#Plant2025 for Success
You’ve weighed the agronomics and the economics — and now the planter is rolling. The decisions don’t stop, though. The weather changes plans, equipment breaks and pests pop up. Every step plays a role in the success of your planting season as well as the growing and harvest seasons to come.
You can’t always predict the weather; but you can put plans in place so you’re ready to plant in all conditions.
Hit the ground running this spring by doing your prep work now.
After Dan Anderson’s cab window cleaning article was posted to social media, a wave of new techniques flooded the comments. Here are a few of the most mentioned methods for cleaning cab windows in the busy seasons.
How can you maximize your hours in the field? Listen to an audio book or two. Regardless of your interests, there are great books that can make the hours slip away.
Technology continues to march forward and, as Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie points out, managing the furrow has never been easier, as long as you take time to dial things in.
Farmers will need to sift through their production data from this year carefully to see what they need to change or keep the same.
Another surprise -- corn acres climbed rather than fell versus March intentions.
The trade is trying to figure out just how much corn will get harvested this year, which Pro Farmer’s Brian Grete is calling the “impossible puzzle.”
As of June 2, only 67% of the country’s estimated 92.8 million corn acres have been planted. That means farmers have 31 million acres of corn still to plant.
The moment soon approaches when we will mount up and do our thing in the fields. Only this year, our enthusiasm is somewhat dampened by the mental and agronomic scars from the harvest last fall. John Phipps explains.
Great Plains unveils a new hybrid tillage solution and stack-fold planter with quick-change row units.
Running a vertical tool now can help break up tracks and ruts your harvest equipment left behind. It can also help you address volunteer corn -- yes, it’s likely to be a problem based on corn lost during harvest.
Horsch is introducing a new, mounted row-crop planter to North America this year called the Maestro RC.
Features of the new machine include an upgraded row unit, 90 bu. of seed carrying capacity and an overhauled frame for improved hydraulics efficiency.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, farmers on Twitter have been committing grand larceny. This year’s batch of planting photos – tagged #plant16 on the social media platform that limits users to 140 characters or less – have been remarkable.
There’s a lot of winter left in parts of the country, but many farmers have planting on their mind. That’s true for Leon Knirk of Quincy, Mich. This time of year, he spends up to three days and $150 per row prepping his planter. “Improved stand and ear counts have proven this process is worth the effort,” he says.
“Proper planter adjustment isn’t difficult, but it can be time consuming. Take some time before planting to make sure your planter is ready to operate at peak performance.”
You only get one chance at planting—get it right.
Getting your planter ready for spring won’t change the price of corn, but it can mean you’ll harvest additional bushels next fall.
Planting season downtime steals yield and productivity, and maintenance can be costly—what would a machine with reduced wear parts and simple maintenance mean for your operation?
AGCO unveiled its first ever Fendt branded planter for this week. With a new toolbar concept and packed with Precision Planting technology, the company says the planter could change the way farmers think about planting.
With the C650 Air Cart, John Deere will expand its lineup of air-seeding equipment for small grains producers and custom farmers. The new air seeder can be ordered as a tow-behind or a tow-between configuration.
The Great Plains box drill legacy continues with a new line of min-till folding box drills. The BD7600 Series is offered in two- and three-section models ranging from 26' to 40'.
As farmers continue planting day after day to get as much done as possible, it puts more wear and tear on planter parts. Specifically, check planter hydraulic hoses to make sure they’re working as expected.
Should you have healthy doubt about what you’re reading on your seed monitor? How often do you need to double check or recalibrate?
Depending on the brand and model of planter it may be necessary to take the following steps this spring.
For several years, Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, has been in the market for a planter — specifically a corn planter she could call her own to use in plots.
Here are a few tricks to make those repetitive planter procedures easier and faster this spring.
Pivot Bio announced an industry first for farmers this week – the development and introduction of on-seed microbial nitrogen for crops including corn, grain sorghum and spring wheat.
Look for signs of this troublesome mollusk this spring.