We planted around 200 acres all together with it this spring. The rod across the front is for keeping the rows spaced at 30 inches. The chain hangs down over the row planted on the last thru. I bought this planter for a smaller tractor so to keep the weight of the planter down we decided to not get markers. As it turns out it was still too much planter for the other tractor so now I wish I would have gotten regular markers. Maybe next year we will have a different one.