Method and apparatus for no-till planting

A no-till farming apparatus for use with a planter unit which plants seeds as the planter unit is pulled along a predetermined path, the apparatus comprising:

• a support rigidly coupled to the planter unit and extending ahead of the planter unit;
• a residue cleaning implement pivotably coupled to the support to clear at least a portion of a residue remaining from a previous crop in front of the planter unit;
• and
• a damper configured to limit pivotable movement of the residue cleaning implement relative to the support in a downward direction, the damper being located adjacent a bottom surface of the support to permit unrestricted pivotable movement of the residue cleaning implement relative to the support in an upward direction to minimize soil disturbance by the residue cleaning implement.

A no-till farming apparatus for use with a planter unit which plants seeds as the planter unit is pulled along a predetermined path the apparatus comprising:

• a support rigidly coupled to the planter unit and extending ahead of the planter unit;
• a residue cleaning implement pivotably coupled to the support to clear at least a portion of a residue remaining from a previous crop in front of the planter unit;
• a damper configured to limit pivotable movement of the residue cleaning implement relative to the support in a downward direction to minimize soil disturbance by the residue cleaning implement;
• and
• a hiller device coupled to the support, the hiller device being located between the residue cleaning implement and the planter unit to form an elevated ridge including a mixture of soil and residue in front of the planter unit so that the planter unit plants seeds a predetermined distance below a top surface of the elevated ridge formed by the hiller device, the planter unit including a disk opener for cutting a slot in the ground at a predetermined depth, a seed delivery tube to deposit seeds in the slot, and at least one gauge wheel, the at least one gauge wheel riding on the elevated ridge formed by the hiller device to provide a raised profile seeding depth for the planted seeds relative to a top surface of the soil.

An improved no-till farming method for preparing soil covered with a residue remaining from a previous crop for planting seeds using a planter unit, the planter unit including a disk for cutting a furrow in the soil at a predetermined depth, the method comprising the steps of:

• clearing at least a portion of the residue ahead of the planter unit;
• forming an elevated ridge from the at least partially cleared soil by cutting below a top surface of the soil only to a depth less than said predetermined depth to mix soil and the residue in front of the planter unit;
• and
• planting seeds below a top surface of the elevated ridge to provide a raised profile seeding depth for the planted seeds relative to a top surface of the soil, the clearing, forming, and planting steps all occurring during a single pass of the planter unit over the soil.