Technology Upgrades Made Easy

We’ve heard the term “precision upgrades” talked about a lot in the last few years.  Kyle Barry, manager of precision upgrades marketing for John Deere, talks about precision upgrades and why it’s time that farmers look into them.

“When we talk about precision upgrades, it's really about taking a customer's existing machines and upgrading them to the latest and greatest technology offerings that Deere has put out in the marketplace," Barry said.  "So, think about a planter, a sprayer, or a combine that may be a few years old. Deere has come out with new technology that's available from the factory on new machines, but we're retrofitting that same technology onto existing machines, so it's giving customers the ability to move up what we call the technology pyramid, to adopt these technologies on their farm to ultimately improve their profitability at the end of the year."

Barry said they have a suite of available planter upgrades from John Deere.

"A couple of them that we're excited about, especially going into our new model year here in June, is the meter upgrade. Traditionally, John Deere has sold upgrades for planters in the version of an entire row unit, so you would take the old row units off your planter and put an entire new row unit on," Barry noted.  "But new for model year ’26, we can replace the existing meter in your planter with a new either ME5e, Max Emerge 5e, or Exact Emerge Meter. You compare it with individual row hydraulic downforce, if you want, or active pneumatic. It takes that basic planter and moves it up the technology pyramid to an electric drive, giving you all the benefits of individual row shutoff. If you move up to exact emerging, you get the ability to plant at up to 10 miles an hour.”

John Deere Can Work With Growers To Address Their Specific Needs

Deciding on an upgrade depends on what problem a customer is trying to solve.

“You can piece an upgrade kit together for your planter to help solve the problems you have. And maybe that's pneumatic row cleaners. Maybe it's the meter upgrade that we just talked about," Barry said.  "Maybe your row units are worn out, and it makes sense to replace the entire row unit in the form of an ultimate planter upgrade. We also have frame weight distribution available, so if you're worried about the pinch row compaction from the CCS tanks, we have an upgrade kit available to help with that. It boils down to what problems they are trying to solve and how the technology that Deere offers can meet them where they are, and they can move up that technology pyramid I talked about without buying a brand-new planter. They can keep the planter they have, put some upgrades on it, depending on what they want, and be ready for the planting season for ‘26."

Help Is As Close As Your Local John Deere Dealer

Deere has resources available for farmers to start considering a planter upgrade now.

"One great resource is their local John Deere dealer. They're a wealth of information when it comes to all things John Deere, but also precision upgrades," Barry said.  "You could also visit us online at deere.com/upgrade. When you think specifically for planters, we have a compatibility tool out there where you can put the serial number of the planter that you own, and it'll tell you all of the upgrades that are available for that specific model. So, if you're not sure what you can even upgrade your planter to that tool is a great resource, and so I would encourage customers to go to either of those two places."

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