Grain planter: Four hints to ensure precision in the field

The yield of the crop field starts during the planting preparation. More than placing seeds to the soil, precisely planting means to place each seed to the right place, in the correct depth and using the perfect spacing.

This control level is possible only through the agricultural machine planters engineered for Precision Agriculture.

In this article, you will understand how to increase the field precision with the practices recommended, on-board technologies and essential care with the planter adjustment.

Why is precision so important for grain planting?

The planting precision influences directly on the plant development, the correct usage of the inputs, and especially, the yield. Improper depth, failures, or doubles in the spacing may impair the genetic potential of the seeds and make the crop management difficult.

The Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) studies show that for no-till farming, operation speeds above 8.5 km/h may reduce up to 12% the emergence index during planting, indicating less seed distribution and plant emergence failures.

In addition, the poor seed placement may cause areas with lack of uniformity, which makes the further input application difficult. As a consequence, the plants don’t grow with uniformity and end up impairing the harvest yield.

Four crucial hints to ensure precision by using the planter

So that the planter reaches its maximum performance, a technical preparation is necessary, special attention to the soil, the usage of smart solutions, and mainly, a trained operator to work with the agricultural machine in the field.

See below, four practical and essential hints to increase the planting precision and accomplish consistent results with sustainability and savings.

Preventive maintenance:

Preparing an agricultural machine is the first step for a precise planting. See some crucial cautions:

General inspection and preventive maintenance: check the conditions of the disks, springs, sowing row units, meter units, and conducting tubes. Replace worn-out components and lubricate the mobile parts;
Calibration of the seed and fertilizer metering: apply your technical team or agronomist recommendations. Using prescription maps allows you to apply variable rate and optimize resources.
Checking the pressure of the tines and furrow covering: the correct adjustment ensures a uniform depth and the ideal contact between the seed and the soil;
Operation speed control: high speeds impair the longitudinal distribution. For most of crops, the ideal range is between 5 and 7 km/h.

2. Soil preparation

So that the planter operates efficiently, it’s fundamental that the soil provides the ideal operation conditions.

The terrain uniformity and the humidity control are decisive factors to ensure the correct positioning of the seeds and the correct furrow covering. Before planting, proceed as follows:

Correct the soil based on the chemical analysis: check the pH, levels of nutrients and acidity. The application of substance for soil regulation and fertilizer should be carried out according to the technical advice to make sure of a proper environment for the plant root development.
Level the terrain and eliminate the compaction: compacted soils make the tine penetration difficult, impair the planting depth, and make the furrow covering hard. Use cultivators and subsoilers for compacted areas.
Apply no-till farming whenever possible: this system saves moisture, improves the soil structure, reduces the erosion and eases the microbiology activity. The surface straw protects the soil and helps the sowing humidity.

When the soil is well prepared, the agricultural planter can operate with more stability, ensuring a uniform depth, better seed-soil contact and higher seed germination index.

Learn more: Hints to prepare the soil for wheat planting.

3. Invest in agricultural technology

The Stara planters provide on-board resources that automate the operation control and boost the field efficiency:

Stara Topper 5500: the agricultural controller allows you to operate with prescription maps and see the operation performance in real time;
Telemetry and remote monitoring: operators and managers follow the machine performance based on real operation information;
Row-by-Row Shut-Off System: avoids overlap and waste when automatically shutting off the row units that are not programmed to sow;

Planter models such as Guapa Supra Winter, Estrela and Eva stand out due to their robust structure, an efficient terrain copy, and no-till farming versatility.

Even having a well-equipped machine featuring agricultural technology, the operation quality depends upon the soil too. The good preparation and the correct management directly influence on the planter performance.

4. Provide training for the agricultural machine operator

The training is essential to correctly interpret the information displayed on the agricultural controller, adjust the speed according to the soil type, keep the machine stability during the planting process and quickly answer to alerts or sowing ranges.

Additionally, using the Telemetria Stara enables the agricultural machine operator to follow, in real time, the planter performance — and forward this information to the farm manager to optimize the management decisions.

Learn more: Stara Operator’s Portal.

Avoid usual errors that impair the planter efficiency

Even having a cutting-edge machine and quality inputs, operating errors or simple failures during soil preparation can jeopardize the entire planting process. See below, the most frequent mistakes that require extra attention:

Planting at high speeds, especially in bumpy terrains: it reduces the longitudinal distribution precision and causes failures and doubles.
Ignoring the calibration of the meter units: without the correct adjustment, the seed and fertilizer meter may not be balanced, resulting in waste and poor plant formation.
Using damaged seeds or poorly selected: affecting the conductor tube flow. As a consequence, it causes clogging in the planting row unit.
Not considering alerts and information of the electronic system: the on-board monitors alert about failures in real time. Ignoring this information may cause bigger issues that would have been simple to be solve from the beginning.

Minor mistakes, especially during the adjustment or operation can cause significant losses in yield.

Learn more: Agricultural equipment: see how to reduce the operating cost

Conclusion

The planting precision doesn’t rely only on the agricultural technology but on the proper adjustment, soil preparation, the quality of the seeds and how to conduct the operation.

Choosing Stara planters means trusting in pieces of equipment developed to increase the field efficiency and ensure the most production capacity from each hectare.