kaky9236 - 2/15/2016 21:08 Not to highjack this thread, but Jim, do you have any data or replicated trials that show hydraulic downforce vs standard springs or vs air downforce, whether active or not? Full disclosure, I am in the process of installing ag leader hyd df on my 1770 nt ccs 24 row, so not trying to disprove the value of it, just curious. I saw enough issues with the no-till last year, that it was a fairly easy decision to switch to hyd active df for me. Email is good. Thanks. What we see is more consistent, quicker, more uniform emergence. Seeds coming almost simultaneously. Not a few stragglers here and there. I think most folks will agree that is a good thing. I bet you will visually see the same thing. However, correlating uniform, quick emergence to a final, statistically significant yield difference number with any degree of confidence and attributing that yield difference to a given change in row unit down pressure and saying it will hold across soil types and tillage systems etc is a very difficult research task. If you agree that quick uniform and consistent emergence is a good thing but want to know the ROI in your conditions and location, I suggest you take one of your fields and make side by side planter passes, one with the system turned on, next pass with the system turned off at say 200 lb down pressure (similar to maybe 2nd notch on the JD adjustable springs) and check the yield difference between passes yourself at harvest. That is a number you can count on. Several folks have done that before and seen a yield difference. How much difference depends on a lot of different factors, some planter related, some weather related, some seed related.... In my mind, seeing and measuring more uniform, consistent seed depth and emergence with adjustable down pressure than without is reason enough to have quick-acting hydraulic and automatic row unit down pressure control in response to changing soil conditions on the planter. Jim at Dawn | 
precision planting vs. Ag Leader hydraulic downforce
