Did you know that your row units are potentially lying to you? You may think you know where they're placing seed, but unseen wear on the gauge wheel arm, depth rocker and pivot bolt may mean seed is being placed unevenly across the width of the planter. The Planter Maintenance series is brought to you by Precision Planting.

The row unit for the air drill features a parallel-link design provides a more stable "ride" for the row unit as it moves through the field, offering more precise seed placement, says Trent Nowasad, seeding equipment marketing manager. A variable down-pressure spring holds each row unit in contact with the ground, while the forward-facing seed tube is designed to minimize bounce. And a new closing system allows angle adjustments to help match soil conditions.

The new 2150S Early Riser front-fold trailing planter addition brings narrow row choices to the 2000 series line. This addition of machines offers farmers a range of configurations including 23, 24, 31 or 32 rows with 15-inch spacing, or 24 rows with 20-inch spacing.

Having spent 39 years in the farm equipment industry, I was fully aware of the fact that new machines aren’t unanimously accepted everywhere immediately. Thank goodness they aren’t, as the factory couldn’t keep up if a deluge of farm equipment tool orders had come from everywhere at the same time. The No-Till History series is made possible by Calmer Corn Heads.

Make sure to check the parallel arm linkage on your planter. The parallel arm linkage makes sure that your row unit is riding smoothly. The Planter Maintenance series is brought to you by Precision Planting.

Starting out in no-till can be tricky. What's the first thing that might trip you up?