shaggy, the easiest ROI is the following:
Precision downpressure
keeton seed firmers
the ipad thing
20é20 monitor
wavevision sensors
all PP info has substantial empirical data that STRONGLY suggests downpressure needs to be automated and adjusted in situ for soil varations in your field. Our local extension agents have long known this and have been screaming this for years, and we know that even emergence trumps even plant spacing in corn, everytime, no exceptions. your only getting 1-2% w impoved spacing (aka nothing). Since your completely Notill, you may even be able to tell if your not getting sufficient ground contact in places. This is very common in unballasted or nonfertilizer corn planters that are used in NT situations. The downpressure system either adds or subtracts airforce to keep at least a minimum of downpressure on your row unit so that the gauge wheels dont rise out. You set the minimum weight you want on the wheels.
firmers- you probably already have these on.. but they were ag invention of the year 2011.. nuff said.
the ipad thing lets you know exactly what your speed was, dp, singulation, etc in a place in a field. So you can diagnose poor pops, yields, uneven emergence, etc. Gotta make sure you measure your pops of corn shaggy! Otherwise, there will never be any improvement. You can CSI why your stand sucked, or rocked. Might even do soil tests, penetrometer tests, texture tests, etc in crappy areas.
wavevision-- for dusty, dusty, dusty days, these sensors will give you far more accurate population readings than standard tubes, at least vs JD tube and sensor. dunno bout CIH.
In summary, skip town on the precision meters and row cleaner stuff, buy the things that I recommend... LOL! Use the promotional materials. IF nothing, consider the DP management and seed firmers.
