A common theme for most of us during the winter months is to make decisions for which pieces of equipment to upgrade and which to do maintenance on before heading into the next growing season.
When it comes to your planter, whether you are considering purchasing a new planter or making upgrades to your current planter, take some time to consider what technology you might want to invest in to improve your planter efficiencies this next growing season.
This blog takes a deeper dive into four planter technologies that can help to improve planter efficiencies and to help you decide what technology you might want to invest in.
- Downforce System – Sensing and/or Active Control
- Seed Meter—Electric drives and possibly high-speed units to cover more acres per hour
- Row Cleaners— In cab adjustability
- Closing Wheels—Lots of options available, try before you buy
Row Unit Downforce Systems:
The first goal with any planter row unit is to keep it fully engaged with the soil so it can achieve the depth you have it set to plant at. If a row unit is losing ground contact, then we know it is also losing depth. The job of the down force system is to keep the row unit in the ground and maintain ground contact.
There are several key factors such as soil types, tillage practices, target planting depth, and ground speed, that the down force system must counteract to keep the row units in constant ground contact. These factors all play into what kind of down force control system is needed on your planter and should be taken into consideration when evaluating potential planter upgrades.
Invest in Sensing
If you have a spring or a manual adjust pneumatic down force system today and are trying to limit spending, at least adding sensing with load pins to your planter row units would give you insights into how much variability you have in your fields and what kind of control system you might need to overcome that variability depending on how extreme it is.
Invest in Active Downforce Control
If you have a lot of variability in soil types or field conditions, then Active Downforce Control system is something to strongly consider. The key is to create the seed furrow with enough structure that holds it open while the seed is placed in the bottom of the furrow but is still soft enough that the closing system can properly close the furrow back up around the seed and maximize seed to soil contact. It is critical to get the correct amount of downforce on the row units to achieve this optimal furrow. Active Control Systems allow you to set the target gauge wheel load to achieve the optimum furrow creation, then the system will constantly monitor the gauge wheel load and adjust the amount of applied downforce to counteract the forces in the soil that are working against the planter row unit.
The two basic options for Active Downforce Control are Pneumatic or Hydraulic. There are several key differences between the two that should be considered when selecting which system is right for your planter and your fields.
Pneumatic systems utilize air bags to apply additional downforce to the row units, some systems also offer upforce as well. In my experience there are two limiting factors with the pneumatic system to understand. The first factor is they are slower to respond to changes in soil condition across a field. The second factor to consider is pneumatic systems are usually installed in groups of rows rather than individual rows. If you normally plant between 5 - 7 miles per hour and don’t have too much soil variability in your fields an Active Pneumatic System could be a great option for your planter.
Hydraulic downforce control systems provide a faster ground response and can control individual rows to adjust each one as needed. Hydraulic downforce systems can be especially beneficial in a high-speed planting setup, as they can quickly react to changes in the field as the planter is moving at 7 – 10 miles per hour. The hydraulic systems are also able to optimize downforce across a wider range of field conditions as they have higher capability on the amount of downforce and upforce they can apply to the row units. So, if you are planning to plant at high speeds or have a lot of variability in field conditions then an Active Hydraulic System may be the better option for your planter.
Electric Drive Seed Meter:
A key efficiency item that has demonstrated value being added to a planter for many years is to add an electric drive seed meter to provide better seed spacing and singulation. Additionally, this provides more precise control over your row units with the ability to easily shut off individual rows and to utilize variable rate seeding. The electric meter also provides turn compensation for the planter, with the ability to slow down the meter on the inside of the turn and speed up on the outside to maintain a consistent population across the planter.
Like other planter upgrades there are a lot of different manufacturers that offer electric seed meters, so it is recommended to start with your local precision ag equipment dealer to get more information on what is available for your planter.
High Speed Seed Delivery:
With the planting window being very variable, needing to cover more acres, and/or wanting to plant soybeans earlier, there is interest in how to cover more acres faster, which is where a planter with a high-speed delivery may be of interest.
The high-speed delivery setup includes a high-speed seed delivery system that controls the delivery of the seed all the way to the bottom of the furrow. Rather than the meter releasing seed up higher at the top of a drop tube, these high-speed systems capture and carry the seed down to the furrow. These systems are synchronized with the planter’s ground speed, allowing you to plant at higher speeds while maintaining good seed spacing and singulation. These systems can come at a cost but do provide the ability to plant at speeds of 7 miles per hour or more.
Row Cleaners:
Research has proven that residue in the furrow can cause emergence issues. Properly adjusting row cleaners to move this residue out of the way of the row unit is a critical step to optimizing planter performance. However far too often compromises on row cleaner performance are made because “it takes too much time” or “is too much work” to get out of the cab and adjust row cleaners. Investing in cab adjustable row cleaners or a control system for your current row cleaners will improve the running time vs downtime, as well as make it more convenient to optimize the performance of the row cleaners for changing field conditions . 
Closing Wheels
Would a different closing wheel improve a better uniform plant emergence? Closing wheels seem to be a hot topic each year. There are a lot of different options available and different closing wheels might perform better depending upon farming practices and field conditions. This is one that testing out different closing wheels on your own planter can provide you with some valuable insight. If you are wanting to try different closing wheels, consider either borrowing a different type of closing wheel that one of your neighboring farmers has used in the past or purchasing a few row units or ½ planter worth of units to try on a field or two to see how they work for you. The key is to set up your planter monitor to record the rows that have the different closing wheels so you can separate the data after harvest (like data from a split planter test).
If time permits, then it will help to monitor whether there is a difference in plant emergence and to collect some plant population data between the different closing wheels to add to your data set.
If you have questions on setting up your planter to collect this type of data or interpreting the data you’ve collected, then contact your local extension field agronomist. https://www.extension.iastate.edu/ag/crops.
Summary
Adding efficiency items to your planter requires you to start with understanding what problem you are trying to solve or what goal you are trying to achieve with your planter. The goal is to get the seed planted at the correct rate, in the correct furrow structure, and at the right time.
Therefore, whether you are considering changing planters or adding any of the items listed above to make your planter more efficient, now is the time to start this process. You can learn more about some of this technology and getting your planter ready for the 2025 planting season by attending one of our 2025 Planter University sessions that are being offered in early February. This program is a brand-neutral learning opportunity to help you continue to better understand and optimize your planting setup, no matter what color you run. The focus won't be on telling you what settings you should be running, but rather the theory behind planting equipment and new planting technology allowing you to evaluate and identify the right setting for you, your seed, your field, and your equipment setup. Registration is limited to allow for hands-on demonstrations with both high speed and traditional row unit demo stands. Learn more and register at: go.iastate.edu/planter.
Additional Resources:
- ISU Planter University https://www.aep.iastate.edu/planter/
- High Speed Planter Settings - https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/blog/doug-houser/high-speed-planter-settings
- Planter Maintenance Checklist - https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/blog/ben-covington-levi-powell-ryan-w-bergman/2022-spring-maintenance-checklist