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Farmer's Planter Language

6

60 acre hillside

Member
I always wondered what a farmer is doing behind a planter on his knees, digging into the soil with his pocketknife and mumbling. I have assumed it is not some rite to an unknown deity that has some control over how the harvest will be, well maybe it is, but I am careful to not interrupt his meditation. He repeats this rite at each row varying with the tone of the mumbling and the duration of the rite. Sometimes changes on the mechanical things are made, but even if drastic changes are made the seeds seem to all peek of the ground the same. I once had a two row planter but never did any digging and mumbling. I was afraid to look because I may have found a skipped row. Planters have surely improved because I never see skipped rows. When I was a kid skipped rows were common and I know one farmer who made a single row planter to plant skipped rows.
 
most are reciting a secret ancient druid incantation to the germination deity. the incantation is passed from father to son for eons. top secret, i cant tell you. however, i caught my neighbor one time kneelin behind the planter piddling!!!!
 
I don't think I'll be giving too much away to tell you that the reason you don't see skip rows is because we have, thanks to modern technology, an electrical device called a monitor, which warns us if a row is not planting. It can actually do a little more than that, but I don't want to anger the seedling gods. However there are still other very important parameters only ascertainable by kneeling, digging, mumbling, etc.
 
We did not have the extra money for a new planter and the old one kept skipping. Dad got a bright idea when the tractor dealer was joking with him. "Why not get a Brinley planter and use the Cub Cadet we had to fill in the skips?" Dad went home with a much cheaper planter that day and we used it for many years. We just waited for the corn or beans to come up about 3 or 4 inches, then fill in the missing spots. Neighbors thought we were nuts but it worked.
 
Dad mounted a seat on the back of the two row pull type lister. I had to ride it all day long and watch the seed drop out of the boxes. Dad did not have to mumble, I did.
 
I seem to remember my uncle make the first planter run on the hard packed gravel driveway. East to them see if you have any seeds coming out and check the spacing. Maybe required back in the days of plate type planters to see if you had the right plate installed ?
 
(quoted from post at 12:04:52 11/07/14) I seem to remember my uncle make the first planter run on the hard packed gravel driveway. East to them see if you have any seeds coming out and check the spacing. Maybe required back in the days of plate type planters to see if you had the right plate installed ?
Click to expand...

I still driveway plant.
 
Planting makes me a neurotic mess. Drilling is even worse.

We have a new (to us) 100K planter and the monitor on it is just the same as the ones 20 years ago. So many false alarms you end up ignoring the thing. In my case last year it was because the soil was so dry that the sensors in the seed tubes we messing up. At least that's what the dealer conned me into believing.

I prayed a lot over the 100s of acres of beans I planted and only got rooked on the last field. The last couple of acres were empty. I went to the planter and found that the sheer pin on the drive wheel had snapped. I think it was a terrace washout that did it.

With the drill I have visions of a seed flap coming open and it pouring tons of wheat down one tube. I've had it happen so I am a little gun shy. The drill has no monitor so I get out A LOT and check the seed supply.
 
"I always wondered what a farmer is doing behind a planter on his knees, digging into the soil with his pocketknife and mumbling."

He's looking for his CELL PHONE that keeps dropping out through that hole in his pocket. LOL!

:>)
 
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