The Planter Upgrade Itch
After years of uneven plant stands due to rough weather and a stock factory planter, Downforce Dan was looking for a better way to plant his crops. He knew he needed to add some upgrades to his planter to more effectively get seeds in the ground and increase his yield.
In a typical year, only 5% of farms will purchase a brand-new, factory-built planter. There are alternative ways to upgrade technology without breaking the bank.
After doing some research and comparing costs, Dan realized that it would cost way less to upgrade his existing 2010 planter with the technology he wanted, rather than buying a brand new planter from the factory. He worked with his local Precision Planting Premier Dealer to create a tiered approach to updating his planter.
Season One Upgrades
Downforce Dan added the 20|20 Planter Base System to kick-start his planter upgrades. All it took was a 20|20, a few SRMs, some wiring harnesses and weigh pins to build the foundation. For a 16-row John Deere 1770NT CCS planter, Dan was all-in for around $19,000.1 Much less than he expected.
The 20|20 monitors, controls and collects data from every planting pass. The downforce sensors show him accurate readings of downforce pressure on the monitor in the cab. He can even move the 20|20 from cab-to-cab to use it during spraying, side-dressing, and harvesting to maximize his investment.
His mind was blown by the amount of data he saw in the 20|20, and Panorama, a data analyzing tool. He was also amazed at the inconsistency of his manual downforce. Since he had his downforce system set the same on every row, he found that some rows had too much force, creating compaction, and others didn't have enough, causing inconsistent seeding depths.
Season Two Upgrades
After seeing compaction and poor singulation on the 20|20, Dan knew he had to make an improvement if he wanted better yields. Before the next planting season he added automated downforce and an improved meter system.
His row units now made decisions, individually. Instead of one set point for the whole planter, each row automatically adjusted based on data. And he could see it all clear as day on the 20|20.
» Automated Downforce
DeltaForce replaced the airbags on his planter with hydraulic cylinders and load cells that measure how much weight is being carried on the row unit gauge wheels 200 times per second. Dan sets a weight that should be carried on the gauge wheels, and DeltaForce does the rest.
No matter the field conditions, Dan was confident that DeltaForce would put the right amount of pressure on the row units to get the seed at the right depth. Even if that meant upward pressure, instead of downward pressure.
» Improved Meter System
Traditional seed meters need continual adjustment to plant accurately which leads to skips, doubles, and ultimately, lost yield. Dan upgraded to vSet seed meters, which singulate seeds accurately without any adjustments, resulting in perfect seed placement.
Proper singulation plants a picket fence row stand with consistent spacing between the plants which hopefully leads to extra nodes, more mature plants, and a higher yield. Of course, a higher yield means a higher return on investment of those meters.
With the help of vDrive, he converted his mechanical drive planter to electric drive. vDrive replaced the mechanical drive system, simplifying his planter to a single motor mounted to each vSet meter. With the combination of vDrive and vSet, each row is now controlled individually, so Dan can plant variable rates, use swath control, and keep a consistent population around curves.
Since Dan already had the 20|20 Planter Base System components, he was able to upgrade to DeltaForce, vDrive, and vSet for around $30,000.2
Which Upgrade is Next?
With the groundwork laid, it's easy for Downforce Dan to plug in more Precision Planting products to continue building the planter of his dreams. With a 20|20 and an SRM on every row, what would you choose next?
- SpeedTube » high-speed planting
- FurrowForce » adaptable two-stage closing system
- SmartFirmer » seed firmer to see inside the soil
- EMHD, FlowSense, vApplyHD » liquid fertilizer control
- SmartDepth » in-cab planting depth adjustment
- mSet » multi-hybrid meter
- DrySet » granular rate control
- vDrive Insecticide » electric insecticide meter
