Surrounding corn seeds with moist soil ensures uniform emergence. And uniform emergence leads to better yields. 360 WAVE gently surrounds seeds with moist soil by peeling a band of moist soil from the lower half of the seed trench and rolling it over the seed. That reduces the risk of slotting and air pockets in dry, wet and ideal seedbed conditions.
Improved trench closing is just one reason to add 360 WAVE to your planter. 360 WAVE is an angled blade that slices through the seed-trench sidewall and delivers starter to the side and below the seed. Years of field trials show that the best starter response comes from placing starter below the seed and 3/4" from the seed trench. This placement provides seed safety and quick access to the starter by the developing seed. Unfortunately, the attachments that have been available to execute this placement have been hard to install, maintain and keep aligned. So, 360 set out to develop a starter placement tool that captures all of the benefits of placing starter below the seed and 3/4" from the seed trench and eliminates the problems.
The 360 WAVE mounts to the rear of the planter row-unit shank. This simplifies installation and ensures alignment with the double-disk openers. The 360 WAVE blade swivels to follow the seed trench on curves but includes a stop to limit travel so the blade never places starter in the seed trench. The blade is spring loaded so that it can react to rocks and obstructions without becoming bent or misaligned.
The 360 WAVE has been in development for the last 16 months. It will be field tested over the next nine months on a limited number of planters over a wide range of soils and crop conditions. Pending successful testing through the spring of 2020, 360 WAVE will be in limited production for the 2021 North American planting season.