David Hula says farmers are often puzzled when they talk to him about the condition of their corn planter that they just pulled out of the shed and want to take to the field.
“A lot of people will say to me, ‘When I put my planter to bed last year, it was planting just fine. Why wouldn’t it be ready when we’re ready to start planting again?’” says Hula, based near Charles City, Va.
The world champion corn grower says his experience is planters need annual evaluation and calibration to perform their best in the sandy soils that dominate his farm ground.
“This year, we’re rebuilding, putting all new blades on double disc openers, no-till coulters, starter blades and shoes,” Hula says. “You know, we’re even having to redo the closing system, we’re having to replace the blades this year. And it’s just a whole methodical process getting the planter ready, you know; it’s a system.”
From The Hitch Pin To The Closing Wheels
Taking a systems approach to getting planters ready is what Farm Journal Field Agronomist Missy Bauer has helped many corn growers use to achieve higher corn yields over the past decade. She says the key is checking each facet of the planter and making adjustments before and during the season.
“I tell farmers to inspect everything involved with the seed transmission: chains, sprockets, bearings, idlers and clutch assembly, including all seed metering components as well as the meter itself,” Bauer says.
Another important aspect on the planter is on the down pressure side of things. Bauer says she has seen a big improvement with airbags compared to springs and even greater improvement with the move to hydraulics.
“We want to make sure we’re running a good down pressure system on your parallel arms. It’s important not to let these get too loose or start to get wear,” she says.
Another significant problem area Bauer sees on planters today is with gauge wheels not being set tight enough. That’s an issue Hula and corn yield champion Randy Dowdy also encourage farmers to address.
“If you’ve ever seen Randy walk behind a planter, one of the first things he does is he’ll pick up the gauge wheel, pull it all the way up, and then he’ll let it go. And if you hear it just fall and hit with a thump, then we know we’ve got too much of a gap there,” Hula says. “Sometimes that gap comes because the blade has a wobble. Now, if we can keep the gauge wheel close to the blade, not too tight, but close enough they kind of drag going down, that’ll prevent you from allowing dry dirt to fall into the trench.”
Bauer agrees, noting, “When I try to pull the gauge wheel, get it to wiggle back and forth and there’s no slop in here, that tells me it’s pretty good and ready for the field.”
Bauer offers her 10-point planter checklist here, and you can also download a printable version of the Farm Journal’s Planter Checklist.
From Good To Great Yield Potential
Attention to the details can mean the difference between average corn yields and bin buster results, Hula notes. “We’ll take the time to make sure the double disc openers are not warped, for instance. These are aftermarket blades that are supposed to be true,” he says.
This year, Hula ended up checking 267 blades to find 32 blades that he felt met his standards for use. “The wobbles were less than 38,000th, so the companies are doing better job because we’re asking more of them. We pay attention to those type of details, and that’s key to us,” he says.
The ultimate goal with the corn planter is to get seed placed in the soil in a manner that results in more uniform emergence and better ear counts, Bauer notes. “Uniformity comes from two main principles, what we call picket-fence stands and photocopy plants and ears,” she says.
“Every 1,000 ears per acre is worth 5 bu. to 7 bu.,” she adds. “It’s common to pick up several thousand ears per acre as a result of good planter setup.”
Even a 7 bu. per acre yield increase would pay for the grower’s time invested and small repairs to a planter. At $4 a bushel over 500 acres, you could pick up an additional $14,000, dollars that are more important than ever this year given the tough economics in farm country. ($4 x 7 x 500 = $14,000)
Think Through Any Technology Adjustments
As farmers consider adding technology to their planter or even replacing a worn part, Bauer says to think about how that might affect uniformity of seed spacing, emergence and overall ear size. Those factors are affected by what she calls the micro-environment around the seed.
“Any little change, whether it’s in planting depth, seed-to-soil contact, residue being pitched down, pressure settings, gauge wheels not being set right, closing wheels not being correct, or even an issue with the seed bed, can affect this micro-environment around the seed and, therefore, cause variability in germination out in the field,” she says.
Uniform germination and plant emergence sets the pace for a corn crop for the entire growing season, according to Georgia farmer and yield champion Randy Dowdy.
“We pay so much for this seed, so we have to get that uniform plant emergence,” says Dowdy, who farms near Valdosta, Ga. “These plants have to come up simultaneously, from the first emerger to the last one, and that’s a big deal.”
Dowdy says there are so many variables Mother Nature routinely throws at a corn crop that farmers need to make sure they control what they can in the planting process. Failing to control the controllables can have unwanted consequences.
“Say you don’t get the seed trench closed just right and dry dirt falls into it, you could be changing the seeding depth and the environment around that seed,” Dowdy explains. “Attention to details really matters and is what I believe separates a good farmer from a great one.”
Earlier this week, Dowdy and Hula joined AgriTalk Host Chip Flory to discuss their personal steps to planter preparation for this year’s corn crop. The discussion, which is scheduled for every other week, is part of the yield champions’ new program, Breaking Barriers with R&D, on Farm Journal TV. You can catch the AgriTalk conversation with Hula and Dowdy here:
