When Darling Downs cotton grower Shane Keeley was looking to upgrade his planter, he did his homework, investigating different brand options and visiting online grower forums to see what farmers around the world were investing in.
A few months later he went into STAG Machinery in Toowoomba and ordered a Case IH 2130 Early Riser®, and now, three years on, he’s adamant his initial research paid off.
Case IH launched its 12-row 2130 Early Riser planter into the Australian and New Zealand market in 2018 and last year followed it up with the launch of the 2110 Early Riser, available in a six- or eight-row configuration.
The industry-leading 2000 Series features a unique row unit design and composition that is recognised for ensuring faster crop emergence and more uniform germination in a variety of crops.
Shane runs a 1000ha property at Brookstead, 80km west of Toowoomba, and for the past three seasons has been using his Early Riser to plant up to 500ha – depending on water availability – of cotton.
“My previous planter was an 8m and I wanted to upgrade to 12m, and I’d heard a lot of pretty good things about the Early Riser. What really sold me was the fact I liked the row closing system and now I’ve been using it for a few years, I also really like spacing – the uniformity is really good,” Shane said.
“The first year I had it I was dry-planting cotton and there was rain coming so I was hooking in pretty well and ran the planter at about 15km, and when I had a look later you couldn’t tell the difference between that and what I planted at 10km.
“In times like that where time is critical, being able to achieve those kind of results at those kind of speeds is pretty impressive. Think I did 400ha in two days by myself, so pretty good going, and I wasn’t going around the clock by any means.”
Andrew Kissel is CNH’s Product Manager for Crop Production, who says what sets the Early Riser apart is the combination of a rugged, uniquely designed row unit with the industry’s most accurate planting technologies, providing for high levels of efficiency and accuracy, whatever the conditions.
“The factor that differentiates this row unit from anything else in the industry is the ground-engaging components. It uses a reduced inter-diameter gauge wheel that is pulled, instead of pushed like a lot of other machines on the market, giving the planter a much smoother ride,” he said.
The 2000 Series uses a leading disc, designed to give a narrower opening angle, taking less horsepower to pull and creating a softer side wall in the furrow for early root growth. The furrow-forming point and shoe smooth the bottom of the trench and keep it open long enough for all the seeds to get down to the same depth, delivering more uniform emergence.
“Our two-stage closing system follows along and ensures good, consistent seed-to-soil contact and this is a big contributor to fast germination,” Andrew said.
Shane agrees, and is also impressed with the fact his planter has required very little maintenance, which he puts down to its well-considered design.
Up to this point he’s only used it for cotton, but says he’s looking to try it on other crops like mung beans, chickpeas and sorghum.
Andrew said its versatility was another feature of the Early Riser series, adjusting to planting a wide range of crops.
“The Early Riser is such a flexible machine and incredibly accurate compared with a lot of others on the market,” he said.
Cotton growers can get a good look at the Early Riser 2000 Series at the 2024 Australian Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast, of which Case IH is a major sponsor and which brings together participants from across the sector to see the latest in growing technology, hear from the world’s leading experts and consider the challenges and opportunities for the industry.