“Look at the microenvironment around the seed,” he says. “But when you are digging, it’s important to not destroy the evidence.”

Dig to find one seed, and then cut across the furrow to dig forward to find the next seed.

“The cross section will tell you how the seed is tucked in. Ideally, you won’t see how the seed got placed in the soil with no seam above it. With good pressure from closing wheels, the furrow wall should stand up on its own, which is particularly hard to achieve in dry conditions,” Ferrie explains.

Learn more about row diagnostics with Ken Ferrie in this episode of Corn College TV.