12-Row Demo Planter for the “Big Deal” Program

in 2019, BigYield introduced the “Big Deal” program, which allowed growers to have demo plots planted on their property showing the effects of the BigYield products. A big part of this program was our demo planter, which was made possible through collaboration with Yield Plus and Renegade Research.

Watch the video from Brian Kurz to hear more about the demo planter and all that it can do.

Video Transcript

Hey guys, Brian Kurz again with Renegade Research. We’re checking back in with our BigYield “Big Deal” program.

For those of you who have been following along – and for those of you that haven’t been, who are checking in for the first time – we are taking a look at our 12-row planter that we have been using to plant demo plots. This has been a great collaboration with Yield Plus, BigYield, and Renegade Research.

What we are doing is we have been going out and planting anywhere from 40 to 50 acre sections, up to 160 and 200 acre sections of large-scale plots. This lets growers test the product and not have to spend the money on the equipment. They can see the products work on their farm before they put the investment down – that long-term investment to keep using these products on their property.

So specifically what we have set up is we have taken a Kinze planter – a 3600 12-row split-row planter. From Precision Planting, we have put on their Delta Downforce. This is individual row hydraulic downforce. We also put on Precision Planting’s newest fertilizer application which is Conceal. What we are able to do through the conceal is knife in 3 inches on either side of the row with a completely custom gauge wheel. This allows us to not lift the unit out of the ground while still forcing it under the dirt. We’re actually applying that at 30 gallons-per acre – getting about 100 pounds of nitrogen at planting, again 3 inches on either side of the row.

Another great thing we put on there is we have tested FurrowJets pretty extensively. We love using those and have been bumping the rate. We’re up to 10 gallons-per-acre now, completely replacing a dry fertilizer program. We’re using plant food and proper placement rather than broadcast.

The other really cool part about this is that with everything we have in collaboration working together, we’ve got Yetter equipment on there, we’ve got Martin equipment on there, and we’re looking at testing some great stuff. That planter is outfitted very well and is very affordable for growers even as small as 1,000 or 2,000 acres to create something just like it.

Anyways, I’m really excited about what we have been doing and the results have been great. We’re covering about 2,500 acres this year. I’m really excited and the planter has been working well. Be sure to check back in with us later to see how some of the results are going. I would love to get some grower testimonials and see how things are going. I’d love to hear their first take on side-by-side testing 100% liquid vs. going 100% dry broadcast fertilizer.

Check back in with us soon.