WESTERN PRODUCER — Vaderstad unveiled a pre-production example of its high-speed Tempo K planter at the Big Iron farm show in Fargo, North Dakota, last September and it is now taking orders in North America.
“For the first official launch, we are keeping it at 24 row, 30-inch spacing, with the plan in the future to release a 20- and/or a 22-inch version,” says Phillip Korczak, Vaderstad’s director of sales for Western Canada. “But for now, the 30-inch is all that’s available for the spring of 2025.”
The 30-inch row spacing is the most common planter configuration in North America, but most of the demand for that comes from the midwestern U.S. Although the configuration may not suit most western Canadian growers’ demands, many of the new features incorporated on the Tempo K will also be available on Vaderstad’s other planter models.
“For 20- ,22- and 15-inch spacings, Vaderstad Sweden does offer other Tempo product lines that can fill that gap,” says Korczak.
“On the Tempo line in general, not just on the Tempo K, they have a new processing computer onboard that has more capabilities, more processing power, etc. What that will do, if you get the new version of the processing software, is there are new features available with it.”
First among those features is curve compensation, which will adjust the seeding rate across the toolbar to ensure proper seed spacing is maintained in a turn, despite the difference in speed between its two ends.
“If you’re putting seeds in the same spacing, the inside of the turn should have less seed than the outside, because the outside wing will be swinging faster,” says Korczak. “We want to make sure your population is still the same from the inside of the turn to the outside.
“The other big news out in the Tempo line with this new processing computer is automatic singulation. We’ve always had singulation in the seed meter, but it’s been mechanically controlled. This replaces the mechanical aspect of the singulation with an electric motor.
“Through the seed sensor, it’s able to determine if you have skips or doubles. Based on the sensor’s feedback, it will automatically adjust the singulation of each individual row separately from the other.”
To ensure seeds are consistently placed at the right depth, active down pressure adjustment is also now available across the Tempo planter line. Buyers can choose how much control they have with three different options.
“You can have one downforce sensor,” says Korczak. “So basically, one row unit is measuring the downforce but you’re adjusting across the width of the toolbar based on what that one row unit is seeing. Or you can have it on every single row.
“Then every row unit is being adjusted independently based on soil conditions. So, you’re not overpacking or under packing anywhere across the width of the unit.
“That’s a big feature customers have been asking for. Competitors out there have it.”
The North American version of the Tempo K will have a central seed tank rather than a small one on each row unit.
“The Tempo K comes with 150 bushel central-fill onboard capacity for seed,” says Korczak. “It also has the ability for two 750-gallon liquid tanks to be able to put liquid fertilizer down with the crop as well.
“What most of the North American market wants is central-fill seed up on the whole unit and the ability to put a liquid starter fertilizer usually in-row at the same time.”
