Calibrating Forage Seeding Equipment

Oat and ryegrass seeds mixed in the main seedbox. Smaller ryegrass seed increases the speed of the flow compared to oat only.

Establishing forages from seeds often requires precision equipment to achieve specific seeding rates for a proper pasture stand. Most pieces of equipment have calibration charts, which are useful guides for making an initial setting. However, due to variations in seed size, purity, moisture content, equipment performance, ground speed, and other factors, calibrating equipment prior to each use is recommended. This 5-page document discusses a few calibration techniques for drills and broadcast spreaders. Written by Marcelo Wallau, Joao Vendramini, and Ed Jennings, and published by the UF/IFAS Agronomy Department, revised November 2018.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ag158

Calibrating Time Domain Reflectometers for Soil Moisture Measurements in Sandy Soils

Campbell Scientific CS616 Water Content Reflectometer.

The UF/IFAS Plant Science Research and Education Unit (PSREU) in Citra, FL developed an in-laboratory calibration protocol for CS616 TDR sensors for sandy soils, which are typical of north central Florida. This new 7-page fact sheet discusses the reflectometer, field site, calibration protocol, and calibration coefficients. Written by Tara Bongiovanni, Pang-Wei Liu, Daniel Preston, Johanna Montanez, Courtnay Cardozo, Steven Feagle, and Jasmeet Judge, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2017.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae519