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1/16/2021 As the first two-row planter for use with a tractor, the Model 290 Check Row was considered the latest in precision planting when it was introduced by John Deere in 1941. With the ability to plant 30 acres per day, the planter was a combination of well-known and new advances. “The familiar check row system required the farmer to stretch a length of wire across the field. The wire, which had knots in it at regular intervals, would pass through a drop mechanism on the planter,” says Neil Dahlstrom, Branded Properties and Heritage Manager at John Deere. “As the planter moved across the field, the knot would trigger the drop and deposit the seed. It replaced having an operator sitting on the planter to pull the drop lever.”