Precision Planting launches new planting system

TREMONT, Ill. — A new fully custom, factory-built planting system was unveiled at the Precision Planting Winter Conference.

The CornerStone Planting System comes fully built with “everything but the planter bar” and is integrated with Precision Planting technology.

The planting system will be in beta testing this spring and the company is aiming for a 2025 commercial release.

“CornerStone really is everything but the planter bar,” said Caleb Schleder, Precision Planting director of technical services and support.

“We’ve built the CornerStone Planting System with farmers in mind, optimizing performance, maintenance and wear all while making upgrading their existing planter simple — and certainly more affordable than buying a new one.

“So, when a grower says, ‘this is where my priorities are in my operation, this is where I want to get better,’ the CornerStone Planting System allows them to match the system for their operation.

“For me, as a grower myself, this is an extremely exciting option coming into the market because of the opportunity it has to really be tailored to our farm and to the farms of growers all over the world.”

Compatible with all standard-height 7x7 planter bars, the system will allow farmers to customize their planter with a factory-built system that ships with all components — both mechanical and electronic — already installed.

“All of our research, all of our learning, is built into one system aiming for the maximization of that input dollar into grain,” said Justin McMenamy, Precision Planting vice president of disruptive products.

The retrofit market has continued to grow and evolve over the years.

“If you don’t change out the hardware that doesn’t wear out, you can often save 50% on a piece of new equipment. Over 50% of the price of a new planter is hardware that doesn’t wear out or hardware that looks pretty close to what it looked like 15 or 20 years ago,” McMenamy said.

“For us, our passion, our conviction is to bring a technology to market in a way that fits the budget and drives the agronomy.”

New Facility

Precision Planting’s new 510,000-square-foot assembly and distribution center opened in October at the junction of Interstates 74 and 155 in Morton. The facility consolidates eight sites across the Greater Peoria Tri-County area.

“As we think about the needs at the farm, the needs of the planter, we wanted to design a system where you, no matter what your needs are, could get a system from the factory,” McMenamy said.

“From the day we started designing that new facility at I-74 and I-155, it was with CornerStone in mind. It was with the goal in mind to understand the diversity of planters that is needed in the industry and design a system that is flexible, that allows for a grower to configure their desired planter and to have it come directly from the factory.

“With the CornerStone Planting System, we are aiming to bring technology to the farm, to drive the agronomy in a cost-effective way, and challenging the status quo of how equipment and how technology is brought on the farm.”