John Deere technology makes Brazil break world record for hectares planted in 24 hours

It was at 22:08 pm on November 29, 2018, at SLC Palmares Farm, in Luís Eduardo Magalhães (BA), that a world record was broken: 543 hectares planted in 24 hours. Monitored and registered by the MT Foundation – an agronomic research institution in Mato Grosso -–, the feat surpassed previous figures by around 40 hectares, previously registered in Hungary.

Unlike most records broken year after year, when challengers do a certain activity solely with the aim of winning first place, the planting one was almost unintentional. It happened when John Deere tested the set of launches made up of the DB ExactEmerge planter and the 9RX tractor, both connected to the company's Operations Center, to measure the quality of planting and the quantity of area, and decided to research what the record for planting in 24 hours. They found the number of 502 hectares and agreed to try to surpass it with SLC Agrícola and Agrosul, the brand's concessionaire in the location.

With the customer's entire operating structure, it's time for John Deere solutions to come into action. There was no shortage of challenges for the teams from SLC Agrícola, in the field and taking care of the operation, and from John Deere and Agrosul, who were providing remote support, monitoring the performance of the machines through the Operations Center. The first of these was the clayey land on the property, which was uneven and disturbed; the second was the heavy rain that hit the region before and during the process, which made the soil muddy and even more challenging for the record.

At this time, the use of the John Deere set proved to be essential for the operation. The 9RX, because it has tracks instead of tires, has 50% greater traction than other machines, which reduces slippage, in addition to reducing soil compaction by up to 37%. DB ExactEmerge, with its set of technologies that allows feats that were unimaginable until recently, met the high expectations and planted with twice the precision, at speeds of up to 16 km/h, guaranteeing the quantity and quality of the planted area . The Operations Center proved to be essential when, right at the beginning of planting, it alerted the teams that the seeds were not falling from the planter – a human error that was soon corrected, according to the company.

To audit the feat, the MT Foundation was called and monitored the entire process. The assessment of the 543 hectares was carried out at 40 points and involved analyzing the depth of the seed in the soil and the distance between the seeds, which determined the precision of the planter. The results confirmed expectations: gains in productivity and precision in farming. According to the MT Foundation, the same sowing depth was found between the two seeders and, five days after planting, plant growth was superior for the ExactEmerge system compared to the conventional one. Twelve days after planting, the plant population was at the standard desired by the Farm.

To learn more about the 24-hour planting record and its challenges, check out the series of videos published on the John Deere Brazil YouTube channel.