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All articles about Root crop equipment

Potatoes, carrots, sugar beet and other root and vegetable crops play an important role in farm crop rotation, so our machinery pages cover latest developments in hoeing, weeding, seeding, planting and harvesting, highlighting latest techniques to save costs and improve efficiency.

Advice and tips

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Tips for buying a second-hand self-propelled beet harvester

Although the second-hand self-propelled beet harvester market has suffered as the sugar beet area and price slumped, there’s still a steady demand from budget conscious buyers. While machines are still…

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Case studies

ROOT CROP HARVESTERS

Sugar beet chaser beats sticky ground for Suffolk contractor

Wretched winter weather hasn’t got in the way of sugar beet lifting for Suffolk-based arable, pig and contracting outfit PH Hammond, thanks to a canny investment in a converted harvester.…

ROOT CROP HARVESTERS

Driver’s view: Holmer T4.30 self-propelled beet harvester

When British Sugar shut its West Midlands factories in the mid 2000s, the area’s beet growers and lifting contractors were left severely in the lurch. With no outlet for the…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

High-tech potato-grading line ups profits for Cornish grower

Potato producers are facing tricky times, with ballooning costs squeezing profits and seasonal staff increasingly difficult to source since the UK left the EU. To make itself more resilient to…

ROOT CROP CHASERS

Root crop transfer trailer slashes potato harvesting costs

A Norfolk potato business has purchased a Brettmeister K3 transfer trailer for this year’s harvest in the hope of adding some extra slickness to an already efficient harvesting operation. Over…

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Insights

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

How alternative potato desiccation systems performed in 2022

Two alternative means of desiccating potato crops were trialled during the 2022 season and both machines offer potential, although more work is planned to optimise use in British conditions. The…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Buyer's guide: Camera-guided sugar beet hoes

Mechanical methods formed the backbone of in-crop weed control in sugar beet before herbicides arrived, and some farms have continued with both approaches to this day. However, with rising input…

ROOT CROP HARVESTERS

How to decide between trailed or propelled spud harvesters

As the potato harvest rumbles on, the efficiency and reliability of the kit being used to get the spuds out of the ground is undoubtedly being scrutinised. With a shortage…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Haulage logistics considered after bumper sugar beet crop

This year looks like a bumper crop for British Sugar, with an estimated total yield of 1.4m tonnes of sugar. This is up 0.5m tonnes on last year thanks to…

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News

ROOT CROP HARVESTERS

Grimme’s revamped RH receiving hoppers get more throughput

Grimme has launched a new generation of receiving hoppers that promises greater throughput and more delicate crop handling. Most of the improvements come in the hopper area, with all three…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

High-output Standen bed tiller slashes running costs

Standen Engineering has revealed a new version of its Powavator rotary tiller, which is said to offer higher work rates and lower running costs than previous models. The firm purchased…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Grimme revamps three-bed potato haulm topper

Haulm toppers are now an essential piece of kit on the majority of potato farms and Grimme has updated its offering with the launch of the imaginatively named Toppa range.…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Standen develops new four-row trailed potato planter

A sharp rise in popularity of four-row self-propelled potato harvesters has prompted Standen Engineering to design a new trailed SR400 four-row, offset cup planter to match up both operations on…

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Test and reviews

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Potato haulm toppers: What are the options?

The loss of broad-spectrum contact herbicide diquat didn’t come as a surprise, but the months of speculation finally ended when its scheduled withdrawal was announced late last year. While a…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Four-row planter and rotavator combo speeds up spud planting

A gang of six companies led by root crop specialist Niagri has co-operated to produce one of the most impressive potato planting rigs in the UK. The combination of a…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Root-crop chasers take the headache out of harvest haulage

One company making a root-crop chaser bin is interesting, two could be a coincidence, but when five begin building them it can safely be considered a trend. The reason for…

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

High-spec root crop loader speeds veg harvesting

Farmers aren’t being deterred by the huge asking prices for high-spec cleaning and haulage equipment for veg and root crops Grimme’s latest field loader, which costs £250,000, demonstrates that technology…

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Video

ROOT CROP EQUIPMENT

Two mechanical weed pullers to save on hand rogueing

Hand rogueing is the established but tedious means of cleaning sugar beet crops of tall weeds that have survived inter-row cultivation or a herbicide programme. So it will come as…

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