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NW Iowa | Hydraulic and electric are smoother than ground drive like Janderson said. It doesn't make a huge difference in seed spacing but every little thing we do to make it smoother helps. Another benefit to electric and hydraulic is the ability of the planter to shut off each row at a time when we plant into point rows. If you have all rectangular or square fields this doesn't make much of a difference. If you have a lot of point rows it saves seed and it also makes for a better yield in corn. Double pop in corn means possibly half the yield. You can also play around with a different pop in every individual row but for the majority of us farmers that isn't necessary. I have an accumulated two miles of point rows on my farm because of a diagonal drainage ditch. My planter has electric drives so each individual row shuts off when that row hits the outside row of the point rows. Yes I know it should stop 15 inches before the first row but attaining that perfect distance takes more patience than most farmers can muster up. The population is controlled by prescription. My farm has very variable soil conditions. Someday the electric drives will pay off because of this but the payoff won't come in one or two years. So in my view if you have nice square fields with all the same soil type I question whether converting to electric or hydraulic really pays off. If you are in an area where all of your fields are irregular spending the money for the technology might pay off. | |
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Mechanical / hydraulic/ electric drive planters
