An agricultural metering device with a variable geometry meter roller is provided. The agricultural metering device includes a meter roller having a plurality of flutes. An aggregate cross sectional area of the flutes increases along a longitudinal axis of the meter roller.

An agricultural metering system includes independently controllable sets of meter rollers. Each set of meter rollers includes at least one meter roller and is configured to rotate about a respective rotational axis, and the rotational axes are generally parallel to one another and not aligned with one another. The agricultural metering system also includes meter boxes configured to receive agricultural product from a compartment of a storage tank. Each set of meter rollers is disposed within a respective meter box, and each set of meter rollers is configured to meter the agricultural product from the compartment of the storage tank. The agricultural metering system also includes distribution lines. Each distribution line is disposed downstream from a respective set of meter rollers and is configured to receive the agricultural product output from the respective set of meter rollers.

A meter roller for an agricultural metering system includes multiple flutes and corresponding recesses. The flutes and the corresponding recesses are configured to meter flowable particulate material from a storage tank to a material distribution system via rotation of the meter roller. The meter roller also includes multiple air passages formed within a body of the meter roller. Each air passage is fluidly coupled to a central cavity of the meter roller and extends to a base of a respective recess, and the air passage is configured to flow air from the central cavity into the respective recess.

An agricultural planting implement includes a number of row units. The row units include one or more seed meters for receiving, singulating, and dispensing seed to the ground such that preferred spacing of subsequent seed is attained. A seed meter provides seeds one at time to a seed carrier, such as a brush wheel. The brush wheel may move the seeds one at a time to a seed conveyor by directly moving seeds along a curved portion of a seed disc in the seed meter. The seed conveyor may be a flighted belt, and the velocity of the seeds when transferred from the seed carrier may match the velocity of the flighted belt. The seed conveyor conveys the seeds to a position near the bottom of a furrow, and ejects the seeds with little or no horizontal velocity relative to the bottom of the furrow.

An agricultural planting implement includes a number of row units. The row units include one or more seed meters for receiving, singulating, and dispensing seed to the ground such that preferred spacing of subsequent seed is attained. A seed meter provides seeds one at time to a seed carrier, such as a brush wheel. The brush wheel may move the seeds one at a time to a seed conveyor by directly moving seeds along a curved portion of a seed disc in the seed meter. The seed conveyor may be a flighted belt, and the velocity of the seeds when transferred from the seed carrier may match the velocity of the flighted belt. The seed conveyor conveys the seeds to a position near the bottom of a furrow, and ejects the seeds with little or no horizontal velocity relative to the bottom of the furrow.

An agricultural metering system includes multiple meter boxes and multiple meter rollers, in which each meter roller is disposed in a respective meter box. The agricultural metering system also includes multiple meter roller sleeves, in which each meter roller sleeve is disposed about a respective meter roller, and each meter roller sleeve is configured to move relative to the respective meter roller to selectively cover a first portion of the respective meter roller and a second portion of the respective meter roller. In addition, the agricultural metering system includes a control bar coupled to the meter roller sleeves. The control bar is configured to collectively move the meter roller sleeves relative to the meter rollers.

A spreader device includes a hopper axially mounted above a generally circular hollow tube, the generally circular hollow tube forming a semi-circular hopper floor of an interior area formed by the hopper, and a drive motor assembly attached to the hopper and operable to rotate the generally circular hollow tube within at least a portion of the interior area formed by the hopper.

An agricultural machine for dispensing material to be distributed, which agricultural machine comprises at least one metering element having a metering roller for metering the material to be distributed mounted in a metering housing and is rotatably driven. The metering roller has a plurality of metering wheel segments, each metering wheel segment of the metering roller is assigned a separate drive to drive the metering wheel segments independently of each other to ensure exact metering of the material to be distributed within finely subdivided partial widths of the agricultural machine. The drives of the metering wheel segments of the metering roller are arranged in the interior thereof, for example within a tubular hollow body, on which the metering wheel segments are mounted, such that the drives are ideally accommodated with protection from external influences and in a space-saving manner.

A pre-metering system for feeding different types of seed into a seed meter of a planter includes separate feeder wheels that are selectively rotated to deliver different types of seed from on-row storage into the seed meter at a given time. The feeder wheels may be supported by a feeder wheel carrier that may also support various wall and ramped structures, such as upright divider walls and sloped walls that maintain separation between the different types of seeds in the on-row storage and direct the different types of seed toward the individual feeder wheels.

A pre-metering system for feeding different types of seed into a seed meter of a planter includes separate feeder wheels that are selectively rotated to deliver different types of seed from on-row storage into the seed meter at a given time. The feeder wheels may be supported by a feeder wheel carrier that may also support various wall and ramped structures, such as upright divider walls and sloped walls that maintain separation between the different types of seeds in the on-row storage and direct the different types of seed toward the individual feeder wheels.