Tillage-Live returned to its Gloucestershire home this year, following a COVID-related postponement in 2020. CPM was there.
Continued development has helped it to continue to fit the requirements of modern farming.
By Charlotte Cunningham.
Tackle-enthusiasts descended on the fields of the Down Ampney Estate last month for this year’s Tillage-Live, which returned after a break in 2020 due to COVID.
Unlike the last physical event, the sun was beaming, showing off brilliantly all the latest and greatest in tillage technology.
CPM scouted the stands to find out more about the most recent launches.
At the heart of the event was the working demonstrations which were split into two zones – the stubble demonstration arena and the cover crop demonstration arena.
The stubble arena provided a stage for an array of cultivation methods, from ploughs to low disturbance options, and among them was Amazone’s 7m Catros with cross cutter discs.
Available in a range of working widths, Amazone’s Catros mounted compact disc harrow series is designed for a variety of cultivation techniques – from extremely precise and shallow to intensive mixing.
The 7m model shown at Tillage falls under the Catros+ category – with the plus symbol highlighting an increased working width – as well as a larger disc size and a greater working depth.
“The serrated Catros+ discs with a diameter of 510mm are characterised by their more aggressive operation and a more reliable penetration, even under difficult conditions,” says Simon Brown, managing director. “The optimum operational range of these discs is for stubble tillage, seedbed preparation and also the incorporation of catch crop residues.”
Pottinger’s Terradisc 5001 T disc harrow also featured. The 5001 T forms part of Pottinger’s trailed, folding offerings, with key stats including a working width of 5m, and 40 discs with a diameter of 580mm.
A neat feature is the tandem Conoroll roller, which consists of two rollers with a bar thickness of 8mm and a ring diameter of 560mm. The rollers overlap each other and have a footprint equal to 50% of the working width – particularly well suited to light soils, says the firm.
A series of drills also got to show off their capabilities in the area, including John Deere’s 750A.
The concept behind the 750A has been around for some time now, but its development has helped it continue to fit the requirements of modern farming and keep its position as a popular option, says Deere.
In terms of how it works, the 750A is a single disc drill that uses a 46cm disc — mounted alongside the press wheel — to ensure good depth control. The seed is then dropped into a tiny slot — only moving a small percentage of the soil — and then firmed into the soil using the press wheel.
The slot is then shut using a spiked closing wheel, just to push the soil back over again.
In the cover crop arena, Opico’s Sky Easy Drill drew the crowds and was in good company with Väderstad’s Carrier with CrossCutter disc and straw harrow, alongside Amazone’s 6m Primera drill.
Away from the demo zones, the static stands also had a plethora of kit on display.
John Deere
Dominating John Deere’s stand was the R7R40i trailed sprayer. Seen earlier in the year at Cereals, the 4000-litre capacity machine offers boom widths from 18 to 30m, with premium features including a new multi-functional control lever, the Solution Command operator station and the proven PowrSpray dual-circuit solution system. This reduces filling times, improves spray application and increases accuracy, says Deere.
This new sprayer is also available with a closed transfer system (CTS)-ready option and can be equipped with an individual nozzle control (INC) system. This electronic solution allows customers to save up to 5% on the cost of plant protection products, reckons the firm.
Kuhn
On Kuhn’s stand, the Prolander shallow tine cultivator commanded attention.
The cultivator features vibrating tines and can perform multiple operations, from shallow stubble cultivation to seedbed preparation in a second pass – making it the ideal tool for min-till farming, says Kuhn.
The trailed range is available in widths ranging from 6m to 7.5m and requires little pony power – just 25hp/m, reckons the firm.
Looking to the nuts and bolts of the machine, its 70x12mm S-shaped tine can be equipped with two types of share – a 60mm goose foot-share and a narrow reversible share.
Kuhn says that this is the key to quality working. “The vibrating effect of the “S” tine allows the soil to be disturbed to a depth of 12cm.
“Equipped with a 60mm wide share, it offers very good mixing in the top layers to prepare the seedbed. Also available is the 200mm wide goose-foot share which is ideal for shallow stubble cultivation and ensures mixing quality over the entire width of the tool.”
New for 2022 will be the addition of harder-wearing carbide tips and strengthened tines which reduce vibration to offer greater control and accuracy, says Kuhn.
Also on stand was the Aurock 6m 6000 RC drill, which features dual metering and a 5000-litre capacity split hopper.
This drill is designed for a low horsepower requirement, needing around 180hp to operate.
According to the firm, the ability to work in varying field conditions starts at the front with two rows of opening discs. There’s the option of 460mm diameter corrugated discs, for working in prepared soil or soil mixing, or a 430mm diameter embossed disc for cutting residues efficiently and minimising soil ejection.
Seed placement is carried out by the double disc seeding unit mounted on a parallelogram for accuracy and ground following purposes.
Alignment with the opening discs is maintained by a central pivot point between the coulter bar and the chassis. This ensures that seeds drop accurately into the furrow, whether the drill is operating on a slope or around a bend. The opener discs and seeding unit assembly form the triple disc – a reoccurring feature of Kuhn’s designs over the past 40 years.
Lemken
Among the plethora of Lemken kit at the event was the Solitair 12 – a trailed pneumatic seed drill.
The Solitair series itself is available in working widths of 8-12m, with the 12 model boasting a seed hopper volume of 5800 litres and Lemken’s own coulter bar to enhance work rate.
The Solitair 12 also features multi-section metering. In practical terms, this is geared up for the sowing of different types of seeds and the six-part cell wheels can be switched on/off manually or hydraulically, depending on specification.
Amazone
As well as kit working in the demo zones, Amazone also had an array of innovation on display at its stand. This included the Cayena 6001-C tine seeder and the Primera DMC seed drill.
The Cayena tine coulter seed drill has been designed for high-speed sowing on hard, dry and stony soils, with or without prior soil tillage. With its 6m working width and 3600-litre hopper capacity, the Cayena can achieve high work rates and, as an alternative, the Cayena-C comes with a 4000-litre, twin tank hopper, says the firm.
With the Cayena 6001-C, Amazone offers a trailed tine seeder which can also place fertiliser together with the seed into the seed furrow.
The 4000-litre seed hopper is divided in two compartments at a ratio of 60:40 and equipped with two fully electric metering units. Both compartments can, from choice, be filled with either seed or fertiliser. Through the same conveying system, seed and fertiliser are placed together in the seed furrow. In this way, for instance, when sowing winter oilseed rape or winter cereals, a starter fertiliser can be applied. Via the sealed, pressurised tank system of the Cayena-C, the application of higher seed-fertiliser combinations is ensured.
With DMC standing for Direct sowing, Mulch sowing and Conventional sowing, Amazone’s Primera DMC is a pretty versatile bit of kit.
It boasts a large hopper capacity of up to 13,000 litres and easy filling thanks to the large hopper opening.
With the new generation of Primera DMC seed drills there are a number of options for growers with working widths ranging from 3m to 12m.
It also features Amazone’s unique chisel opener, designed for placement accuracy and seed embedment. To do so, the chisel opener clears the seed furrow of organic matter, follows uneven soils and optimises the coulter pressure.
The simultaneous application of fertiliser is available on the Primera DMC as an option.
Väderstad
At Väderstad’s stand, the Topdown 300 cultivator was among the kit on display.
The TopDown is a multipurpose cultivator, combining an intensive disc cultivator along with a robust three axle tine cultivator in the same machine.
The 12.5cm spaced discs on individually suspended disc arms, creates fine tilth by cutting and mixing the top soil. The 27cm spaced tines then loosen and mix the soil and crop residues down to 30cm working depth. In the final two working zones, the leveller and packer then concludes the operation by ensuring an even and fully reconsolidated surface.
The discs are produced using specialist hardened Swedish V-55 steel to enhance quality, says the firm, and provide intensive cutting and mixing of soil and crop residue.
To adapt to varying soil conditions, the working intensity of the discs can be adjusted from the cab on the move.
Thanks to the discs conical shape, they maintain the same working angle relative to the soil, irrespective of wear or working depth.
New Holland
Front and centre on the New Holland stand was the firms T7.315HD tractor. Find out more about the latest generation of the T7 HD range here.
Knowledge trails
For those keen to expand their knowledge base and earn a few NRoSo and BASIS points, the event also featured five interactive knowledge trails: Research-led agronomy advice; Soil Protection; Tyres and Weights; Cover Crops; as well as Autonomous Agriculture and Reducing Compaction.
At the autonomous agriculture and reducing compaction station, Harper Adams’ Hands Free Farm team were on hand, demonstrating the practical application of the work at field-scale in a working plot.
Also at the station was Precision Decisions, showcasing its independent farm mapping platform – MiFarm. Signing up to the platform gives users access to a number of features including:
- Two free satellite variability assessments every year
- Access to Yara N-Sensor maps
- The ability to import and view yield data from the combine
- Functionality to create variable prescriptions
- Soil analysis results and a whole farm overview
- And is compatible with GateKeeper and Muddy Boots.
Better connected
Uniting a number of dealers at the event was the news that DataConnect is now available across six major digital platforms.
The software brings together 365FarmNet, Case IH, Steyr, Claas, John Deere and New Holland and comes as the result of a global initiative to enable the viewing of mixed-brand fleets in a single platform.
Previously, viewing such information would have required using individual portals for each manufacturer, but now users are able to view five different machinery data parameters from their machine fleet.
This includes:
- current machine location
- historical machine position
- fuel tank level
- status of the machine in the field
- machine speed
Any farm operator/owner who wants to use the option simply needs to provide themselves with the permission to view all equipment in the platform which is most convenient for them. Once connected, the machines of the other manufactures appear automatically in that portal. The vehicles are even displayed with icons in the respective brand colours.
DataConnect works without any additional hardware and software components and ensures secure data handling – with the solution applicable to hundreds of thousands of already connected machines.
The addition of CNH Industrial means that users of AFS Connect, the telematics platform of Case IH, MyPLM Connect for New Holland, and S-Tech for Steyr, will have the option for the cloud-to-cloud exchange of data with both John Deere Operations Centre and Claas Telematics or 365FarmNet portals.
