Monitor Updates Key to VR Planting

Posted By Team Latham

Peter Bixel, Seed2Soil Team Leader

There’s nothing quite like sunshine and the 70-degree temperatures we experienced last weekend to get a farmer thinking about planting!  As you prepare for the upcoming planting season, remember to also update your monitors.  Monitor updates are especially important for Variable Rate Planting.

Through Latham’s hallmark Seed2Soil® program, we can write prescriptions for your planter and seed variety, on an individual field basis.  We can write population prescriptions using information about past yield history from a yield monitor, soil types within the field, hybrid variety selection, tillage practices, fertility levels and more, with special consideration.

Even if you’re not interested in or your current equipment isn’t capable of planting variable rates, it’s still important to keep up-to-date on planter technology.  Below is a brief summary of updates available to some of the more popular models.  Also included are links that will direct you to the Internet sites where you can either download the upgrades yourself or have your dealer assist you.

Ag Leader
In February, Ag Leader Technology released Advanced Seed Monitoring through the SeedCommand™ system. Available on the INTEGRA™ display, Advanced Seed Monitoring provides planter performance monitoring of seed meter singulation, skips/doubles and spacing quality, along with population and spacing information for all rows when planting corn.  All of these features are available while the display is simultaneously performing guidance, mapping and autosteer functions.

Case
Case IH on March 17 announced the release of Version 26 (v26) software for the Advanced Farming System (AFS) Pro 600 and new AFS Pro 700 color touchscreen displays.  A few changes and new features available in v26 include: autoguidance optimizations for Case IH Patriot self-propelled sprayers; improved user-interface for adjusting overlap control settings; and support for up to 3 clutch ECUs, allowing single-row AFS AccuRow clutch control even on 36-row planters

John Deere
Updates are available for the 1800 Displays and GS2.  The new GS3monitor will be shipped with the right display, but there are controller and receiver updates.  For additional information, contact a John Deere dealer or visit http://stellarsupport.deere.com/en_US_new/ where you’ll get product information and can participate in on-line forums and discussions.

Agronomics