Development of a precision planting system, offering producers the ability to plant large areas of acreage rapidly while maximizing yield per acre, will be the goal of a research team at Kansas State University.

Deere & Company has invested more than $300,000 in the project., “Precision Planting System with Hydraulic Downforce Technology for Seed Placement Uniformity, ” headed by Ajay Sharda, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering in the Carl R. Ice

College of Engineering, and co-investigator Ignacio Ciampitti, associate professor of agronomy.

According to Sharda and Ciampitti the project will focus on evaluation of a planting system control response to manage real-time seed spacing and depth uniformity during diverse field and operating conditions.

Graduate students involved in the project will work with new equipment provided by Deere & Company.