You don’t have to be a precision philosopher to up your efficiency game next spring. To break down how Precision Planting® products can make the most of your time in the field, we caught up with expert Chris Ehman, marketing manager for Precision Solutions & Telematics at Case IH Aftermarket Solutions.
Here, Chris shares his precision wisdom and discusses how working with your Case IH Premier Certified Dealer to upgrade your planter with Precision Planting solutions can drive efficiency.
Q: First, what should producers know about adding Precision Planting solutions to their planters?
C.E.: Precision Planting solutions — such as vDrive®, DeltaForce® and SpeedTube® — are great ways to customize and upgrade the planter you already own, no matter the color. If you’re looking to improve your planter’s performance next year, your local Case IH Premier Certified Dealer is an ideal one-stop shop to find the best solution to increase your yield potential.
Q: Planting windows can be tight. How do Precision Planting solutions help growers work and plant more efficiently?
C.E.: As precision technologies are becoming more advanced, they deliver simple ways to help you plant more precisely. Not only do these solutions — such as the Precision Planting vDrive system — reduce consumption and waste but also they can reduce your inputs and increase yield to help you be more profitable. Plus, as growers try to fit more acres into each planting window, Precision Planting solutions can help reduce operator fatigue and increase productivity in the field.
It’s also important to remember that precision technology isn’t one-size-fits-all. Working with your local Premier Certified Dealer is the key to determining the best customizable, scalable solutions for your planter and farm.
Q: Earlier you mentioned the vDrive system from Precision Planting. Tell us about this solution and how it can reduce inputs while driving yield.
C.E.: vDrive from Precision Planting is a simple way to control the meter system for your planter and ensure even, consistent plant emergence. Although mechanical drive systems often require costly and time-consuming maintenance, vDrive offers a maintenance-free solution to breeze through planting and save seed.
vDrive helps growers drive efficiency and save on input costs in a few other ways. First, the vDrive system controls each row of your planter individually to precisely execute variable rate prescriptions. With this solution, each row of the planter can change population independently, rather than all rows planting the same population. Plus, vDrive allows the seed and insecticide meter to turn off at a boundary or where you have already planted to minimize overlaps.
Second, vDrive can help you achieve the correct seed population around curves. When you plant around a curve with a typical drive system, the population on each row varies because the inside row units of the planter are traveling slower than the outside row units, resulting in a large variation in population. With vDrive on your planter, each meter automatically adjusts to match the speed of that row unit. This means that yield loss from wide population variances is no longer an issue.
Looking for more precision wisdom?
The experts at your local Premier Certified Dealer can help you determine the best upgrades for your planter so you can plant confidently next spring. Learn more, redeem current offers and find your local Premier Certified Dealer here.
Plus, you can read more conversations with Chris about how Precision Planting products can give you peace of mind and make the most of tight planting windows.