US Patent 9839178 Seed firmer

A seed firmer for pressing seeds into soil during planting. The seed firmer includes a mount for attachment to a row unit of a planting machine. An arm defines a ground-facing surface having at least one point of contact with the ground, including a rearmost ground contact point with respect to a direction of forward travel during planting operation. The ground-facing surface has a transition section directly trailing a rearmost ground contact point, the transition section can extending upwardly from the rearmost ground contact point with a radius no less than 25 mm. Also, in some constructions the rearmost section of the ground-facing surface defines a ratio of horizontal distance to vertical height that is no less than 1.2:1.