Quantifying real-time opening disk load during planting operations to assess compaction and potential for planter control

Uniform plant spacing, seeding depth, and emergence are important factors heavily influenced by both machine settings and soil conditions. Understanding load distribution across the planter toolbar at varying planter settings and soil conditions provide feedback to improve planter performance and achieve desired seed placement consistency. One important soil property that affects opening disc load requirement in creating seed trench is soil texture which relates to soil strength. However, none of the existing methods (soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) maps, historic soil maps, and cone penetrometer) provide accurate soil strength data on a high spatial resolution which could be used to optimize planter performance. This study was conducted to (1) quantify the percentage of time row-planters need uplift during planting and (2) quantify opening disc loads using real-time machine control system recorded data across different ECa zones. Results showed that uplift events varied from 13 to 18% with wing and track sections revealed higher instances of uplift. Higher instances of uplift were observed on the non-track section for planter with wing wheels. Results revealed a modest correlation between soil ECa and opening disc load with 435 N more or 12% higher opening disc load applied on high soil ECa zones as compared in low soil ECa zones.