Disclosed herein are various devices, systems, and methods for protecting open seed trenches form ingress of foreign material, such as plant residue. The preventing foreign material from entering the open seed trench during planting increases crop yield by minimizing delayed germination and late plant emergence. Various implementations of adjustable row cleaners may be used to prevent ingress of foreign material. Also, various shields may be disposed on the row units of a planter to prevent ingress of foreign material.

A row unit for a seeding machine includes a ground view sensor coupled to the frame. The ground view sensor is operable to sense the furrow and generate depth signals corresponding to actual sensed depth of the furrow. The row unit also includes a controller configured to receive the signals, and a downforce adjustment mechanism coupled to the frame and to the controller. The controller is configured to activate the downforce adjustment mechanism to adjust a downforce on the frame based on the signals received by the controller.

A monitoring system for an agricultural implement includes a sensor configured to output a sensor signal indicative of a position of at least one scraper of the agricultural implement relative to a surface of at least one respective disc. The at least one scraper is configured to engage the surface of the at least one respective disc to remove accumulated soil from the surface of the at least one respective disc. The monitoring system also includes a controller communicatively coupled to the sensor. The controller is configured to determine an amount of wear on the at least one scraper based on the position of the at least one scraper relative to the surface of the at least one respective disc, and the controller is configured to output a wear signal indicative of the amount of wear on the at least one scraper.

An opener configured to be coupled to an agricultural implement is provided. The opener includes a first passage configured for pneumatic delivery of a first agricultural product. The first passage is defined by a first wall. The first passage includes a first outlet for the first agricultural product. The opener also includes a second passage configured for singulated delivery of a second agricultural product. The second passage is defined by a second wall. The second wall of the second passage is disposed within the first wall of the first passage.

An agricultural planter is operable in a travel direction and a travel velocity and configured to dispense seeds into a furrow formed within an agricultural surface. An adjustment assembly is for the agricultural planter and includes a bracket configured to be coupled to a frame of the agricultural planter and a debris cleaner coupled to the bracket. The debris cleaner is configured such that during operation of the agricultural planter the debris cleaner has, relative to the travel direction, a leading edge and a trailing edge. The debris cleaner is movable such that a distance between the leading and trailing edges in the travel direction is adjustable.

The invention relates to a distribution device (10) for granular material, in particular seed, having: a distributor housing (24) which has a material inlet opening (16) for the granular material; at least one conveying air duct (26a, 26b), situated in the distributor housing (24), for a material-free conveying air flow, the conveying air duct (26a, 26b) being connected within the distributor housing (24) to a grain-holding region (30, 30a, 30b) within which the granular material entering the distributor housing (24) via the material inlet opening (16) can be introduced into the material-free conveying air flow; one or more material flow lines (18a, 18b, 32, 32a, 32b), which adjoin the grain-holding region (30, 30a, 30b), for the conveying air flow laden with granular material; and at least one additional air duct (34), which is situated in the distributor housing (24), for a material-free additional air flow, which can be introduced into the one or more material flow lines (18a, 18b, 32, 32a, 32b) via at least one additional air inlet (38a, 38b).

A row unit for a seeding implement features a coulter disc, an angularly variable link on which the disc is carried, a scraper body supported on the link, and a wing projecting laterally from an outer side of the scraper body. The scraper body is supported in an adjustable manner selectively repositionable into a plurality of differently pitched orientations, relative to the link, about a reference axis that transversely penetrates the disc plane. By adjusting the pitch angle of the scraper body in a local reference frame of the link, one can better achieve a proper effective working orientation of the wing for each of a plurality of differently angulated link positions, each of which corresponds to a different working depth of the row unit. Though this novel adjustability, winged scrapers previously limited to use on parallel link row units can now be effectively used on other row units.

In one aspect, an agricultural planted is associated with an apparatus, a system and/or a method for calibrating a depth control arrangement in each of one or more row units adapted for attachment to a toolbar of the planter, where each row unit has a depth controlling linkage arrangement operatively connected to an adjustable-depth gauge wheel of the row unit. The linkage arrangement includes a load-sensing element that is monitored during adjustment of a calibration mechanism of the linkage arrangement to remove tolerance stack-up in the linkage arrangement and achieve a uniform desired value of the present load on the linkage arrangement of each of the one or more row units that is consistent with a zero-depth or other reference depth setting.

Systems, methods and apparatus are provided for monitoring soil properties. An example control and monitoring system for an agricultural implement having a plurality of row units includes a reflectivity sensor, a camera, a processor, and a monitoring device. The reflectivity sensor generates a reflectivity signal related to reflectivity of soil worked by the row units. The camera captures images of a seed trench opened by an opening assembly of the row units. The camera is disposed on a shank extension forward of seeds being deposited in the seed trench by the row units. The processor is configured to calculate a statistical variation in the reflectivity signal and the monitoring device is configured to display one or more of the images captured by the camera and a representation of the statistical variation.

An agricultural row unit having a coulter assembly comprising a pair of gauge wheels and a coulter between the pair of gauge wheels, wherein the coulter is configured to penetrate soil and cut debris. The row unit also having a soil engaging assembly comprising sweep and a seed tube, wherein the sweep is configured to open a seed channel and the seed tube is configured to deposit seeds into the seed channel. The row unit also including a closing assembly configured to replace soil displaced by the coulter and sweep. The row unit configured for independent and optionally automatic variable depth control of the seed channel.