Precise Depth Placement Key to Planting Success

May 17, 2024

Exploring HORSCH’s Maestro Row Units

Consistent seed placement and uniform emergence are two components that make for a successful planting system.

HORSCH knows this. And they have developed its Maestro row units to do just that.

Jeremy Hughes, Product Manager at HORSCH, recently spoke with Farms.com to highlight the innovative features of the Maestro row units, specifically designed for North American farmers seeking precision and efficiency in their planting operations.

These units stand out for its advanced tech integrations and robust construction, tailored to meet the demands of diverse farming environments.

A key feature of the Maestro row unit is its direct mounting to the toolbar, which eliminates the need for bolts or U-bolts. This design ensures that the row unit can handle extra downforce and operating in tough soil conditions, as well as for high-speed applications.

This robust mounting system supports the unique parallelogram setup of the Maestro units, which utilizes a through-shaft design at the rear and a combination of hardened and softer bushings at the pivot points.

“Instead of having 8 pivot points with bushings, we only have four,” says Hughes.

This design reduces wear and maintenance while ensuring the unit remains perpendicular across extensive acreage.

Another significant advancement in the Maestro row units is the electric metering system.

Hughes added that HORSCH was the first in the industry to introduce planters with electric drive meters and hydraulic downforce, launching this technology as part of the Maestro series in 2011.

The electric motors are direct center driven, providing precise control over seed rate and spacing, which overall enhances the reliability and accuracy of the seeding process.

The Maestro row units include multiple fertilizer placement options, such as below or behind the seed, as well as a variety of customizable closing systems.

Additionally, the units can be equipped with Yetter row cleaners from the factory.

If you are looking to upgrade your planting equipment, the Maestro series offers a combination of durability, precision, and ease of use.

Watch the below video as Hughes walks you through the row unit.

Video: Seeing the Whole Season: How Continuous Crop Modeling Is Changing Breeding

Plant breeding has long been shaped by snapshots. A walk through a plot. A single set of notes. A yield check at the end of the season. But crops do not grow in moments. They change every day.

In this conversation, Gary Nijak of AerialPLOT explains how continuous crop modeling is changing the way breeders see, measure, and select plants by capturing growth, stress, and recovery across the entire season, not just at isolated points in time.

Nijak breaks down why point-in-time observations can miss critical performance signals, how repeated, season-long data collection removes the human bottleneck in breeding, and what becomes possible when every plot is treated as a living data set. He also explores how continuous modeling allows breeding programs to move beyond vague descriptors and toward measurable, repeatable insights that connect directly to on-farm outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• What continuous crop modeling is and how it works

• Why traditional field observations fall short over a full growing season

• How scale and repeated measurement change breeding decisions

• What “digital twins” of plots mean for selection and performance

• Why data, not hardware, is driving the next shift in breeding innovation As data-driven breeding moves from research into real-world programs, this discussion offers a clear look at how seeing the whole season is reshaping value for breeders, seed companies, and farmers, and why this may be only the beginning.