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 2/28/2025

Prepating for Planting: Essential Plantability Tips

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Ryan Siefken, Product Team Leader

As winter transitions into spring, it's time to focus on preparing for the upcoming planting season. Ensuring optimal plantability is crucial for getting seeds from your planter into the ground efficiently and successfully. Key factors influencing seed flow and plantability include air and seed temperature, relative humidity, seed treatment recipes, and seed size and shape. Here are three essential tips to enhance your planting success:

1. Proper Use of Planter Aids (Talc and Graphite)

  • Drying Agent: Among the three main planter aids—talc, graphite, and fluency agents—only talc functions as a drying agent.
  • Condensation Management: When cold seed is exposed to warm or humid air, condensation can form on the seed. Utilizing talc helps mitigate this issue by absorbing moisture.
  • Mixing Technique: Proper mixing of talc is essential. Well-mixed treatments, such as adding planter aid to the hopper while seed is flowing or mixing seed with a scoop, can significantly improve seed flow.

2. Adjust Your Planter for Each Batch/Lot Number

  • Batch-Specific Settings: Use the following website (Improve Your Plantability) to improve your planting accuracy with recommendations for Hoegemeyer seed. 

3. Manage Seed Temperature

  • Temperature and Humidity Considerations: Both temperature and humidity play crucial roles during planting.
  • Pre-Warming Seeds: Gently warming seeds 1-2 weeks before planting can help reduce condensation issues, promoting better seed flow and plantability.

For more resources on plantability, visit Hoegemeyer's Seed Corn Plantability Guidelines. Your Hoegemeyer District Sales Manager and Agronomist are also valuable resources and can assist with any questions you may have. Wishing you a safe and prosperous planting season and thank you for being a part of the Hoegemeyer team.

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