Planting is like playing golf in unpredictable weather with a lot of money on the line.
Success depends on intuitive skill, dedicated practice, focus — and, let’s face it, some luck. High-quality clubs can make a difference, but only so much. An inexperienced golfer might slice a ball even with an expensive club.
Likewise, inattention to planter and ground-speed settings can reduce yields, leaving money on the table. At the end of the day, farm machinery’s effectiveness depends on its operation.
“My brother has planted one field of corn in his entire life. I do it year-round. I’m putting him in a 2024 John Deere DB66 [planter] and myself in a 1981 International Cyclo Air. Who thinks the Cyclo Air is going to do a better job?” asked Austin Miller, a test engineer at Iowa State University’s Digital Ag Innovation Lab.
Are planters foolproof yet?
Sure, modern planters are equipped with state-of-the-art downforce control, individual-row shutoff and meters that precisely place seeds in exactly the right place. But all that technology risks being ineffective without proficiency.
Conversely, a skilled operator can overperform with outdated equipment, just like a talented golfer can maintain a single-digit handicap using thrift store clubs.
“[My brother] doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. He doesn’t know anything that’s on the display. He doesn’t know what he’s setting. He’s just going. He’ll hit the autosteer button, lower it and expect it to do a good job,” Miller said. “With that being said, the DB66 will never even be anywhere close to as bad as the Cyclo Air if we know what we’re doing.”
That last point is key. Justin Scheel, chief marketing officer at DPA Auctions, said auction prices are determined by buyers, who sometimes value machinery based on individual preference and skill — not necessarily the physical components themselves.
A veteran Cyclo Air operator might choose familiarity over a new John Deere simply because they are more familiar and confident in the older machine.
“We get a lot of inquiries for ‘dumb tractors,’ stuff with lower technology that [farmers] can still wrench on,” Scheel said. “It’s just like my parents with cellphones. They learned how to use their iPhone 4, they’re happy with it. Why would they change it?”
Boosting equipment investments
That’s a good question for all farmers to ponder in this ongoing economic downturn. Using farm machinery to its full potential by understanding how it works maximizes investment, hopefully, through increased yield.
How much better would that Cyclo Air operator be if they applied their deep farming experience to the latest planter technology? That might be easier said than done, however, because learning new systems can be as daunting as they are financially beneficial, especially given the pace of today’s technological advancements. But that temporary discomfort is probably worthwhile because learning precision ag technology should pay off at harvest.
“If you’ve spent the investment to have all this functionality, you want to use it the best way possible to try to get as uniform of seed placement, as uniform of depth, and try to minimize any of your negatives, like sidewall compaction and things like that,” said Nebraskan Jesse Williams, who farms about 1,000 corn and soybean acres near the Platte River.
Planting, like golf, is an improved-upon skill that requires dedication and practice. Buying a top-of-the-line planter without learning how to use it is like an amateur golfer hitting the links with Tiger Slam wedges. Likewise, someone skilled can marginally up their game with better clubs.
In a game of inches, every advantage counts. With so much on the line, you can’t afford to shank it into the woods at planting time.