Ahead of planting season, a Purdue Extension specialist made an announcement on March 28 to encourage agricultural professionals to tune up their machinery for safety and efficiency.
"Early preparation for spring planting is time well-invested," said Robert Stwalley, assistant clinical professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University. "Instead of wishing for sunnier days and warmer weather, the wise farmer uses the gray and cold times to be ready to hit the fields running when the seasons change."
In addition, the university listed a few steps that agricultural professionals can take to ensure that their machinery is up to par. First, farm equipment owners are encouraged to clean their machines prior to use to remove dirt and chemical build-up. Next, all seed distribution components should be cleaned, inspected and refurbished, if necessary.
"Seed delivery mechanisms, fertilizer applicators, herbicide nozzles and insecticide distributors are delicate pieces of equipment that perform critical operations during planting season," Stwalley continued. "Work across each row and through all applicators on the planter, and treat seed metering and dispensing assemblies as if they were a high-performance carburetor or delicate pocket watch."
Finally, machines should be calibrated accordingly, and planter sensors should be tested to ensure that they are operating correctly.
"Modern planting equipment is filled with electronics," Stwalley said. "Precision agriculture requires massive amounts of data, and only good data is worth collecting. Bad data makes things hard to manage and is sometimes difficult to spot. You can't fix bad data after the fact."