The Art of Planting - 4

That "whoooosh" you heard last spring might have been a planter zooming past at twice the speed of regular planters.

Both John Deere and Precision Planting announced last year they were going to market with technologies that could double traditional planting speed from 5 mph to a giddy 10 mph and maybe more. Both companies' technology replaced the tried-and-true seed tube with devices that captured seed at the meter and used a conveyor belt-like system to carry seed to the trench. With the tractor's ground speed synched with the seed-delivery systems' speed, seeds could be placed with incredible accuracy, the companies said.

FIELD TRIALS

Come spring, the two systems hit the fields in trials by both farmers and company employees. Deere's ExactEmerge planters covered about 75,000 acres in diverse geographic areas, including the Corn Belt, the East Coast, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and parts of Canada, says Jake Swanson, John Deere product manager for planters. "We heard going into this, 'Oh, there is no way it will be able to go 10 mph in my fields.' So we made sure we addressed that from the beginning. We covered every type of ground we could."

Precision Planting's system is called the SpeedTube and can be retrofitted to a wide variety of planters.

In 2014, Precision Planting outfitted several planters in the Midwest with SpeedTubes and turned farmers loose with them. Meanwhile, company personnel dispersed over other areas of the country to test the technology in varying conditions. The tests involved emergence plots planted at various speeds, downforce at different thresholds, several closing systems, row cleaners, trash and residue management systems, says Jason Stoller, Precision Planting product manager.

"We nailed performance [with the SpeedTube]," says Stoller. While there were "no surprises" in how the SpeedTube itself functioned, "We learned that high-speed planting is a system thought process." By that, Stoller means the machinery is part of a broader way of looking at planting, both in execution and in planning.

SpeedTube is available on a limited basis this year for $900 to $1,000 per row unit.

FIRST RESPONDER

One of Precision Planting's cooperating farmers was Mark Fehr, of Tremont, Ill. He is in the company's backyard, and they were looking for someone with an older planter to outfit with SpeedTubes. Fehr's 1998 John Deere 16-row 7200 planter fit the bill.

Fehr is enthusiastic about the results. "Beautiful spacing and beautiful depth," he says.

He planted 700 acres of his total 2,000 acres with the SpeedTube-equipped planter. "We ran this hard through some rough conditions. We have no-till, strip-till and conventional till," he reports.

In one test, Fehr planted 60 acres of corn. His regular planter was equipped with eSets and air bags, and the other planter was equipped with SpeedTubes and DeltaForce. (DeltaForce is a Precision Planting technology that automatically and quickly changes downforce with hydraulic cylinders on each row. It lifts or pushes the unit to accommodate different conditions.)

"We used the regular planter with eSets and air bags, and ran at 5.5 mph, our normal planting speed," Fehr says. "We ran the SpeedTube planter right beside it at 10 mph. The yield was 265 bushels with a 1-bushel advantage to the SpeedTube planter. We think we got the extra bushel from the DeltaForce. It made the planting depth more even.

"So, that showed me you can plant faster with no decrease in yield," Fehr adds. "We did do a limited amount of soybean acres planting with the SpeedTube planter at 10 mph. I noticed a little better plant spacing, but no real yield tests were done."

While the SpeedTube technology worked "flawlessly," Fehr made this observation: "One problem I did have with my older planter is that stuff started falling off because of the vibration."

He also observed that, to work best, SpeedTube requires other technologies to share the experience. For instance, "I would never put SpeedTube on a planter without DeltaForce; air bags won't cut it."

Fehr also recommends CleanSweep (another Precision Planting technology) to clear residue in front of each planter unit. "I could adjust that from the cab anytime for whatever conditions I see," he says.

Fehr pushed the speed limit at times: "I liked it best at 7 to 8 mph." By the time he was finished planting, though, he came to this conclusion: "The speed is very addicting. Once you get beyond 5.5 mph, you just can't go back; it's just too slow."

ANOTHER OBSERVER

In Remington, Ind., Mark Waibel and his father, Bruce, put SpeedTubes to the test on their widely varying ground, some of which contains nasty rocks. "We thought it might be a problem for SpeedTube, but it wasn't," the younger Waibel says.

All of their fields had been disc-ripped in the fall and field-cultivated in the spring. The Waibels used an older 12-row Kinze 3650 equipped with DeltaForce and CleanSweep. They started slowly at their usual 4.5 to 5.5 mph and worked their way up to a fast 11 mph. By the time they had finished planting their 1,200 acres, they were averaging between 7.5 and 8 mph going through the field, Mark says.

2014 was not a good year for planting the Waibels' farms because it was wet and late, and the planting window shrank. But it was a good year for turning up the speed. Mark estimates they cut their total planting time by 25% with SpeedTube.

Verdict on the new technology? "Fantastic," Mark says. "We were able to increase our productivity and efficiency with the planter we already had."

GREEN TECHNOLOGY

John Deere's ExactEmerge planters replace the seed tube with Deere's patented brush belt. A single seed is handed off by the meter to nestle firmly into the brush's bristles, which are temporarily forced open. The bristles then spring closed as they capture the seed. The brush belt carries the seed past a sensor, which counts it and sends data to a new SeedStar 3 HP in-cab monitor. When the seed reaches the bottom of the belt at ground level, the bristles open, and it is placed into the seed trench. The vertical drop is only as deep as the trench, about 2 inches, which does not leave much room for bouncing or rolling out of position.

An active pneumatic downpressure system keeps the ExactEmerge firmly grounded. "It automatically adjusts downpressure as you go through a field based on the depth you want," Swanson says.

Among the testers for ExactEmerge last spring were Rodney and Mike Schmidt, DeWitt, Iowa, who used it on 4,000 acres of corn and soybeans.

"We farm about every type of ground," Rod says, including bottom ground, rolling ground, heavy clay and lighter ground. They also treat their fields with varied tillage practices: no-till, strip-till and conventional (fall tillage and spring seedbed preparation).

The Schmidts also did some limited testing of an early version of the ExactEmerge in 2013. Both years, they used a 24-row version of the planter.

In 2013, they compared ExactEmerge to a 24-row John Deere 1770NT MaxEmerge they own. In tests at various speeds (5, 7 and 10 mph), the ExactEmerge did as well or better with seed placement as the 1770NT at 5 mph. Plus, "No issues with brush belt, meters or electric motors. We had zero failures," Mike says.

The new planter handled some of the Schmidts' annual planting challenges with aplomb. "With the ExactEmerge, on hillsides and rough ground and everything, that brush belt delivers the seed right to the ground more accurately than with a seed tube," Rod says.

When they first got their hands on an ExactEmerge, Mike says, "We started out in slower speeds, and, of course, we were nervous. But we spend a lot of time digging behind the planter. If you find that first seed, and the next one is supposed to be 5 1/2 inches away, you dig 5 1/2 inches away, and you will find it. It is very, very accurate."

Swanson also touts ExactEmerge's accuracy: "When we ran at 5 mph and then at 10 mph, we found only 1.5-millimeter depth variation between the two speeds. That's the thickness of a penny. Not very much considering we doubled the speed."

POWER ISSUE

Although the Schmidts had no negative comments about the ExactEmerge system, they recommend that anyone considering it first check the power capabilities of his or her planting tractor. The Schmidts found that their 255 pto hp John Deere 8520 was fine for the flat ground and much of the hilly ground. But "the faster you go, the more power you need" to operate the hydraulics on the ExactEmerge, Mike says. "Speed takes power, especially on hills."

They have upgraded to John Deere 9520T with 400-plus horsepower, which is "probably overpowered for the planter," Rod says. "But we wanted something with a three-point hitch and pto that could pull a grain cart. We have other uses for the larger tractor, which will be more versatile for us."

The men say they plan to order their own 24-row ExactEmerge. "This will eliminate the need for getting a second planter," Mike says. "We can better utilize our labor resources with one planter. The extra speed really helps."

ExactEmerge is available this year in 1775NT, 1795 models, which come in a variety of widths and row spacings (15-, 20- and 30-inch). Base list price for a 1775NT 12-row ExactEmerge is $137,797. Check with a John Deere dealer for more specifics.

Jim Patrico can be reached at jim.patrico@dtn.com

(ES/CZ)

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