27 At the bottom of the furrow is a knife that cuts a narrow slot, or sub-furrow, below the standard furrow that the planter’s disk openers cut; the seed exits the ArrowTube properly oriented and traveling fast, and slots into this sub-furrow and the soil holds the seed in place in the ground. The good news for farmers, is that depending on what you have, no new equipment or major retrofitting is required in order to use the ArrowTube, because it is a complete retrofit component. ArrowTube integrates with existing vSet and vDrive system technologies, as well as other planter systems. The vDrive is another Precision Planting seed‑metering and control technology that powers each row’s meter independently. Instead of relying on chains, sprockets, or hydraulic drives, vDrive gives every row its own electric motor, allowing precise population control, curve compensation, and row‑by‑row adjustments without mechanical lag. With vSet, it forms a modern, electronically-controlled metering system that improves spacing, population accuracy, and overall planter performance. The only system that ArrowTube would not integrate with would be SpeedTube. “A farmer would select either ArrowTube or SpeedTube for their delivery system,” explained Baker. “ArrowTube is a retrofit component that can be integrated into a Precision Planting-controlled planter or a farmer could choose to add a number of Precision Planting systems at one time, including ArrowTube, as a major upgrade to their planter.” As of February 2026, ArrowTube is still in a beta testing status and supports only corn and soybean plants, though the company did state that it will be undertaking further testing of additional crops in the 2026 season. According to Baker, the ArrowTube is designed to provide accurate spacing, depth, and orientation across a wide range of planting speeds, including high speeds. “ArrowTube has similar or better spacing performance when compared to other high-speed planting systems on the market, but also has the enhancement of orienting seeds that other systems do not do.” The Precision Planting R&D team has extensive relationships with growers and agronomists and enlists small numbers of both farmers and agronomists through the development process to provide product feedback and validation. “The Precision Planting R&D agronomy team is involved in trials throughout the development of the product, and the final phase of a product rollout is getting the product on a wide range of farms and conditions to understand how the product works in these conditions,” Baker noted. “ArrowTube will [continue with] that in the spring of 2026.” While Baker pointed out that as Precision Planting looks at the farm and sees opportunities for improvement—as evidenced by ArrowTube and other new planter technologies announced in the past 12 months—there is still plenty of opportunity to improve the planter. He said that the sprayer is a focus area for Precision Planting, with technologies that can retrofit onto a farmer’s existing sprayer such as its SymphonyNozzle, SymphonyVision, and SmokeRow. Another area of focus for the business is Radicle Agronomics, Precision Planting’s soil management platform that helps farmers take greater control of soil testing and fertility recommendations with improved accuracy, consistency, and on-farm efficiency. “The planter sets the foundation for yield and that is why we continue to invest in technologies for the planter, but these other areas show huge opportunity as well.” To gather more information on ArrowTube or to learn more about the company, visit www.precisionplanting.com. | pag
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