Question: How can I eliminate “doubles” when I plant corn?
Answer: This answer comes by way of Farm Journal Columnist, Dan Anderson. He explains that seed meters establish seeding rate (seeds per acre). Actual seed spacing (seeds per foot) can be influenced by what happens to seeds after they leave the seed meter. Seeds that bounce off the sides of seed tubes due to rough fields or high ground speeds fall more slowly than seeds that don’t bounce. If a “fast” seed catches up with a “slow” seed, they end up as a “double” in the furrow even though they left the meter perfectly spaced. Don’t blame seed meters for uneven spacing until you’ve eliminated the seed delivery aspect as a possible culprit.
Don’t Let Your Planter Let You Down
Here are more tips from Farm Journal to help you boost your planting success.
This blog is provided as an interactive way for you to have your questions answered by our Farm Journal Agronomists. E-mail your nitrogen, soil fertility, soil density, planter set-up, scouting, and other questions to: TestPlots@FarmJournal.com.
