Farmer says investing in planter upgrades will pay off

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Farmer says investing in planter upgrades will pay off

A Wisconsin farmer says upgrading the technology on his planter will pay off.  Ben Augustine has a dairy herd and grows about 15-hundred acres of corn for grain and silage and another 500 acres of soybeans. He tells Brownfield, “If there’s one tool on your farm that’s going to make you money, or make-or-break you is your planter. You know, if it don’t do a good job, you’re not going to see the results at the end that you want.”

Ben Augustine

Augustine tells Brownfield he was able to compare his planter’s performance to newer technology last year. “I’ve been wanting to do it for a couple of years. I borrowed a buddy’s planter last year and planted a little corn with it and I was pretty impressed with it, and made the upgrade to go to (John) Deere’s ExactEmerge, so more accuracy, a better stand, and I think I even had a better yield last year from it.”

Augustine says he upgraded his existing 16-row planter instead of buying a new one. “Ten years ago, we were still using light bars and marker arms. You know, all of the (machinery) colors have stuck a lot of money in planters in the last ten years so a lot of R & D (research and development) has gotten into them.”

Augustine says along with the improved seed placement and individual row control, he’s also able to plant at about eight miles per hour instead of around five miles per hour, which should save him more time and fuel.

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