Speed, seed and savings: Purdue puts modern planter technology to the test

WANATAH, Ind. — More technology does not necessarily mean more yield.

Jonah Armstrong, graduate research assistant at the Center for Commercial Agriculture at Purdue University, tested a 30-year-old planter against a modern one.

The technology difference was substantial. But the yield difference was not.

“When you think about how far planter technology has come in the last 30 years, the planters from the 1990s are almost unrecognizable when compared with today’s planters,” Armstrong said.

New planters offer better seed placement, more consistent downforce, more accurate singulation and less overlap — but do all these technologies actually improve yields?

Armstrong sought the answer in a trial at the Pinney Purdue Ag Center, comparing a 12-row Case 2150 modern planter with vacuum meters, active hydraulic downforce and row cleaners against a 4-row John Deere 7200 using finger-pickup meters, spring downforce and no row cleaners.

In a 20-acre field in northwest Indiana, the two planters were used in alternating strips across the field. The middle six rows of each strip were harvested to remove any border effects.

The yield monitor data was then cleaned, and proven statistical methods were used to account for differences across the field.

The result?

“We found no statistical evidence that the two planters produced different corn yields,” Armstrong said. “Let me say that again: Under the conditions of this trial, the modern planter did not produce a measurable yield advantage over a 30-year-old planter.”

That is a striking result considering the technology differences between the two implements.

“But before everyone puts their current planter on sale and starts dragging the old one out of the bushes behind the shop, let me offer some reasons a new planter could still be valuable,” Armstrong said.

“Take labor, for example. A modern planter can automate things that used to require operator attention.”

Active downforce and active row cleaners can adjust to field conditions without the operator needing to get out of the cab.

“This newer technology allows an operator to more easily manage a larger planter today than they could in the past,” Armstrong said.

Section control reduces seed waste, and when combined with bulk seeding systems, planters can go longer without running out of seed, and it makes refilling faster when the seed does run out.

“All these technologies allow operators to cover more acres in less time than their predecessors,” Armstrong said.

“So, you could have a situation where the newer planter doesn’t increase yield at all, but it still improves the overall economics of the farming operation.”

Less downtime, fewer errors, less seed waste and more acres covered per hour — all of these things have value to a farm operation.

“The takeaway from this trial is not necessarily that all farmers should go back to 30-year-old planters,” Armstrong said. “It’s that we need to be careful about assuming that every new technology is a no-brainer upgrade over the older way of doing things.”

If a farmer is evaluating a planter upgrade or any other technology upgrade on their farm, the question should be, “How exactly will this new technology help my bottom line?”

“Maybe that’s yield. Maybe that’s labor. Maybe it means you have less risk because you can cover your acres faster. But the value of these improvements will look very different from one farm to another,” Armstrong said.

“So, it’s very important to keep the specifics of your farm in mind when deciding on a large technology upgrade.”