16 – Jun – 2022

Variable Rate Technology on Full Display This Planting Season

There was a sense of urgency in the way Aaron Bartlow spoke as he stood in the large field of black dirt. Normally this field would be dotted by straight green rows of baby corn stalks or soybean shoots. But planting season was running way behind because of cold, wet conditions. In fact, Bartlow had […]

There was a sense of urgency in the way Aaron Bartlow spoke as he stood in the large field of black dirt.

Normally this field would be dotted by straight green rows of baby corn stalks or soybean shoots. But planting season was running way behind because of cold, wet conditions.

In fact, Bartlow had just started planting the field when we asked him to stop and chat. Despite the long hours of work ahead, he was more than happy to tell us about the new equipment he was going to use to get this year’s crop in the ground.

Bartlow recently invested in a new planter that has variable rate technology (VRT) and is smart enough to plant seeds independently based on an area’s specific needs.

“We variable rate seed based off past yield history, fertility, elevation, and drainage,” Bartlow said. “And it does it automatically as we go throughout the field. It’s recording what we’re doing, where we’re doing it.”

The planter makes sure that seeds are delivered into the ground at the optimal depth, no matter how hard or soft a patch of dirt is, and it plants the right amount to maximize production in that specific area.

Bartlow also uses VRT for fertilizer application.

“We’re going to fertilize based on what that little, small area needs,” he said, adding that the main goal is to ensure a plant reaches its fullest potential with the least amount of inputs.

Technology like this will boost productivity, but Bartlow knows that’s only part of the equation. Having good fertile land, like the tracts he leases from Farmland Partners, is likewise important.

Open quote

Our relationship with Farmland Partners is very good.

Aaron Bartlow

Close quote

“Our relationship with Farmland Partners is very good,” he concluded. “They’re working with us to help make the farms better to raise big crops.”

FPI Insights
07 – Jun – 2022

Buy Dirt

American singer-songwriter Jordan Davis had a hit song featuring Luke Bryan that sat atop the Billboard country music chart for three weeks in 2021. That song, “Buy Dirt,” summed up one of the main reasons we invest in farmland. You can buy dirt, And thank the good Lord for it, ‘Cause He ain’t makin’ any […]
get the details
FPI Insights
27 – Jun – 2022

A Salute to Our Founding Farmers

“Here once the embattled farmers stood / And fired the shot heard round the world.” Those lines from a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson helped immortalize the opening musket volleys at the Battle of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts – the first militia victory in the American Revolution that paved the way towards today’s democracy. […]
get the details