Importance of maintenance in planter performance

The day-to-day work of a farm led its administrator to realize that the planters in activity were not performing the job in such a way as to deliver their full potential. In general, they either consumed more inputs or leftovers, which, in the end, resulted in costs and lower crop production. In principle, the solution could simply be better regulation or operator training. But even after making these corrections, the problem continued for several harvests.

According to the executive director of Geração Agro, a consultancy company specializing in the management of critical areas of rural properties, agronomist Flávio Marques, field work showed that even when changing planter brands the problem persisted, thus configuring that there may be a problem of project. “But the most relevant thing about this issue is that, on average, this situation of problem with planting has an impact later on when the producer stops harvesting around 12 bags of soybeans per hectare, which means a financial value that is quite something that does not enter into the company’s cash flow”, highlights Marques.   

As the agronomist says, worn discs, damaged seed conductor, loose articulation of the depth limiting wheels, spring tension without uniformity between the rows, were some of the problems frequently encountered, which led to this drop in productivity. “To give you an idea, at one client, we found 31 anomalies in the planting equipment, some of which were already from the factory. So, when the producer thinks that everything is perfect to carry out his work, he ends up realizing that some “details” compromise the final result and his profit, which, according to our assessment, will be, on average, 15% lower”, he assures. .

Marques adds that much more than making corrections to adjustments and worn parts, or even training, the producer will have to pay attention to the equipment as a whole, making a check list with a fine tooth comb, to improve the performance of the planters, in order of not having a drop in your productivity. He also says that one of Geração Agro's expertise is precisely the Planter Certification work, where they carry out this entire checklist. “Each seed that does not produce a plant is a value that no longer enters the producer’s account, and this is the true value of each plant”, he concludes.