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Technotill, based out of Wetaskiwin, Alta., offers a seeding system that accommodates farmers who don't want to till.

Betty Schoenhofer stands with the Technotill seeding system, a tool which helps seed and fertilize. -- Alexis Kienlen photo

The design was created by Walter Schoenhofer, a producer with a mixed farming background who established the company with his wife Betty in 1996.

Walter began developing the concept for the tool in the mid-1980s. "He had read a lot of research on zero till and thought it made such good sense," said Betty.

"We were farming west of Wetaskiwin at the time and he wanted to invent something that would work better than anything that was currently on the market."

The product went through a number of incarnations and was first available in the early 1990s.

"What's different about the system is that we're using a pressurized plate to pack the seed rather than a wheel," Betty said. "We bolt a narrow opener and the packer onto the shank of the machine."

The Technotill packs a very thin layer of soil over the seed and works below the seed, unlike a wheel packer which works from the top down. The system consists of a narrow opener with a seed tube attached to the front of a C-shank, and a Precision Packer bolted behind each shank.

The system can seed oilseeds, pulses, cereals or grasses and can sideband liquid, granular or anhydrous ammonia fertilizer.

"Customers say they choose our system because it offers good germination regardless of the conditions. If it's very dry, they can seed deeper to get into moisture. If it's very wet, they don't worry about packing too much soil," Betty said.

"They like the fact that it's a single-pass system. It's a very simple system, so there's little maintenance required."

Sales have grown over time and the product is now marketed in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Montana and North Dakota.

-- Alexis Kienlen is a reporter with Alberta Farmer Express in Edmonton.