Planting

Planting Corn

To plant corn we use a twenty-four row John Deere planter that is equipped with precision planting updates. Why Precision Planting? Proper agronomic placement of all the seeds is extremely important for optimum emergence, early growth, and eventual yield. Corn plants next to a gap in the row may produce larger ears to help compensate for missing plants, however, these plants cannot make-up for those that are crowded as seed doubles or triples growing within one or two inches of each other. Small things sometimes can make a big difference. 

Seeding rates will vary on the season moisture outlook, but 18,500 seeds per acre is common for us on dry-land. Irrigated plantings increase to around 30,000 seeds per acre. Different varieties of corn might optimize productivity by fluctuating this seeding rate up or down. Planting time usually begins at the end of April.

Fertilizer rates are adjusted on each field according to the demands found in the soil samples. Nitrogen is applied by the sprayer, and the phosphorous is applied with the planter. A tank on the tractor supplies a sufficient supply for approximately 100 acres. A metered delivery system on the planter directs the fertilizer for proper placement in the row of the seed. This gives the young plant an extra boost of nutrients to get off to a healthy start.

Auto steer GPS is also an important tool in our planting operation. Accuracy has improved to a matter of inches with this technology. Not only does this provide straight accurate rows, it eleviates operator fatigue on long days in the field. Our planter also engages or disengages two rows at a time as it crosses in or out of previously planted areas. 

Planting Wheat

Planting wheat we use a 40 foot wide New Holland air planter. This drill is specifically a no-till drill and will deliver the seed at the proper depth, even in very hard soil conditions. We use the same auto steer and section disengagement technology for seed and fertilizer as we do with the corn planter. However, this drill automatically shuts off in four… ten foot sections. The spacing on the individual row units are ten inches apart.

The same tanks on the tractor are utilized to supply the phosphorous based fertilizer. A meetered pumping system then is also used on each row to supply a specified rate, automatically varying with ground speed. Planting time for wheat begins around the 20th of September and winds up the first week of October. We plant at three to five different varieties at a rate of 90# to 120# per acre.