This story was produced in partnership with the Logan County Economic Development Corporation in Sterling, Colorado.
Agriculture is one of the world’s biggest industries. We’re all reliant on farming of some sort for our food, the fibers that make our clothes, and even some of the fuel that powers our machines. But field farming has a huge problem that wastes seed, money, and time. When a lifelong farmer and his sons — a computer scientist and an entrepreneur — approached this problem, they tapped into an unexpected opportunity.
A “Seed” of an Idea
Jerry Graham had been farming the land outside Wray, Colorado, since 1973. For decades, his work followed the steady, demanding rhythms of agricultural life—its ups and downs. His son, Toby, took a different path. Drawn to computers and data, Toby earned a degree in computer science and found his way into a world fueled by speed and precision: drag racing.
Toby specialized in data acquisition systems, applying his background in computer science to optimize performance on the track. His work took him across the country with General Motors’ Formula Two racing teams. But when the 2008 economic crash hit, that momentum came to an abrupt stop, forcing Toby to reconsider what came next.
As Toby searched for his next chapter, an unexpected connection emerged. Together with his father, they began to look at a long-standing problem in row crop farming, one that had gone largely unchanged for more than 80 years. What if the same data-driven precision used in racing could be applied to planting? That question sparked an “aha” moment neither of them had anticipated.
In 2008, Jerry and Toby Graham founded Graham Electric Planter. From its origins to its current global distribution, Graham Electric Planter (GEP) is proving that the future of agriculture is not in bigger machines, but with smarter ones.
The Problem and the Graham Electric Planter Solution
Picture the circles you see when flying over agricultural regions. Those circles are created when center pivot irrigation systems (introduced in the 1940s) rotate and irrigate only within the set radius. The problem is that farmers don’t sow seeds in circles. With tractors towing specialized seeders, they drive the length of a field injecting seeds in adjacent straight lines. This pattern creates a square.
When you put an irrigated circle inside the square field, the corners aren’t irrigated. Before GEP, seeders had either a mechanical ground wheel drive or a hydraulic drive controlling the seed injection. Because farmers could not shut these down while planting, the non-irrigated corners were overseeded. That’s a waste of money and seed.
The GEP solution was to build an electric drive that allowed farmers to adjust seeding rates from the cab of their tractor. No more overseeding corners.
While competitors offer similar technology, GEP was the first to market and is the only brand using wireless technology. With its patented wireless protocol, GEP electric drives are operated by an Android tablet installed in the tractor cab.
Another point of differentiation is that Jerry has farmed his entire life and understands the financial challenges. In his own control studies, using the GEP electric driver saved 9% in seed costs. When he used the driver to control variable rate seeding and liquid fertilizer, his yields increased 23%.
“We’re proud that our product can meet farmers where they are,” said Marty Graham, managing partner of GEP. “We can retrofit older planters so that farmers can update their machines at a fraction of the cost of buying a new one. And when someone is ready to buy new, we sell to manufacturers who install our product on their new equipment.”