Mason Farms
Reverse-till Bed Former Big
Help to Colorado Onion Grower
A
Northwest Ag Show
Portland, OR
Jan 24-26 2012
Booth# D324- D327
He suggested Mason try a reverse-till
bed former from Northwest Tiller.
“This machine goes in and eliminates those clods," Lewis told him. “It
gives you the best soil-to-seed contact
for better germination in your seed
bed, pulverized to 6 or 8 inches depth.”
Mason tried it and was surprised by
the results.
Increased water infiltration
“You get better water infiltration, better stand
establishment and plants don’t take as long to
germinate out of the ground. It’s a better allaround seed environment,” he said.
After trying his new Northwest Tiller machinery, Mason watched his onion yield double. And
not only was he producing twice as big a crop, he
was doing it cheaper and faster than before.
Northwest Tillers....
....Much more than a mulcher.
See Us At
See Us At
tip from his seed dealer
helped Colorado farmer Zach
Mason save time and money
while doubling the yield on his onion
crop.
Mason farms 3,500 acres near
Fowler, where he battles clod problems
with the heavy loam soil. Ryan Lewis
of Keithly-Williams Seed had an idea:
World Ag Expo
Tulare, CA
Feb. 14-16 2012
Booth# P 40
If clods are an issue in your seed bed, a reverse
bedformer is the option for you. They lift the
soil and throw it thru a set of fingers that are
located directly behind the blades allowing the
fines to flow thru to the adjustable apron,
leaving the fines on top for a clod free bed for
the highest seed to soil contact for greater
germination.
“Northwest Reverse increased my crop by 35%”
Zach Mason Farms
Fowler, CO
•Proven yields per acre
•Better saturation of water to plant zone
•Soil/Seed contact allows greater plant
germination
•Greater incorporation of nutrients
•Better stand
•Allows maximum penetration (up to 11.5”)
•Multiple rows for your applications
Call or E-mail Northwest Tillers today for the rest of the story
800.204.3122 • www.nwtiller.com
18
Onion World
Zach Mason, a Colorado onion grower, is shown here in front of a Northwest Reverse Bedformer, used for the first time this year.
“We get faster seed germination, better
rooted onions, larger bud size and increased yield,” Mason said. “It completely
breaks up the clods to make a fine seed
bed. This is ideal for vegetable crops.
Originally I was going to use the tiller on
my vegetable crops only, but the seed bed
was so perfect that we then decided to use
it on our field crops.”
Mason started working on the family farm with his dad and grandfather as
a teenager. Back then he had a small plot
of onions, and enjoyed growing them so
much he stuck with it. That childhood project has grown into 1,138 acres of onions as
part of his total 3,500-acre operation.
Mason also grows edible beans, wheat
and corn. One of the biggest problems he
faces is the soil, which is very silky, heavy
clay. Without moisture it hardens like
concrete, he says.
“If I didn’t find the right tool to break
up this soil it would limit my yield, plus
add to the cost just to get the soil ready to
seed.”
Purchasing the Northwest Reverse Bedder eliminated that from his worries.
Mason also reports that Iris yellow virus
hasn’t been a problem with his crops.
Useful for multiple crops
He has used the equipment for his onions and plans to start using it for his corn,
edible beans and grain sorghum (milo)
crops.
Northwest Tiller, Yakima, Wash., has
been making specialized farm equipment
for half a century. It began selling these
reverse-till bed formers about three years
ago. But the company has produced other
reverse-till units for over 25 years.
Lewis, the seed dealer, was sold on the
equipment at first sight. “The first time I
came across one I went back to our office
and asked why isn’t our company selling
these?” he recalls.
Now they are, and Mason was one of
the first farmers Lewis convinced to try the
equipment. As a seed dealer, Lewis said the
concept is simple: having a well-prepared
bed gives seeds ¬¬ especially small-seed
crops like onions, carrots, radishes, etc., ¬¬
the best chance to grow.
Mason has noticed another big plus:
The Northwest Tiller machinery virtually
replaces other farm equipment.
“We no longer depend on mole boards
or discs or plows,” he said. “The Northwest Tiller replaced a lot of soil preparation. This has eliminated six to eight passes
over the field.” The cost of running several
separate machines ¬, plus the ever-rising
Onion World • December 2011
19
Mason was the first onion grower in
the area to use the reverse bedformer.
price of fuel, ¬¬ makes that a big moneysaver. And eliminating those extra passes
with other equipment also saves time and
labor expenses.
“We’re the only true American tiller
manufacturer left,” said Northwest Tiller
General Manager Todd Marquis. “Other
companies may assemble the equipment in
the U.S. but they bring in parts from other
countries. We make everything here.”
Some simple calculations show the
potential savings a farmer can see from using one machine to replace several others.
On Mason’s 3,500 acres, he would spend
about $45,000 on fuel (at $4.33 a gallon)
for one pass with a piece of equipment ¬¬
or about $135,000 to make three passes
with different machines. His Northwest
Tiller gear eliminates those extra passes,
saving about $90,000 just on fuel.
20
Onion World
He could also save about $26,000 on
labor costs by reducing his soil preparation
to one pass,¬¬ not to mention wear and
tear on several pieces of equipment.
Durability is one of Northwest Tiller’s
claims to fame.
“We’ve got machines out there 30 years
old that people bring in to get revamped
and can get another 30 years out of them,”
Marquis said. “We build things to last. And
we have parts available for machines going
back 40 years.
“The design is durable and strong,” he
added. “I tilled a few pieces of cement by
accident in the field and the tiller handled it
with no problems. We ran into a plow shear
in the field, and the tiller ran over the steel
with no damage to the tiller. It just placed
the plow shear on top of the soil.”
Marquis said his company can build the
tiller in widths from 6 to 24 feet with added
depth of 4 inches up to 14 inches, designed
to create whatever bed configuration the
farmer needs.
“It doesn’t matter if they want one row
or six. The advantage of Northwest tillers is
this same unit can be transformed into a fulltill strip till unit with the same frame.”
Lewis has convinced other seed customers to try the equipment, with equal success.
“There’s a carrot grower in Greeley (Colorado) who uses the exact same machine
and couldn’t be happier with it. He pulverizes his soil deeper for the carrots than you
do for onions, down 10 to 12 inches. Other
farmers see what it has done for Zach and
are impressed. They¹re amazed at the seed
beds he gets. We’re getting a lot of interest
in these.”