When Doug Smith considered experimenting with corn row widths of 15 inches, there were several things that discouraged him from making the change.

1. The Thamesville, Ontario, no-tiller uses the practice of strip farming in 15-foot widths, which requires the use of a band sprayer for herbicide application. His band sprayer wouldn’t work in 15-inch rows.
2. Smith likes to cultivate his 30-inch corn, partially as a means of scouting fields during the summer and to earn a herbicide cost savings. His cultivator wouldn’t fit in 15-inch rows.
3. Formerly a ridge tiller, Smith still elevates the seedbed for planting. He couldn’t build a ridge in 15-inch rows.

“I found my opportunity with ultra-narrow-row corn was to try twin rows, keep my management in place and combine with the same corn head,” Smith says. “All we did was modify the corn planter, which is something you will have to do anyway if you change to 15-inch rows.”

Corn Planter Needs

The no-tiller took a Kinze factory-made planter with two row units and had it equipped with double-disc openers, press wheels and coulters on the toolbar next to the planting units. Two units were welded together at the location where the gauge wheels would run on the two arms. Gauge wheels were placed on each side.

The twin rows were placed 7 1/2 inches apart and could be set as wide as 10 inches, Smith says. The seed drop was staggered between rows, and the distance between plants within the row was 9 to…