Here’s How SureForce Meets Your Down Force Needs

By now, you’ve likely heard the buzz about SureForce, our new hydraulic uplift and down force system. We’re pretty excited to bring this system to the market for many reasons, but our main reason for enthusiasm is the enhancements SureForce offers to customers planting into a more diverse range of environments. These include, hydraulic uplift, increased down force capacity, and more row unit compatibility.

So, why are these features important?

The Case for Uplift

• When the weight of the row unit is more than enough to achieve target depth, hydraulic uplift will limit over compaction of the seed trench and also act to dampen the row unit ride in low applied downforce portions of the field. In short, your row unit will not bounce, giving you optimum meter performance and consistent depth.
• Uplift may be needed in very sandy soils, soils with clay content that are being planted into during “marginal conditions”, conventional tillage, shallower planting for crops such as soybeans, cotton, or grain sorghum.
• Everyone knows that one huge limiting factor of root development is compaction. Farmers planting into wet soils with high clay content often run into sidewall compaction if there is too much force applied. In this situation, uplift brings much-needed relief to those seed trenches and better seed-to-soil contact for the seeds being placed.

Who Needs More Force?

• An additional 50 pounds of down force is helpful when a farmer is planting into a no-till environment. Crop residue sitting on top of the soil can make it tough for farmers to plant through, even with the help of a hydraulic down force system. The ability to apply up to 650 pounds of force with SureForce allows the seed to be placed at a comfortable depth for germinating and setting down good roots.
• Cover crops restore nutrients to the soil, help break up compaction, and provide protection against erosion when fields would otherwise sit fallow. However, cover crops can be difficult to plant into. Remember Will Hutchinson, who was recently featured in Insights Magazine? He needed the maximum force available to get his seed placed properly through his cover crops. With SureForce’s increased force capacity, it’s much easier to plant through tough environments and get seeds placed just right.

SureForce, of course, is just one piece of Ag Leader’s SeedCommand line of top-notch planting products. Check out how SureDrive electric drives can help with turn compensation and singulation across your farm. And, learn how InCommand gives you a literal window into your planter. What are you waiting for? You only get one chance to plant the perfect stand. This is technology you don’t want to plant without.