Farmers looking for more planting capacity and flexibility will have new choices from Case IH for the 2023 season. During an Arizona media event, Case IH launched new planting and seeding equipment. During the event, which also highlighted the company's work in agronomic research the operative word phrase was "Agronomic Design" emblazoned on many Case IH machines.

The key to agronomic design is features targeted to optimum planting conditions and precise seed placement. The two machine series launched at the event – the 2150S Early Riser front-fold trailing planter and the Precision Disk 550 Air Drill – bring boosted capacity, and a host of other features targeted to meet specific farm needs.

Expanding Case IH 2000 series line

The new 2150S Early Riser front-fold trailing planter addition brings narrow row choices to the 2000 series line. This addition of machines offers farmers a range of configurations including 23, 24, 31 or 32 rows with 15-inch spacing, or 24 rows with 20-inch spacing.

David Brennan, planter marketing manager, notes the 15-inch machines allow hydraulic lift of half the rows to convert to 30-inch spacing. Users have in-cab hydraulic row unit lift control that makes the conversion simple, with no manual lifting or tools required. "That allows the farmer to make a 'game time' decision at planting based on what he needs. It's easy to switch from 30-inch to 15-inch if there's a crop change," Brennan says.

The row units are mounted on a subframe and with the split-row configuration the unit offset is 50 inches. "Working in high-residue situations, that offset helps with material flow," Brennan adds. "It helps avoid that problem when you hit a beaver mound of material in the field."

The 2150S is the first planter with a flex wing design and it features 15-degrees of travel up and down. "There are customer use cases in Western Iowa, Eastern Kansas and Kentucky where that toolbar is moving over rolling ground and this maintains ground contact," he says. "We're meeting our agronomic design goals for keeping that row unit in contact with the ground."

In addition, Brennan points out each row unit has 16-inches of travel, which also helps maintain that seed to soil contact in a range of conditions.

The front-fold design of the 2150S brings the machine to a 13-foot transport width, which allows for easy travel. That also means the machine takes up less shed space during storage.

But don't confuse narrow transport width with capacity. The 2150S can reduce daily tender times with two improvements. First two 50 bushel tanks boost on-board seed capacity to 100 bushels. Optional scales can be added allowing improved planter management and tender planning.

And ahead of those two tanks there's a 525-gallon liquid tank for fertilizer application. "The larger tank allows a farmer to apply the products they want, and we offer a range of options for application from 2-by-2 from the coulter to in-furrow application," Brennan says.

The new planter also features only one vacuum fan for more efficient operation and reduced hydraulic flow on the tractor. "That's minimum oil needed and reduces heat stress on the hydraulic system and reduces fuel consumption," Brennan adds.

From row cleaners to a range of down-pressure options, the new 2150S Early Riser planter can be set up to meet a specific farm's needs.

New Case IH Precision Disk 550 air drill

The 2023 planting season for air drills starts this fall and Case IH will be taking orders for the new Precision Disk 550 Air Drill for delivery.

"This is the first upgrade of the air seeder in 10 years," says Trent Nowasad, seeding equipment marketing manager. "We've enhanced capacity, accuracy and versatility of the machine."

The new machines feature higher capacity to keep you in the field longer. "We've added 40 bushels of capacity to the 30- and 40-foot machines," Nowasad says. "For the 30-foot we've gone from 70 to 110-bushel-capacity; for the 40-foot we went from 100 to 140 bushels."

HIGHER CAPACITY AIR DRILL: The Precision Disk 550 expands seed capacity and keeps its parallel link row unit design for precise coulter depth at planting. The rails at the top of the tank keep the lid safe, simply unlatch and the lid slides forward, no lifting or dealing with a raised lid in a heavy wind.

The row unit for the air drill features a parallel-link design provides a more stable "ride" for the rown unit as it moves through the field, offering more precise seed placement, Nowasad says. A variable down-pressure spring holds e ach row unit in contact with the ground, while the forward-facing seed tube is designed to minimize bounce. And a new closing system allows angle adjustments to help match soil conditions.

And across the platform the 550 has seen other improvements. There's a redesign to the bottom end of the tank to keep moisture out with a seed meter rain shield to minimize dust and provide easier cleaning and maintenance.

At the top of those bigger tanks is a new lid design. "We have secured the lid with a rail guide system which can keep the lid safe," Nowasad says. The user is no longer trying to lift a lid against the wind, instead you unlatch the lid and slide it forward on the rails. It stays flush to the tank.

An optional scale system brings added features too. "With the scales you can auto-calibrate the drill during operation," he says. "The system knows what's in the tank and will maintain proper seeding rates."

A stationary calibration package is standard allowing operators to perform checks without the need to operate the unit in-field. An in-tank camera helps monitor tank fill and a rear view camera helps operators safely transport the machine.

PRECISION CLOSING: The angle of the closing wheel for the Precision Disk 550 air drill can be changed to meet specific field needs. Need more aggressive closing? No problem, with simple adjustment and indexed settings from 0 to 13 degrees. A range of gauge wheel widths and styles are available as options.

New radial seeding tires are also standard for a better field ride. Those tires also help manage the machine's weight with that added capacity.

Nowasad explains there are three spacing choices for the drill. There's a single unit 15-inch spacing popular for soybean seeding. And there are two split design choices. The first offers either 7.5- or 15-inch planting widths, which the user chooses depending on the crop. And there's a system with a 10- or 20-inch width choice. These choice options offer flexibility since air drills often do multiple chores from crop to cover crop planting.

Learn more about the 2150S Early Riser Planter and the Precision Disk 550 at caseih.com.