The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Principal benefits of developed system include lower seed usage and alteration of spacing for optimum plant growth
Technology to bring the benefits of precision sowing to grain crops has become a practical reality with the Singularsystem, according to tillage and drilling equipment manufacturer Horsch.
A reduction in seed use and even spacing in the row for optimum plant growth are the principal benefits, although the technique is reckoned to be suitable for seed rates up to 250sq m because beyond that the singulation effects are marginal.
Nonetheless, the Turbodisc coulter adapted for the technique is now available on the Horsch Express KR piggy-back drill, as well as the Pronto DC, KR and AS trailed drills, and Focus TD, for growers looking to optimise speed spacing.
Singulation is carried out by a metering device on the coulter that isolates individual seeds before they are released into a furrow formed by twin discs and a skid.
The mechanism includes a bypass for conventional sowing when the singulation technique is inappropriate and there are versions for wheat, rye, barley, oilseed rape and peas.
In all other respects, the drill is unchanged, which in the case of the Express KR, which mounts on a power harrow, means seed continues to be metered by volume from the 1,500-litre hopper into an airstream that delivers it to an externally-mounted distribution head before passing through individual tubes to each coulter.
These retain up to 120kg coulter pressure to maintain accurate sowing depth in different soils and conditions, working speeds with the Singularsystem of up to 10kph and an integral presscum-depth wheel.
The Express KR comes in 3m, 3.5m and 4m sizes, the latter rigid or folding.
Amazone has opted for a plastic hopper to reduce weight on its latest piggyback drill. And by repositioning the distribution head above the coulters, the centre of gravity of the 1,600 or 2,000-litre hopper has been brought forward to ease the load on the tractor and its hydraulics system.
The Centaya is available as a 3m power harrow-based combination drill at present, with a choice of single and double-disc coulters to suit different soils and typical conditions.
Amazone’s Twintec coulter – as seen on the Cataya gravity-fed piggyback drill – has two 340mm diameter discs in point contact for good penetration into freshly cultivated soils, and with each disc set at an angle of just 10 degrees to keep soil disturbance to a minimum.
Sowing depth is regulated by a choice of plastic discs to suit different soils and up to 60kg of pressure can be applied via the parallelogram mounting linkage, plus another 6kg per coulter by adjusting the pitch of drill on the host harrow.
Amazone says the drill can be dismounted more easily than previous designs from the power harrow’s consolidation roller, which can be the new KWM Matrix profile wedge ring design instead of the regular 500mm and 600mm diameter TRW trapezium rollers.
Apart from the novelty of having a hopper moulded in plastic, the Centaya has an “operator station” at the left side where all controls are grouped.
Turning the metering mechanism seed cassettes through 90 degrees makes them more accessible and handling the calibration tools and process is now performed from one position.
To save walking backwards and forwards from the tractor’s in-cab terminal and drill, Amazone installs the Twinterminal remote display on the seeder to simplify calibration data entry as much as possible. Seed is distributed by a new segmented head with short pipes to the coulters promoting quicker sowing on-off response, and Autopoint monitors seed flow to automatically switch delivery under GPS control at headlands to further improve accuracy.
Half-drill shut-off to minimise seed wastage where tramlines converge is also available on the new drill.
Higher outputs from a no-till drill with novel angled disc coulters is promised with the 8m version of the Weaving GD – 2m wider than the current widest model in the range.