Mr Factory Farmer, you made my evening!

The residue photo from June 2007 is just south of you along I-39 in very much Drummer soils.

The photos at an angle are a bit farther south west of you towards Peoria also on very black heavy soils. Looks like Drummer to me but I am not sure and not a soils expert.

Yes I know the folks near you with a 16 row on a recycled JD 1780 planter bar. They seem to be getting along ok after a couple years. There is also an interesting smaller operation with a 6 row right near you. 16 row in Mendota area also got off to a good start this year.

Good luck with your experimental system! I am very glad to hear you have an open mind as well as a good plow.

As long as this is the NAT confessional, I have to admit I own and have occasionally used an older IH roll-over plow formerly owned by the U of ILL experiment station south of DeKalb! A beautiful piece of functional equipment.

Everyone needs a plow! A couple years ago I had this notion I was going to plow this couple acre field of mine over a weekend....long story.

All the best,  

Jim at Dawn