Precision Agronomy

The importance of placing soybean seed into the ground at a precise depth and in firm contact with the soil, makes your choice of planting equipment especially critical. Farmers can still opt to plant soybeans with a traditional no-till drill, but there is a more effective way: use the corn planter. With a corn planter, farmers have precise seed placement, giving the exact seed population, singulation, and doubles or skips of seed with monitoring options within each row. Studies performed by Shawn Conley of UW-Madison reveal corn planters reduce seeding rates of soybeans down to roughly 110,000 seeds/acre. 

Planting soybeans with a corn planter allows operators the capability for row adjustment on the fly. The hydraulic/pneumatic down force settings allow farmers to change their down pressure and seed depth throughout the changing field conditions. Corn planters can be fitted with individual row shut off and section control, to reduce plant over- lap. Using your corn planter to plant your soybeans can lead to less waste, lower seed costs, and higher efficiency. 

Row cleaners on a corn planter can eliminate the surface residue interfering with the seed opener and seed placement. Still considering using a no-till drill, it cannot remove residue, a corn planter takes away debris in front of the disc opener. Properly placing the seed in the soil, gives farmers peace of mind, knowing every seed has good soil contact, not just lying on top of the ground. 

Planting with a corn planter offers benefits from an operational and cost perspective. If you would like to learn more about the benefits of planting soybeans with a corn planter, reach out to your equipment consultant or IS consultant for more details. 

Want more information? Contact our R&S Precision Farming team today!