Get Planting Prep Right

Spending time servicing your planter during the winter pays off when conditions are right to head to the field.

- Karen Jones

What would happen if you had your corn planter set up all wrong? That’s what Precision Planting set to find out in a project aptly called the “All Wrong” Study as part of the company’s Precision Technology Institute research.

The four-year trial was designed “to stimulate yield and economic effects when a grower gets downforce, residue manager settings, and singulation incorrect on the planter, all at the same time,” the research stated. “For this study, we implemented light downforce, ‘goof’ plates to achieve 95% singulation, and removed the use of residue managers.”

The results? A yield loss of 15.6 bushels per acre, resulting in revenue loss of $82.15 per acre with corn priced at $4.08.

While it’s unlikely you’ll get everything wrong in your planter setup, there is a clear yield and economic advantage to getting things right. That starts now with your preseason planter maintenance.