Acres & Assets | Revolutionizing Spring Planting: Modern Techniques for Maximizing Crop Yields

Since the dawn of ag mechanization and the use of planters, the best way to get the new crop in the ground and off to a good start was to plow and work the soil into a fine consistency.   April and May are prime planting months for spring crops in the grain belt and farmers have been engaged in the annual planting race for weeks now.  However, times and technology have drastically changed how farmers plant their crops bringing conservation and economic benefits to the forefront.

All through the 1900’s the common farming practice was to plow all the preceding crop residue under to leave a “clean” surface of soil on top.  Many years ago, plowing was done in the spring after manure was spread on fields.  In my early farming career, we tried to complete plowing in the fall after corn harvest so that the soils could mellow over winter and be in better shape for planting soybeans.  We thought this was especially critical for the wetter, heavier soil types that retained moisture the most as it would give us a jump on spring planting.  

After plowing, whether spring or fall, multiple tillage trips with a disk, field cultivator, or harrow would be done to work the soil texture as fine as possible prior to planting.  This was required because planters throughout history were equipped with “runners” shaped like a sled runner only much narrower to slice a furrow for the planter to drop the seed in the ground and then be closed up by a packing wheel.  If the soil was not fine and was “cloddy”, the furrow would not be formed well and seed placement would be erratic thus hindering uniform emergence of the new crop.   Poor and uneven emergence would invariably lead to lower yields at harvest time.

Today’s planting equipment and technology is night and day different than the old style that I learned on.  Planters of today are equipped with disk openers and attachments that can cut throw residues in no-till or conservation tillage systems and at the same time place fertilizers and pesticides exactly where needed while traveling at speeds up to 10 mph.  Modern planters are designed to provide uniform and healthy stands of the new crop setting the stage for maximum yield potential.

The date that spring crops are planted has become earlier.  In my grandfather’s day, corn was not planted until mid or late May after plowing and disking twice.  Corn often followed wheat, oats, or clover hay in the rotation with soybeans coming later.  Jumping ahead to my father’s generation of farmers, and the corn planting date moved to late April with soybeans following right after.  Today’s Midwestern farmers will often plant soybeans starting in early to mid-April while at the same time planting corn.  Earlier planting of soybeans in many states has shown a yield increase over planting later.

One of the reasons I plowed and worked the soil multiple times prior to planting was for weed control.  Herbicide choices were more limited and many required one or two tillage passes to incorporate the chemical in order for it to control grass and broadleaf weeds.  Today, there are many more herbicide choices available to farmers based on the tillage system they use and the weed spectrum in each field.   Most herbicides do not require incorporation and are conducive to no-till and conservation tillage operations.

One of the most important innovations over the past couple of decades in helping get grain and oilseed crops off to a good start is the technology packed into the latest seed varieties.  In the past, corn and soybean varieties might have undesirable characteristics that caused the plant to not stand well or drop ears or pods prior to harvest, be slower to emerge, or be susceptible to diseases and insects.  Most corn, soybean, and wheat varieties were developed by land grant universities and were in the public domain.  Over the past few years strong and innovative breeding programs have developed grain and oil seed varieties with disease, insect, and herbicide resistance thus greatly boosting plant health and yields.  

Part of the battle to having a good crop with a strong yield is getting it planted properly and off to a good start.  Farmers of today employ their expertise using advanced equipment, proven techniques, appropriate inputs, and plant varieties to do that.  And it shows in the increasing yield levels being achieved in fields throughout the country.