Factors to consider when using a high-speed planter
According to Mark Robson, Crop Production and Application Specialist with Case IH, until about 10 years ago the focus was on bigger and bigger planters. But he said, 120-foot-wide planters are not as nimble getting in and out of fields.
Many in the machinery industry started to wonder, what if we could have a 60-foot planter cover the same number of acres as a 120-foot planter each day simply by ensuring the planter could go faster and was easier to pull around. This shift in thinking says Robson led to more focus on high-speed planting.
Robson made his presentation as part of the Farms.com Risk Management 2022 Great Ontario Yield Tour held in early September.
It is possible to achieve that goal, he says it is possible to plant at between 6 to 10 mph, depending on the field. Robson says there are several key factors that need to be considered when working with high-speed planting. The systems are dependent on the farmers downforce system, your soil conditions, soil type, etc.
Robson said for farmers to use the new tools correctly, they need to understand how high-speed planting works. There are openers that are pushing soil away from the center line to drop the seeds, the faster the planter goes, the more that soil wants to be displaced further away from the center.
The equipment needs to keep that soil right next to the centre and then it needs to close the swell -- draw that soil back in. The industry has worked on those challenges and addressed them.
He demonstrated the challenges using a simulation device in sand so that attendees could look at the issues he had been discussing with them, and the impact the speed had on the seed being successfully planted.
The new high-speed planters factor several different conditions into their system. He discussed all the different elements a farmer needs to consider when using a high-speed planter.
Watch the full 2022 Great Ontario Yield Tour presentation “Planter Technology Evolution”.