Seed furrow sidewall smearing describes compaction of soil in the seed zone that is caused, in somesoil conditions, by the planter furrow opener and that may interfere with crop stand establishment.Soil smearing caused by planting with double disk furrow openers was investigated by measuringphysical properties of soil in the seed furrow and by evaluating corn (Zea mays, L.) emergence andgrowth. Planter attachments for row preparation (no-coulter, single offset bubble coulter, and tripleoffset fluted coulter planter attachments) were evaluated for their influence on seed furrow sidewallsmearing over a range of soil moisture contents. Planting tended to reduce soil bulk density in the 0 to100 mm layer in the seed zone. In general, the soil was least dense when the triple-coulter attachmentwas used. Air permeability of soil samples taken from the seed furrow sidewall, before the furrowwas closed, tended to decrease with increasing soil moisture. The triple-coulter treatment resulted ingreater air permeability than did other coulter treatments. Soil penetration resistance below the seedand in the seed furrow sidewall was greatest for the single coulter and least for the triple coulter. Weobserved that more roots grew parallel to the soil surface with no-coulter and singlecoulter treatmentsthan with the triple-coulter treatment especially when soil property measurements indicated that moresidewall smearing had occurred. This research showed that row preparation by coulter planterattachments placed ahead of double-disk openers can reduce seed furrow sidewall smearing and mayimprove stand establishment of corn.
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