Great Plains’ acquisition of Simba last year gave one Lincolnshire farmer access to a zero-till drill that could be used in a wide range of ground conditions, explains Andy Collings

Direct drilling is a subject that can bring out strong emotions. In fact, Bourne arable grower Tony Reynolds clenches his fist in frustration when he hears anyone confusing direct drilling with drilling into a stubble field with a cultivator drill.

“There are cultivator drills which attempt to create a seed bed before the seed is drilled, and there are zero-till drills that actually do it – that is, place seed in the ground and nothing else,” he says. “The two systems are very, very different.”

He should know. At Thurlby Grange (and at a second unit 20 miles away), Mr Reynolds has been zero-till drilling on a big scale for the past eight years. In total, he farms 1,200ha (3,000 acres) on which wheat and oilseed rape dominate the scene alongside a spring-sown crop which may be peas, beans or oats.

“We used to plough and cultivate just like everyone else,” he says. “But then I realised that there was a very good argument for no-till drilling – it improves soil structure, worm populations increase, compaction problems are eliminated and soil drainage improves – to mention just a few of the benefits.”

6m Spartan 607HD drill – the only one in the UK – can operate when conditions are difficult, says Tony Reynolds.

While conceding that yields in the first few years may be down, he points out that this is more than offset by reduced establishment costs – a saving of as much as £200 per hectare, he reckons, when compared with traditional plough-based systems.

“In 2004, to the consternation of our neighbours, I sold all our cultivation and drilling equipment, and also invested in some lower horsepower tractors,” he explains. “I considered all I needed was a drill, a sprayer/fertiliser spreader, a combine harvester and a couple of medium powered tractors.”

But it was finding the right drill to use that posed one of the biggest challenges.

Over the years, Mr Reynolds has tried most of them – Bertini, John Deere and Weaving, to name but a few.

“All zero-till drills will work well in dry conditions,” he says. “The country in which they were designed usually has a dry climate and their prime purpose in these conditions is to retain soil moisture.

“It’s when the ground is wet that the problems start to show and, in my experience, most of them have some severe faults.”

Help came in the form of a 3m KRM drill he chanced upon three years ago, which used a coulter system designed and manufactured by Kansas firm Great Plains. A single leading disc cuts a groove and then two slightly angled discs run in this groove to open it out and create a small trench into which the seed can be placed. A wheel runs behind to close the gap and ensures soil to seed contact and the job is done.

“This system is just so simple, but very effective,” he says. “And one that will keep going in the most difficult conditions. In the wet autumn we had last year we drilled the whole farm with it – while all my other drills were stuck under the barn.”

So it was good news for him when, last year, Great Plains purchased UK cultivation specialist Simba International and thereby gave UK growers ready access to the GP drill range and, in particular, the Spartan 607HD.

The 6m pneumatic Spartan drill – the first to be used in the UK – is equipped with two polythene hoppers, each of which can hold nearly 3,000 litres of seed. When fitted with a second metering system, one of the hoppers can be used for fertiliser or slug pellets.

Seed is metered by a fluted roll system, which takes its drive from a jockey wheel running on one of the drill’s main support wheels. Four distribution heads direct the seed to the coulters.

To accommodate different soil types, the pressure on the lead disc can be increased progressively to a maximum of 250kg. Similarly, the pressure on the rear press wheel can also be adjusted.

The main weight of the drill is carried on the two transport wheels, which also support the seed hoppers. The coulter section is a separate unit and is attached with a hydraulic linkage to allow weight to be transferred from the carriage section.

For transport, the wing sections fold vertically, an action which is also used to allow the coulters to follow ground contours – 10° down and 15° up. In addition, the design of the coulter frame allows a front-to-back flotation – so each opener can flex 12.5cm upwards and 7.5cm downwards.

“This is the first year we have used the Great Plains drill and I have been very impressed with it,” says Mr Reynolds. “I believe we have now found the drill that suits our land and our farming system.”

Such conviction has led him to take direct drilling into uncharted territory. An 8ha (20-acre) grass ley has been sprayed off with glyphosate and direct drilled with oilseed rape.

“The grass ley was in the middle of a block of rape we have planned for this year so it made sense to put it into rape,” he says. “The fact that we are able to simply spray off and drill is, in many ways, testament to the previous eight years of zero-till drilling which has created a good soil structure and a friable surface for the plant to establish itself.”

So Mr Reynolds is, by all accounts, a happy man.

Yields, he says, are now approaching the potential they achieved when the ground was ploughed, weeds such as blackgrass and sterile brome are under control and there has been a noticeable improvement in drainage and soil condition overall.

“Our establishment costs are well down and that includes a halving of the fuel we use and a reduction in nitrogen requirements,” he says. “I have to say, there may be some truth in the statement that concludes that conventional farming is not sustainable.”