Seed Orientation Study

The Impact of Seed Orientation

The way that a seed is orientated, or positioned, in the furrow carries more weight than you might believe.

Corn kernels always germinate in the same way, with an embryo on one side of the seed. The embryo will imbibe water (aka soil moisture) and begin germinating. When the kernel is positioned tip down in the furrow, the coleoptile will start to germinate upward, moving closer and closer to emerging from the ground.

If, instead, the kernel is placed tip up, the coleoptile will begin growing downward. While the corn kernel will eventually realize this and make a u-turn to start growing upward instead, this causes the corn time and energy, ultimately leading to late emergence and yield loss. The problem in this scenario is time and vigor, especially in cold, wet growing conditions.

When a corn kernel is planted by a traditional seed tube, the orientation can vary greatly from seed-to-seed, from tip up to tip down or sideways. With the development of ArrowTube, we can now control the way the seed is oriented in the soil.

ArrowTube

Seed-orienting delivery system

How much yield can be gained with proper seed orientation in the furrow? 

Let's take a look at the science.

According to the seed orientation study we performed in 2018-2024 at the PTI farm, where we planted our corn kernels tip down, we received 99% 12-hour emergence.

Multi-year corn emergence flag testing data over 2018-2025 indicates that corn plants emerging just 12 hours late (24hrs), suffer yield losses of -11%, while -28% at the 36 hour timeframe. Faster, more uniform emergence can eliminate these losses to maximize yield and to limit losses. Understanding this multi-year data helped us analyze seed orientation with this in mind, hoping to help eliminate early 12 to 24-hour late emergers by planting the correct seed orientation to speed emergence.

ArrowTube Seed Orientation Study

In this study, we evaluated emergence timing differences of planting corn kernels in the furrow with Precision Planting’s ArrowTube, a high-speed planting seed delivery mechanism that directs seed “tip down” in the furrow. For this study, a 16-row John Deere 1775 ExactEmerge planter was retrofitted to include ArrowTube on rows 9-16, while rows 1-8 remained stock John Deere ExactEmerge units. Both planting systems were installed with FurrowForce, our 2-stage automatic closing system.

The PTI Farm team conducted seven off-site testing locations across east-central Illinois to compare the seed orientation performance of ArrowTube, compared to traditional “non-oriented” seed drop that planters have accomplished for decades.

The chart below illustrates 46 side-by-side comparisons of ArrowTube™ accurately orienting seed correctly in the furrow, compared to “randomized” orientation of the John Deere 1775 ExactEmerge planter system. Proper seed orientation resulted in yield gains of +6.4 Bu/A with corresponding net returns of +$26.43/A. Of the 46 comparisons, 87% proved yield gain.

Seed orientation is one of several factors that can influence the emergence times of your crops. Emergence flagging can provide you with the data to understand your average emergence times and how much yield you're really giving up.

Study Details 

Study data collected 2018-2025 at the PTI Farm in Pontiac, IL.