Reveal Residue Management Soybean Study

Residue management is a necessary part of a grower’s operation in order to maximize profitability. Tougher stalks and more corn-on-corn acres mean a heavier load of residue that needs to be controlled. 

When we don’t manage residue appropriately, the residue in the seed trench will compete with seedlings for moisture and can harbor diseases. Our answer to this issue? Reveal. 

Reveal is frame-mounted, so unlike other row cleaners, it gets rid of that row unit chatter. It has an internal gauge wheel that precisely controls the depth of the cleaning tines. It also has an airbag that makes sure the depth that it’s set at stays consistent. The pressure of the airbag can be controlled on the 20|20 monitor or utilizing a manual controller in the cab.

In this agronomic study, we compared the absence of row cleaners at 20 PSI Notch 1 down settings to that of Reveal.

The Reveal residue management system set at 20 PSI resulted in positive yield gains of +4.0 to +5.1 Bu/A compared to the absence of row cleaners. Finding the correct setting is crucial because a yield gain of +5.1 Bu/A by using the correct residue management setting would result in $58.45/A of increased farm revenue.

Looking at the same data the other way around, when running no residue management system, there was a loss of -5.1 Bu/A resulting in an economic loss of -$58.45/A. Running a residue management system in the float setting, including down pressure in this scenario, resulted in an economic loss of -$45.84/A.

Averaging five years of this study, we found that Reveal set at 20 PSI down held the economic advantage of $38.00/A over no residue management system and a $19.97/A advantage over a floating residue management system.

Past Study: 2023

In 2023, the Reveal residue management system set at 10 PSI resulted in positive yield gains in all settings, averaging +2.96 Bu/A. When running no residue management system, there was a loss of 2.7 Bu/A resulting in an economic loss of -$35.34/A. Running a residue management system in the floating position resulted in an economic loss of -$31.42/A.

Study Details 

Study data collected 2020-2024 at the PTI Farm in Pontiac, IL.