Planter "All Wrong" Study ‣ Corn

Key Points

Objective: This planter trial is designed to simulate yield and economic effects when a grower gets downforce, residue manager settings, and singulation incorrect on the planter, all at the same time. For this study, we implemented light downforce, “goof” plates to achieve 5% singulation, and removed the use of residue managers.
The Impact: In the last 3 years, our “all wrong” settings have led to an average loss of 17.6 Bu/A, which has equated to a loss of $96.47/A.
Individual Studies: For more information on individual performance of the tested attributes, please see our summary studies on downforce management, residue management, and singulation.

What does it really cost you if your planter is not set up correctly? With all the technology we talk about here at Precision Planting, it can feel overwhelming to know where to start, especially when you want to confirm an investment will pay for itself quickly.

There are three settings on the planter that are imperative to implement correctly during planting:

Residue management: How are we keeping residue out of the way, ensuring that each seed has a healthy place to grow?
Downforce: Are we achieving the exact planting depth we want to achieve, no more and no less?
Singulation: Are we effectively avoiding skips or doubles as we plant?

As we have tested these settings over multiple years, we have seen that getting these wrong leads to significant losses in yield. If we look back at the last 3 years, our 2021-2023 results showed an average yield loss of 17.6 Bu/A and average economic losses of $96.47/A.

This loss was so significant that this study ended up in our Top 3 lowest-performing studies at the PTI Farm! This represents that planters equipped with Precision Planting technology can eliminate costly errors in the field, yield losses, and revenue losses.