“The russets seem to be bigger than last year,” I add, turning towards the stacked totes I’ve already delivered. Twenty bulk bags of seed potatoes line the shed wall, ready to be fed into the cutter and portioned into blocks for planting. And this is just the first of four varietieswe’re planting this season.
“I’ll adjust the sizer settings too,” Ned says, leaning into the machine again.
“Hey.”
I turn at the sound of Dad’s voice as he enters the shed with his eyes sweeping over the cutter.
“Everything alright?” he asks, stopping beside me.
“Just clearing it out and making some adjustments,” Dana replies. “All good.”
Dad nods. “Good. Well, I’m glad I caught you now, then.” His gaze settles on me for a moment in an assessing type of look, then he jerks his chin towards the door. “I need everyone in the garage for a few minutes.”
My pulse picks up as I follow him outside, and I notice the way he seems to stick close to me.
Why are we all meeting in the garage… in the middle of seed cutting…?
As we step into the yard, my eyes lock onto the truck parked beside the garage with the John Deere logo across the side in green and yellow. My finger immediately starts picking at my thumb as we get closer, and both tractors come into view inside the open bay doors.
Why is the dealership here?
And why are the planters also inside?
Dad walks beside me, and just before we reach the entrance, he reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. And that’s how I know I’m not going to like whatever this is.
We step into the garage, and I stop dead in my tracks.
Both of our 8400Rtractors are parked inside with the cab doors swung open. Technicians in John Deere polos sit in the seats with laptops balanced across their knees, and cables running to the in-cab display screens.
And right in the middle of all of it… is Levi.
My heart thrashes as my gaze snaps from him to the laptops and back again.
What thefuckare they doing?
“Thanks for taking a minute, everyone,” Dad says, moving to stand next to Levi. “Since we’re running variable rate this season, we’re updating the planters.”
My jaw tightens as my breaths quicken, and my eyes flick back to the laptops.
“Our goal is long-term sustainability,” Dad continues, nodding towards the equipment. “We’re aiming to tighten margins, reduce input waste, and make planting decisions with stronger planning behind them.” Then he turns to Levi with a smile. “This is where Levi comes in. He’ll walk us through what we’re doing.”
Levi smiles brightly, and I stare at him with my heart racing, feeling completely frozen and rooted to this spot.
“We’re installing a prescription-based variable rate system,” Levi says. “Each planter will run software that reads field data in real time, such as moisture, soil type, organic matter, and more, and adjusts seed rate automatically as it moves. Instead of one uniform rate for the whole field, we’ll plant heavier in strong zones and ease off in weaker ones to keep everything balanced.”
My eyes stay locked on his face, and a war starts up inside me. One where I hate the words coming out of his mouth… but I can’t look away from his smile. Because if I look away, I feel like I might lose it.
“This approach lets us tailor density and input to what each zone can handle,” Levi continues. “It’s fully integrated with zone maps tied to last year’s yield, soil test layers, and topography. The planter reads those maps and shifts the rate the moment it crosses a zone line. You don’t have to adjust it anymore. It will just respond on its own.”
The sound of his voice starts to sound far away as my mind turns hazy, and I cross my arms and dig my fingers into my biceps to keep myself here as long as possible.
“This software will automatically log everything,” Levi adds. “And we’ll have cleaner transitions, less waste, and stronger emergence.”
Everyone around me hums with excitement, and I slowly breathe out as I replay all those words in my mind.
But I don’t know what it means. I can’t make sense of what it means for how we do things.
And it’s really pissing me off.
