The sourced answer
How do missing hills and planting gaps affect potato yield, and what makes a potato planter accurate?
Missing hills lower plot yield, but not in direct proportion to the plants lost. A 2026 study in Potato Research (Thelen et al., vol. 69, issue 5, article 151) found that plants next to a gap yield more individually, because they have more space and resources than plants in a full stand. Neighbouring plants therefore partly make up for the gap.
What the study did
- It tested approaches for correcting single plant yield for the proportion of missing hills in each plot, using 1,066 potato clones.
- It aimed to propose a universal correction method, since none existed for potato breeding programmes before this work.
- It also tested whether parameters estimated on a training population transfer to an independent validation population.
- The authors include breeders from three German companies: Saka Pflanzenzucht, Nordring-Kartoffelzucht- und Vermehrungs-GmbH, and EUROPLANT Innovation.
Limits of what I can report I only have the published abstract and bibliographic record, so I can't give the numeric heritability values, the fitted Weibull parameters, the average share of missing hills, the size of the compensation by neighbouring plants, or trial locations and years. The results come from breeding trials, so they may differ in commercial fields, other climates or other planting densities. The study also doesn't cover the causes of missing hills (seed rots, poor sprouting, planter errors, pests) or their economic cost.
Planter accuracy The sources I have don't cover planter design, such as metering mechanisms, sensors, ground speed or seed-piece size. I don't have a reliable, sourced answer on what makes a planter accurate, and I won't guess at figures. The study does show why accuracy matters: gaps distort yield figures and change how neighbouring plants perform. For practical guidance, check equipment manufacturers' specifications or agronomy extension services in your region.