Q: What advice do you have for closing the seed slot in heavy clay soils? I've tried many systems, and closing the seed slot in heavy clay soils. I farm in Michigan, only 1 county up from Ohio. 

— Phillip Gordon, Saline, Mich.

What kind of planter are you using? Also, fixing closing issues starts at the seed opener. We started with Kinze, went to Case and now have a Horsch. Each one responds differently. The Kinze was not strong enough for our tough soils. We really liked the Case but had to switch the OEM RID (reduced inside diameter) gauge wheels for a Deere style because the RID allowed the sidewall to blow out and not close properly.

We also took the small convex disc closers off and replaced them with a fingerstyle. Then we took the wide 4-inch firming wheel off and replaced that with a V-style closer, an Xtreme Furrow Cruiser from Copperhead Ag. We next discovered that our Case could not give us consistent depth.

We plant green, and if our cover (hairy vetch, crimson clover and turnip) is robust, then the top 1/2 inch doesn't want to close too many roots. But if we push the seed to 2 1/2 inches, then the bottom 2 inches is crumbled and closed nicely, so we went looking for a planter that would get us there. That brought us to a Horsch. We kept the Xtreme Furrow Cruisers off our Case and have those on our Horsch.

However…