Abstract: An agricultural seeding machine includes a trench closer assembly and a sensing device configured to sense an aspect of the soil without contacting the soil and to output a sensed signal corresponding to the aspect of the soil. A processing device processes the sensed signal to generate a processed sensed signal, and compares a characteristic of the processed sensed signal to a stored signal characteristic representative of a soil condition. A trench closure quality metric is determined and provided via a user interface. Additionally, in response to and based upon the comparison, the processing device may automatically adjust the force applied to the soil by the soil contacting member. In this manner, the seeding machine utilizes a feedback signal to determine how well a trench is closed and can adjust the performance of the trench closer assembly in accordance with that feedback.

Abstract: An agricultural seeding machine includes a trench closer assembly and a sensing device configured to sense an aspect of the soil without contacting the soil and to output a sensed signal corresponding to the aspect of the soil. A processing device processes the sensed signal to generate a processed sensed signal, and compares a characteristic of the processed sensed signal to a stored signal characteristic representative of a soil condition. A trench closure quality metric is determined and provided via a user interface. Additionally, in response to and based upon the comparison, the processing device may automatically adjust the force applied to the soil by the soil contacting member. In this manner, the seeding machine utilizes a feedback signal to determine how well a trench is closed and can adjust the performance of the trench closer assembly in accordance with that feedback.