In episode 7 of Corn College TV, Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie explains how important it is to appropriately size the equipment for your operation.
“Size and efficiency go hand in hand,” he says. “It comes down to manpower and time window.”
For example, Ferrie uses the rule of thumb to be able to plant your corn crop in seven good running days. Even though it may take up to a month to get seven good days for planting corn, he cautions that stretching your resources beyond that is risky. If your farm operation is nudging beyond that time window, consider adding a planter or increasing the size of your planter.
Also, equipment sizing is important at harvest.
“If you have a tillage team following the combine, you can work in a small time window,” Ferrie explains. “But if you are the combine operator and fall tillage tractor driver, you have to wait for harvest to be done to start tillage, which can be a penalty, especially in a year like 2009.”
Learn more in Episode 7 of Corn College TV.
