Planting season is over for many, but a good reminder is to always Get Out and Look…or G.O.A.L.
for short. Check out the job your planter is doing and evaluate how the seed is going in the ground.
Usually, we dig around with a pocketknife or a seed depth checker, but a leaf blower can really tell
you a lot about planter and soil performance. Here below, I am using a leaf blower to remove loose
soil from the row and then expose what the planter unit is doing below the tilled area. In this case, we
can see the 2X2 fertilizer coulter, the seed trench and the spike closing wheels. While this may look
compacted, the soil has good tilth and crumbles very easily around the seed. This means that the seed
trench does not consist of side wall compaction and the seeds are very evenly spaced.
About the Author: Kelly Robertson
and then