With the forces of nature providing ever changing conditions, it is important to gain control over the soil and crops in any given month or season. Leaders in sustainability and environment begins with those who produce crops, namely you and me. With all the natural tools nature provides, it is wise to make use of what one can do to keep costs down, and profits up, baring "Act Of God." The things to make use of include: no till, cover crops, soil temperature controls, adequate moisture retention, decreased pesticide use, decreased chemical weed control, decreased fertilizer use, vermin control, beneficial insect natural distribution and crop rotations. Promoting these various practices improve the environment. The change of practices leads to an improved perception of the farmer to the common man, and sustainability of the farmer and our company, S.O.I.L.