Early season field scouting serves many purposes. Not only is early scouting a powerful tool in keeping ahead of weed, disease and insect pests, but early season growth of the crop tells the story of planting. Sometimes that story isn’t necessarily a happy tale, as crusting, variable emergence or thin stands can all be traced back to equipment sins of the planting season.
In this video, Aaron Stevanus, market development agronomist with PRIDE Seeds, offers a few examples of roller packers doing more harm than good, particularly on a soybean crop, and explains how the planting pass can seem fine, until weather conditions become unfavourable. Moving on to corn, Stevanus shows how variable emergence of corn can pinpoint poor cultivation or seedbed prep or gauge wheel settings and wear.
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