Not too late to evaluate stands
DECATUR – Evaluating plant stands from the combine cab is a good idea this fall season, says Precision Planting.
Many farmers claim it is too late to evaluate things during harvest, but this is not true according to Bryce Baker, integrated marketing manager for the company.
“For corn, look at the stalk diameter,” Baker said at the Farm Progress Show. “You may see a number of plants that have small stalks. Those plants most likely came up late.”
When it comes to soybean emergence, you may have noticed plants which are behind on development with fewer pods. These would be the late bean emergers.
Then the question is why. Baker notes there are a number of factors for late emergence and ways to prevent it.
If residue or closing the row are issues at planting time, a frame-mounted row cleaner called Reveal has an internal gauge wheel which allows for setting pressure and depth independently. Precision Planting also has FurrowForce which moves soil horizontally to close the trench and actually firm the soil.
“FurrowForce could be automated with the use of a Precision Planting 20/20 monitor but it can be manually controlled as well,” explained Baker.
Reveal can be installed on only a few rows for a trial basis and these rows can be compared to the others for emergence and row cleaning. This allows the farmer to see if the product provides added value to the operation.
“Last year there were a number of growers that ran Reveal on a few rows. One of those growers I was talking to yesterday said in every field, one of the rows that had Reveal on it always had the top good ride.”
The company encourages customers to contact a local Precision Planting dealer for further information or visit www.precisionplanting.com.
