Combines plant corn

[tbran]

In general - 85% is planted on 30" rows at 26-30 thousand plants _ A. Maybe 10% on 20" rows or + - inch or two. Some areas still on 36-38". Studies show gains on narrower than 30" above I 70 (Closer to Canada) Not much long term benefit the more south one goes.

 

[Tom_Russell]

We are in that 85% group with 30 rows. I dont have any idea about seed spacing because I set the planter for population and watch the monitor. There is a feature that gives spacing but I dont use it much. Why do you plant 72.5 cm rows instead of an even number like 72 or 75IJ Whatever happened to the program to convert to metric measurementsIJ It sure would be nice to have a uniform system so everyone would know what the other guy is talking about. Tom in MN

 

[T__langan]

Yes, it would be nice to have a worldwide system of measurement - as long as it ain't the metric system, rightIJ! lOl! I can easily remember back in my very early schooling years, probably 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, that they were trying to teach us the metric system because we were told that within our lifetime, the U.S. would be converted to metric. Hasn't happened yet, and I don't think it will. Funny thing is that I didn't "get" it any better then than I do now! I don't mean to be pushy, but the universal language of aircraft is English, so....... OK, let the flaming begin!

 

[sebas]

In my town is 72.5 cm ( i don't know the reason ) but in some towns is at 75 cm, +_- 30". Some parts of Spain plant a lot of sunflowers at 50 cm ( 20" ) so they plant the corn with the same planter as the sunflowers, and plant corn at 20".

 

[Tom_Russell]

Tom You are half correct. Or is it half wrong. We are truly lucky our founding fathers chose English as our language as it is the one language that is spoken everywhere. Unfortunately, they chose the English measuring system that even the Brits have abandoned. let me give you an example of why the metric system is far superior to this conglomeration we now have. There are no fractions in metric. How in the world can you add 5_32+11_16+31_64+3_8IJ Most Americans can't even do that one with a pocket calculator and yet any carpenter or home repairer has to do it frequently. Notice I didnt mix feet, inches, and fractions of an inch to reflect what you need to know. The mere presence of 4 commonly used fractions derails most folks. When doing carpentry, I use a digital tape measure in metric mode allowing me to quickly enter numbers in a pocket calculator. Doing mental calculations is also easier because there are no fractions in the metric system. Tom in MN

 

[Dakota]

Thanks for the support Tom. I grew up in Europe, living in the US now. I know both worlds; just have to. T. langan apparently has missed a few changes in the last decades here in the US. John Deere combines are metric. The new generation NH will be, too. GM has a lot of metric mixed into all their vehicles. So has Cummins, Detroit, etc. What really makes it worse is, when you find both worlds on the same piece of equipment you're trying to fix. I get along with fractions fairly well. But how many feet are in a mileIJ How many square feet in an acreIJ How many cubic inches in a gallonIJ We just built a tank, in inches of course. Then we wanted to know how many gallon it holds. I can only meassure the tank metric. That gives me the litres and I convert them to gallons. Thanks for bringing so much joy on this site.

 

[Dakota]

Most farmers in the US plant 30" rows. Some however plant 20", 15" or 40". The 40" rows, I think is dieing out. The reason for 20" or 15" is the hope in covering the ground quicker by the growing corn and suppress the weeds better. That can save herbizides and spraying costs. The flip side of the coin is the high equipment cost. A 20" planter or a 20" cornhead is almost twice as high as a 30" version. Unfortunately the narrow rows barely yield any better. That makes your income about the same like with 30". Thanks for that nice photo of your town, Sebas.

 

[T__langan]

Dakota - I haven't missed the changes you mentioned - but the "mixed" English and metric stuff is what probably has soured me on the "change", if it can be called that. What I meant by the U.S. not changing completely over to the metric system is all the road signs are still in MPH, distances between cities and towns are still shown in miles, gas pumped in gallons, land sold in acres, weights (for the most part) are still in ounces_lbs, etc. I do know there is a lot of equipment these days that are built metric. Just one more reason to avoid the green ones in my opinion. But any mechanics I know will curse the metric stuff a lot sooner than the English stuff. And another reason I don't like metrics - I have yet to find a set of metric crescent wrenches. Have looked all over for a set but haven't been able to find some! I guess I'm just set in my ways - can't blame it on age either because I didn't like metrics back in grade school either!

 

[Dakota]

T. you got that right, the gorvernment is not helping. They're actually the stubborn ones while the industrie is slowly changing. Only in South Dakota I see the speed limit written in both ways. We get a lot of English boys here. They're telling us that they have to tell their dads how to spray the fields because it is written in metric on the pestizide container. You see it takes a courageous government plus another generation to really switch. I might be able to help you on them metric Crescent's. let me talk to our Snap-on man. I am sure he will be able to cut you a dirt cheap 4-digit deal on that.

 

[Massey_Freak]

I live 25 miles from S.D. and pasture cattle there and I have never seen the speed limit in km's. Where have you seen the signsIJ