Spring Planting Season

So what really happens during the planting season?
And, what is all that equipment in the fields?

This year’s planting season has been delayed due to the cold weather. Typically, farmers start planting corn in mid-April and finish up by mid-May. Soybeans are planted next, usually during the month of May.

It’s important to plant corn and soybeans in a timely manner in order to have optimum yields. As the calendar days push further into May and June crop yields diminish. Every year is different and farmers are at the mercy of Mother Nature during the planting season. And, often times it will rain so farmers will have to wait until the soil is dry to resume planting operations. But with dry soil conditions farmers can plant between 100-300 acres per day with their modern and efficient equipment. Farmers and their employees work long hours to get the crop planted. They make sure their equipment is working properly and coordinate certain fieldwork tasks.

Ben Underwood maintains all of the farm equipment at Walter Farms in rural DeKalb. As head mechanic he has thoroughly inspected, repaired and serviced the many implements being used this spring.

“My goal is to work on equipment in the shop and catch any problems before we get to the fields,” said Underwood, who also helps with fieldwork. “We want to avoid break-downs if at all possible.”

Underwood explains that the farm crew begins preparing the seedbed by first applying anhydrous ammonia. Their John Deere 8960 tractor pulls an application toolbar and a white anhydrous tank across the field to inject NH3 into the soil. The nitrogen fertilizer is a necessary nutrient that boosts corn plant development and growth.

Once nitrogen is applied, a field cultivator is used to work up the soil. The tractor pulls the field cultivator that is equipped with 90 triangular shovels which dig down about four inches into the soil, then lifts and turns the soil. The drag on the back of the cultivator levels out the soil making for a nice even seedbed. This year the Walters plan to plant some no-till soybeans into corn stubble. So there will be no tillage done before planting the soybeans into the corn residue.

Using a John Deere 1770 planter, Underwood says they can plant 24 rows at a time in one pass across the field. On an average day they plant 250 acres of corn.

The central commodity system of the planter holds 100 bushels of corn in two large tanks, which dispenses seed to the individual planter boxes and finally the seed is dropped into rows in the soil. Technology is a big component of the planter system. A Precision 20/20 monitor mounted in the tractor cab keeps track of down pressure, and placement of seed, said Underwood. “This allows us to do a better job of planting.”

The GPS feature on the tractor provides auto-steer, which means the tractor does the steering and it’s Ben Underwood gets the John Deere planter ready for spring planting at the Walter Farm. He is the head mechanic and is responsible for making sure all of the equipment is working properly before operating it in the field.

This Caterpillar tractor pulls an application toolbar and anhydrous tank across the field to apply anhydrous ammonia. Nitrogen fertilizer is applied to the soils before planting to boost crop development and growth.

This self-propelled front mountsprayer has a 90 foot boom which sprays crop protectants on the crops, here post-emerge. A farmer only sprays herbicides, insecticides or fungicides when needed to protect the plants.

This field cultivator pulled by a John Deere tractor lifts and turns the soil and the drag on the back end levels out the soil making for a smooth seedbed before planting.