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Know How / Cultivation and drilling

News and user views on the latest cultivation techniques to optimise crop establishment, minimise environmental impact, improve soils and reduce costs through direct drilling, minimum tillage, conservation tillage – as well as traditional ploughing and drilling techniques.

Latest cultivation and drilling articles

CEREAL DRILLS

Pottinger downsizes Aerosem F seed drill with new 3m toolbar

Dividing the weight of a seed drill by carrying the hopper up front and the coulters out back produces a more balanced and manoeuvrable outfit than when everything is concentrated…

CULTIVATORS

Amazone Catros harrow gets factory-fitted slurry distributor

A new Pro version of Amazone’s Catros compact disc harrow comes with a factory-fitted slurry distribution system that allows buyers to complete shallow cultivations and apply nutrients in the same…

CEREAL DRILLS

Bolt-on kit adds compost teas and nutrients during drilling

Since moving to his North Yorkshire arable farm two-and-a-half years ago, Matt Emmett has been on a quest to breathe new life into its light-bodied soils. Prior to his arrival,…

CULTIVATORS

Pottinger adds harrow option to Plano shallow cultivator

A heavy-duty harrow is one of several new optional extras available on Pottinger’s high-speed Plano shallow tine cultivator. The three-row toolbar is designed to bolt in place of the rear…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Contractor builds tine toolbar drill

Trivett and Sons’ tine toolbar drill has been highly commended. After battling several challenging autumn campaigns, Lawrence Trivett, brother Alistair and dad Andrew decided to rethink their drilling fleet. That…

CEREAL DRILLS

Versatile 3m He-Va G-Drill sows grass and grain

Farmers looking for a do-it-all drill might find what they’re looking for in the latest He-Va catalogue, which now includes the 3m G-Drill. It comes with two rows of versatile…

Cultivation and drilling reviews and tests

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CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Driver's view: Jack Tooley's McConnel Seedaerator

McConnel’s Seedaerator is a single-pass strip-till dril that cultivates and seeds the crop in bands. Nottinghamshire farmer Jack Tooley talks us though the highs and lows of his machine. What…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: 5m Cross Slot delivering 7 years on

Spending £120,000 on a 5m Cross Slot drill has proved a worthwhile investment for Suffolk farmer David Bird. The aim of switching to the system from a Vaderstad Rapid seven…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: Sumo swapped for versatile Weaving

There have been some changes since Farmers Weekly last checked in at Chestnut Tree Farm, with Tom Hounsfield previously running day-to-day operations and drilling done with a custom 4m linkage-mounted…

PLOUGHS

On test: Kverneland's updated six-furrow LO plough

Kverneland has updated its long-serving LO plough range, most notably with a transport kit that promises to have it faithfully following the tractor on the road. The Trailer Transport System…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's View: Weaving GD drill

Henry Muntz reveals how his Weaving GD no-till drill has performed across his farm of Warwickshire clay loam. What drill are you using? We’ve got a 4.8m trailed Weaving GD…

PLOUGHS

First impressions: Kuhn Multi-Master L six-furrow plough

For risk-averse, geologically challenged or weather-beaten farms, few implements match the reliability and consistency of a plough. Sales of these time-honoured implements have now flatlined following a near decade-long drop…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: 10m Dale Eco XL

This year marked a decade of Dale Drills at Whiting Ash Farms in Malvern, Worcestershire, and David Fellows sees no prospect of that changing in the future. His latest model,…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's view: John Mair's Ma/Ag SSP drill

John Mair from March, Cambridgeshire, gives us the low down on his Ma/Ag no-till drill. He reveals the benefits to soil and cost, tells us how it has performed, and…

PLOUGHS

On test: Kverneland's new five-furrow 2300S plough

Decades pass with little change to the humble plough, so a raft of major updates to Kverneland's mid-range models was big news for buyers keen to turn a more consistent…

PLOUGHS

Video: On test - Hubert's seven-furrow plough

Late last year, Suffolk firm Agri-Hire agreed a deal to take on Dowdeswell’s engineering operation with a commitment to restarting plough production on a national scale. Dowdeswell folded last summer,…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's view: Robert Hinchcliffe’s Triton drill

We asked Yorkshire farmer Robert Hinchcliffe to run through the good points and bad points of his 3m-wide Triton drill and explain why he picked it.  What drill are you…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: Ralph Castle’s Virkar Dynamic DC drill

We find out how Oxfordshire arable farmer Ralph Castle has been getting on after 18 months with a Virkar Dynamic drill, which is playing a central role in his effort…

Cultivation and drilling buying advice

Cultivation and drilling insights and practical advice

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CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a trailed combination drill 2025

There are just a few changes to our Ultimate Guide to versatile trailed drills that deploy discs, tines or a power harrow to complete seed-bed preparation ahead of a bank…

PLOUGHING AND CULTIVATION

Trial shows best break crops and cultivation for wheat profit

Discussion around which cultivation approach is best has been a central theme of many a pub debate or magazine article in recent years. But 20 years of the long-term Sustainability…

CEREAL DRILLS

Spanish-made Virkar Dynamic adds to no-till drill options

The continued concerns over the future of key chemicals and the knock-on effect for those operating zero-tillage systems seem to have done little to stifle the direct drill market, with…

PLOUGHING AND CULTIVATION

Plough, min-till and no-till compared: year one

A major trial has been set up to find the most profitable and sustainable way to grow arable crops by comparing three different establishment systems over five years. Establishment systems…

BLACKGRASS

Why farmers should tailor blackgrass strategies to dormancy

Trials being carried out at a blackgrass research site in Cambridgeshire show that farmers can gain extra control of blackgrass with their integrated approach by taking seed dormancy results into…

CULTIVATORS

Tips for picking the best cultivator wearing metal

Replacing cultivator legs, wings and points can be a depressingly regular and ruinously expensive pastime for those working in the nation’s most abrasive soils. But instead of hunting around for…

SOILS

How trial is cracking calcite problem in high-calcium soils

A trial is looking at how to break up the hardened calcite layer which is being increasingly seen in some high-calcium soils. Independent soil consultant David Purdy highlights that the…

CEREAL DRILLS

How to fit a fertiliser kit to a John Deere drill

John Deere’s 750A drill is recognised as being one of the longest-serving no-till seeders used in Europe today. Other smaller manufacturers from around the globe are working hard to grab…

TECHNOLOGY

Video: Low-cost tool offers alternative to post-harvest spraying

A novel Aussie-designed mechanical weed-seeking tool is set to go into commercial production this year, offering growers a non-chemical, less weather-dependent alternative to pricey stubble spraying regimes. The Weed Chipper…

EVENTS

Latest high-speed disc cultivators set to work at Tillage-Live

Designed primarily for shallow cultivation of stubbles, the short disc cultivator, has become an increasingly popular farming tool – and so the makes, models, features and options available have multiplied. Underlining their appeal,…

CULTIVATORS

Side-shift linkage options deliver pinpoint crop weeding

Razor-sharp RTK guidance systems have nailed the art of driving tractors in arrow-straight lines, but they can’t deal with the inevitable wandering of implements on undulating ground and in changeable…

Cultivation and drilling technology

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MAIZE DRILLS

Seed and weed robot now geared for maize, beans and peas

A new sowing unit, designed to handle precision planting of large-seeded crops such as maize, beans and peas, should bring the FarmDroid autonomous seeding and weeding machine into the scope…

TECHNOLOGY

Autonomous robots drill a 50ha maize crop

Controlled by an app, a French technology company has built three highly accurate robots that are cultivating, drilling and caring for a 50ha crop of maize, completely autonomously. The project…

TECHNOLOGY

Video: Low-cost tool offers alternative to post-harvest spraying

A novel Aussie-designed mechanical weed-seeking tool is set to go into commercial production this year, offering growers a non-chemical, less weather-dependent alternative to pricey stubble spraying regimes. The Weed Chipper…

CULTIVATORS

Side-shift linkage options deliver pinpoint crop weeding

Razor-sharp RTK guidance systems have nailed the art of driving tractors in arrow-straight lines, but they can’t deal with the inevitable wandering of implements on undulating ground and in changeable…

Video

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CEREALS

Video: Machinery highlights from Cereals 2018

The Farmers Weekly machinery team headed to the southern site for the annual Cereals show, this year at Chrishall Grange in Cambridgeshire. Although several machinery manufacturers scaled back their stands,…

MACHINERY

3 Cereals videos: Top tractors, cultivation kit and sprayers

Machinery makers from across the globe flocked to Boothby Graffoe, Lincolnshire this week (10-15 June) for the annual Cereals 2015 event. We captured a few highlights from the tractor manufacturers, cultivation…

CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Video: Grower builds cover crop broadcaster for £3,000

A farm-built broadcaster costing less than £3,000 has given James Hopkinson the opportunity introduce cover cropping as part of a "regenerative" approach to the arable enterprises he manages. The tractor-mounted…

PLOUGHS

Video: On test - Hubert's seven-furrow plough

Late last year, Suffolk firm Agri-Hire agreed a deal to take on Dowdeswell’s engineering operation with a commitment to restarting plough production on a national scale. Dowdeswell folded last summer,…