Individual row lift system for planters

A control system for an agricultural planter having a chassis, a tool bar, and at least one row unit, each row unit being carried by the tool bar and being operable to be raised and lowered by a fluid actuator, the control system operable to:

• individually raise and lower each said row unit on said agricultural planter using said fluid actuator in response to one of:
• a manual input,
• an automatically determined requirement or condition of said at least one row unit, or
• an automatically determined operating condition of the agricultural planter;
• and
• said control system further operable to prevent individually raising and lowering each said row unit on said agricultural planter based on one of:
• a configuration of said agricultural planter, or
• the potential occurrence of an undesirable weight or drag distribution.

A method for operating an agricultural planter having a chassis, a tool bar, and at least one row unit, each row unit being carried by the tool bar and being operable to be raised and lowered by a fluid actuator, the method comprising the steps of:

• individually raising and lowering each said row unit on said agricultural planter using said fluid actuator in response to one of:
• a manual input,
• an automatically determined requirement or condition of said at least one row unit, or
• an automatically determined operating condition of the agricultural planter;
• and
• preventing the individual raising and lowering of each said row unit on said agricultural planter based on one of:
• a configuration of said agricultural planter, or
• the potential occurrence of an undesirable weight or drag distribution.