Nechanicky Farms has a mix of extensively modified equipment used in its 500-acre operation, plus custom farm work in north central Iowa. Adam Nechanicky farms with his father, Mark, near Buckingham, Iowa, and they offer strip-till and narrow-row planting services as well as spraying and harvest operations to area farmers. They also work closely with Pioneer on seed corn production and yield research.

Using primarily Case IH equipment over the years, they upgraded from Nav 1 auto-steer lightbars to an Ag Leader Integra unit integrated into a Cat Challenger track tractor.

“We used base stations in the past, but we had problems with dropped signals. We went with a cellular RTK signal from DigiFarm when we switched to the Integra units with ParaDyme navigation systems,” Nechanicky says. “It solved the problem of dropped signals and we’ve accurately held our position while strip-tilling on contours. We can do custom work anywhere within the state of Iowa and we’ll have a reliable signal.”

Nechanicky offers strip-till service to farmers who want to try it, but don’t yet want to make the equipment investment. He pulls a 16-row Progressive strip-till bar equipped with Remlinger row units that have parallel linkages that allow for better depth control.

“We can also adjust the trash whippers to match field conditions,” he says. “We typically strip-till in the fall. We did some this spring but we think the knives leave the ground a bit too rough. We will probably change out knives for spring strip-till passes.”

For planting, they use a front-fold John Deere 7000 toolbar outfitted with  Kinze 3000 series units and Graham electric drives as well as many other modifications. It’s also set up to allow planting male and female seed cornrows.

What Farmers Want From You is a series of farmer profiles that examine the scope of precision farming tools individual farmers are using on their operation, along with the frustrations that can occur with adopting new technology and how dealers can alleviate those "points of pain" for farm customers. For the latest additions to the series, visit our What Farmers Want From You feed.

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“The units have Precision Planting components and are capable of variable-rate seeding and fertilizer placement, but we aren’t quite there yet,” Nechanicky says. “We are working with Pioneer on some variable seeding rates to match field conditions and soil types, and we are working with our neighbor who is an Ag Leader equipment dealer to help us set up our own prescriptions.”

Point of Pain: Cross-Brand Knowledge

Before coming home to farm with his family, Nechanicky worked with Kinze, gaining insight into several different brands of planting equipment. Across all the different monitors and auto-steering systems, he has encountered, he’s had the most success with Ag Leader equipment, but would like to see more compatibility across brands.  

“I’ve worked with the older Trimble equipment and even the Case IH and Deere systems and they are much more of a struggle,” he says. “I know that I know enough to be dangerous, and too many times, it seemed that I knew more than the dealer about cross-brand compatibility.  

“Finding someone who can talk across brands is hard to find and once you find them, they are invaluable.”

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