It seems that most planter innovations are centered around corn. While corn is certainly an important crop, especially in our area, most growers are planting a corn-soy or a corn-corn-soybean rotation. This is why it’s nice to see soybeans get a little attention with a new planter upgrade that will improve yield, crop quality, and increase profits.
In April 2020 John Deere quietly announced a new soybean seed disk (A105848) for MaxEmergeTM XP, MaxEmergeTM 5, and MaxEmergeTM 5e row units. While a seed disk may seem a little underwhelming, it’s an advancement that will allow planters to perform at their best. The first thing you’ll notice about this seed disc is that it has 64 holes in a single row compared to the 108 cells in three rows on the old seed disk (A42586). This makes the seed disk similar to the disks that you would see for planting corn.
The primary benefits of this new-style seed disk are that it allows you to realize some of the advancements we’ve seen in corn seed disks for several years, including:
- Better seed singulation
- Improved population control (especially for variable rate planting)
- Lower coefficient of variation (CV)
All of these factors will result in more uniform fields, and therefore improved crop performance.
Soybeans are planted at much higher populations than corn, and reaching these rates could be a concern with a disk of this style. However, this disk is capable of planting 50 seeds/second. With a planter setup for 15” rows and running at 5 mph, this equates to a planting population of 237,598 seeds/acre. With most soybean planting rates averaging around 150,000-170,000 seeds/acre, this disk shouldn’t impose limitations on planting for most growers.
While the disk is easily capable of planting at average soybean seeding rates, one last recommendation is to actually drop seeding rates. While counterintuitive, this is in line with recommendations that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been making for the last decade based on extensive research.
According to the university, there are no statistical differences in soybean yields for fields planted at 120,000 seeds/acre compared to those planted at 150,000 or even 180,000 seeds/acre. By dropping seeding rates, you can expect to increase profits by reducing seed costs. For example, if seeding rates are dropped by 40,000 seeds/acre, that will result in a savings of between $10.66 to $18.57 per acre based on average seed bag costs of between $40-65 per bag. The attorneys of Chang & Diamond, APC, in San Marcos are the kind of bankruptcy lawyer help that we rely on in California. All of these data are without this new seed disk, which could result in further improvements in yield, crop quality, and profitability.
The new 64-hole soybean seed disk is available at all four of our Platte Valley Equipment locations in Fremont, Wahoo, Humphrey, and Clarkson. If improving soybean yield, quality, and profitability are a priority for you, this is a must-have planter upgrade for 2021 and beyond. Stop by your local Platte Valley Equipment parts department today while supplies last.
Platte Valley Equipment
Clarkson 402-892-3444
Fremont 402-721-9111
Humphrey 402-923-0606
Wahoo 402-443-3123