Abstract: Planting has been one of the most critical stages during sugarcane production. Sugarcane planting can also directly determine whether to germinate successfully and grow healthily. However, the soil cover devices have been limited to the uneven soil cover of sugarcane planters in the hilly regions. The resulting germination rates of sugarcane cannot fully meet the agronomic requirements of large-scale production in recent years. In this study, a novel soil cover device was developed to contour to the surface morphology, in order to ensure uniform soil cover for sugarcane planting in the hilly areas. The soil cover device consisted of soil cover discs, a pressing wheel, and hydraulic cylinders of soil cover disc. The forces acting on the soil cover discs were analyzed using statics and dynamics. The primary resistance of soil cover discs significantly increased to originate from the soil, as the penetration depth or soil cover disc diameter increased. Furthermore, the soil cover disc diameter and thickness were determined to be 300 and 3 mm, respectively, according to the soil conditions and agronomic requirements in Guangxi Province, China. The contour-following system was proposed in the device. An overall hydraulic system was developed for a double-row sugarcane planter. The hydraulic cylinders were designed for the soil cover discs. The forces acting on the soil cover discs were analyzed using the lever principle. The hydraulic cylinder specifications were determined as 32 and 18 mm for the inner and piston diameters, respectively. There was a correlation between contour-following and soil cover. The soil cover thickness was adjusted to control the penetration depth of the discs using slope adjustments, according to the extension or retraction of the hydraulic cylinders. Its stability was then validated to enhance the response speed and control precision of the contour-following system. A mathematical model was established for the hydraulic control system. A master-slave synchronization control strategy was adopted to reduce the displacement difference between the two hydraulic cylinders. A PID controller was used to control the primary circuit of the hydraulic cylinder, in order to ensure the rapid response. A series of simulations were performed on the AMESim platform. A steady state of the system reached within 0.16 s, with an overshoot of 7.3%, fully meeting the design requirements. Both PID and adaptive fuzzy PID controllers were employed in the secondary hydraulic cylinder circuit, in order to accurately track the primary circuit. A comparison of the performance was made on the adjustment capability, response time, and displacement difference between the two cylinders. Simulation results revealed that the adjustment time was 0.49 s, the overshoot was 12.1%, and the maximum difference of displacement between the two cylinders was 4.2 mm with the PID controller. In the adaptive fuzzy PID controller, the adjustment time was reduced to 0.21 s, the overshoot was 5.2%, and the maximum difference of displacement was 0.42 mm. The superior performance was achieved in the near-synchronous extension and retraction of the two hydraulic cylinders. Field tests were conducted to validate the performance of the system. Results showed that the soil cover thickness ranged from 77-83 mm on the flat surfaces and from 74-85 mm on the sloped surfaces, when the soil cover disc diameter was 300 mm, the thickness was 3 mm, and the disc angle was set to 60°. The coefficients of variation for the soil cover were 1.88% and 3.47%, respectively. The maximum response time of the control system was 0.28 s, and the maximum displacement difference between the two hydraulic cylinders was 0.69 mm. Overall, the optimized system fully met the contour-following requirements. These findings can provide valuable insights and references to improve the soil cover performance of sugarcane planters.