Monitor planter often at planting

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Routine planter maintenance is an important part of spring success and should be performed well before planting, but it’s equally important to be mindful of planter performance as you go from row to row and field to field.

Ron Joiner, Pioneer field agronomist, noted some key things to watch out for when it’s planting time and some of the things that will make you successful.

“One of the most important things that you want to be careful of is as you move from field to field or start your planting is that you monitor your planter depth. Just because you set it one time doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be correct as field conditions change from one field to the next. I like to use a measuring tool to check the depth of the seed,” Joiner said.

Worn planter parts can cause non-uniform seed spacing, skips or even double seeds. As with planting depth, spacing is important for germination and to ensure seeds aren’t competing for nutrients.

“One thing I like to do beside just checking planting depth is to look at the number of seeds in a row and what kind of spacing we’re getting in more than one spot,” Joiner said.

Temperature

Soil temperature at the time of planting and the weather forecast need to be considered before rolling into a field.

“We like to be at a minimum of about 50 degrees with a warming trend occurring. If you look at the weather forecast and it’s calling for isolated showers or cooler weather, you might want to consider delaying planting for a day or two to make sure that you’re giving the seed every chance it can to emerge and do the best that it can,” Joiner said.