With planting season right around the corner, farmers are evaluating tractors and adjusting tillage equipment and planters.
“Right now is a great time to get the planters out, get some maintenance done and get ready for the likelihood of putting the seed in early,” said Doug Houser, digital ag Extension specialist at Iowa State University.
Now is a good time to get the planter out, hook it up to the tractor and get a few things done. First, make sure the receivers and monitors are updated and that subscriptions are renewed.
While you are in the tractor, look at boundaries and make sure you have one boundary per field. Houser also suggested looking at guidance lines. With multiple guidance lines and boundary lines, take time to give them specific names in the system — for example, the field name and type of boundary line and then the date.
Houser said right now is also a great time to unfold that planter in the shed or out in the driveway. Starting at the front, farmers should measure the double disc openers and make sure they are at the right width, especially the double disc openers that are right behind the tractor tires and outside the row units.
Next is depth setting checks using a tool like Set-n-Seed.
“All the planters have a depth setting, but they can vary quite a bit,” Houser said. “You want to make sure each row unit is set.”
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