Keeping up with the giant strides in planter technology

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Planter technology has made major advances since the days of the old plateless or single hopper planter. Today, wider planters, higher field speeds, GPS systems and more sophisticated ways of controlling the seed drop are the order of the day

by RALPH WINFIELD

Many of us older farmers started out using a two-row plate-type planter. The corn acreage was small, as we only needed enough corn to fill the relatively small silo with whole plant silage. All of those two-row planters were set for a 36-to-40-inch row width. The wide rows were normal since much of the corn acreage was scuffled or cultivated, using Bessie the horse, and she needed that row width for clearance.

As corn acreage increased, so did planter width. We progressed up to four- and six- row planters, which was the upper limit for the 40 to 60 h.p. tractors of the 1960s.

John Deere was first off the mark with a plateless planter, which had a mechanical finger seed pickup system. International Harvester followed up with the single-hopper planter that had one large horizontal drum with a set of holes for each corn row. Then came White with the first air planter. It used pressurized air to hold the kernels in the cells of the vertically mounted rotating discs. Initially, all of these planters were designed for four- and six-row capability.

The row width was reduced in most cases to 30 inches in an effort to increase plant population and permit planting beans as well as corn.

When dry fertilizer was applied through the planter, a good day's output was 50 to 70 acres. Liquid fertilizer systems were used by some entrepreneurs in an effort to reduce the fill time and increase the field efficiency in acres per hour or day.

With those older-style planters, travel speed was still an issue to prevent unit bounce and maintain a uniform planting depth. But uniform seed spacing was still a concern as the seeds were being dropped from a height that allowed for kernel bounce in the seed trench.

Various techniques were adopted in an attempt to maintain a constant planting depth. Depth bands were put on opener disks and sophisticated spring configurations were also designed to minimize seed depth variation. A variety of press wheel systems were also developed to provide soil-firming over/beside the seed at a constant depth.

New developments. As corn acreage per farm unit increased, so did the need for wider planters and higher field speeds to get more acres planted per day.

The higher horsepower tractors now available allow for much wider planters to be pulled at reasonable speeds. However, road travel between fields and farms became a much greater factor. Planters over six rows wide had to be designed to be pulled endwise or to fold for road travel.

These more sophisticated planters required much higher capacity tractor hydraulic systems and more outlets to permit operation of all the new and additional functions.

The net result was large, high-horsepower tractors that could pull the big (wider) planters faster. This caused a renewed need for better control of the seed bounce and cover depth as the increased planting speeds exceeded 10 m.p.h. in a concerted effort to plant more acres per hour or per day. This increased field efficiency without losing consistent plant spacing, and uniform emergence became a challenge for existing planter manufacturers. These technology changes have also brought a number of new planter and component manufacturers into the marketplace.

Planter design changes. Research evidence encouraged planter manufacturers to develop more sophisticated systems for controlling the seed singulation, drop (without bounce) and uniform coverage depth without compaction over the seed. As we all know, soil conditions across or along the field do vary. This has become even more evident as we study the yield maps from previous years.

Soil type, drainage patterns, plant residue and soil organic matter all affect the seed placement requirements that the planter must provide.

Because of the high number of rows to be planted simultaneously, most planter manufacturers – but not all – have gone to one or two large seed hoppers rather than one per row. This approach, which is of benefit to the planter operator, adds a completely new set of needs for timing and transfer of seeds from the singulation device(s) to the seed trench without the seed bounce on soil contact.

Most of the present day planter manufacturers have developed innovative techniques to carry and deliver the seeds to the seed trench. It is impossible for me to describe the design techniques that are being offered by each of the new generation of planter manufacturers. I can only suggest that you go on the company websites or visit dealerships and evaluate their technology for yourself.

Attending field demonstrations locally or at events like Canada's Outdoor Farm Show are also worthwhile to see more than one unit in operation.

Other developments. In an earlier article, I discussed the use of global positioning systems (GPS) that can be used to "auto-steer" planters, sprayers and combines. As you move to these new wider 24-to-38-row planters, the old hydraulically operated mechanical marker systems become no longer practical. GPS-guided auto-steer systems become a necessary part of the planter system package.

Using a GPS system will also allow for varying the planting (seeding) rate with some of the newer planters and also enable you to cut off (stop) rows to eliminate row overlaps at headland merges.

Many of the planter manufacturers are making available inter-row planting units that allow the row widths to be reduced to 15-20 inches. This feature can be used for corn, but is more often used for planting soybeans. This row width decrease does increase bean yield and also reduces the time to canopy, which has a positive effect on weed control.

As planter width increases, so does the need for more sophisticated down-pressure control of individual planter units. Some manufacturers have adopted relatively sophisticated hydraulic modules for each row unit to provide consistent and adjustable down-pressure for each row unit.

Planter technology has increased multifold since many of us older folks started planting corn. I personally believe that most of the new "high-tech" control systems in agriculture will need the skill sets of the younger generation, who have learned to utilize these new systems effectively and efficiently.

In an earlier article, I discussed the critical need for good and proper hydraulic hose routing. That article should be reread when you are considering some of the new planters with hydraulic fold and individual unit down-pressure control systems.

Do remember this is written by an "older guy," who did not believe that computers would ever be useful out in the field! BF

Agricultural engineer Ralph Winfield farms at Belmont in Elgin County.