Increasing speed may be limited, however, because seed metering devices become inaccurate and uniformity of planting depth is reduced at high speeds. For planters that use the finger pickup design, planting rate increases above a particular speed. The speed where seed metering starts to miss the target planting rate depends on how well the planter and its metering system are maintained. On finger pickups and air-type planters, the brush that removes extra seeds wears quickly and needs to be replaced periodically. Minimizing downtime can be accomplished through routine maintenance and service well before planting time.
Check bearings in wheels, furrow openers and seed-metering drives for wear.
Also remove chains and check that none of the links are frozen. Check the level each time you switch tractors on a planter. This means that the U.S. can soon resume exports of U.S. wheat to Brazil, as soon as the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry officially signs the proposal to lift the year-long ban. USW has been working during the last year to get the ban repealed and to maintain relationships with Brazilian millers. If the decision to officially lift the ban comes quickly, the US has a chance of getting some Brazilian business ahead of the Brazilian and Argentine harvests in November.