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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

CULTIVATORS

Adjustable wing helps Amazone cultivator adapt to soil

Amazone has introduced an adjustable 360mm-wide wing share for its Cenius and Cenio mounted cultivators that’s designed to work in a range of soil types and conditions. By mounting the…

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: Claydon Evolution big improvement over Hybrid

Three years after investing in a 3m Claydon Hybrid to speed up crop establishment, Thomas Langley had picked up sufficient extra contracting work to find himself on the back foot…

CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Smart-Control system for latest 3-15m Einbock tine harrows

Tine weeders for arable and vegetable crops have become more sophisticated with the introduction of Smart-Control for Einbock’s flagship harrow, the Aerostar-Fusion. Available in six sizes from 3m to 15m,…

CEREAL DRILLS

Horizon develops lightweight M-spec DSX no-till drill

Horizon Agriculture has put its DSX no-till disc drill on a serious diet, creating a lightweight version that’s suited to smaller farms. Coulters on the M:DSX are the same undercut…

CEREAL DRILLS

Novag shows 9m, 18t tracked T-ForcePlus 950 drill

Some careful manoeuvring was required to get the latest T-ForcePlus drill on Novag’s show stand. With wings that fold out to 9m, a tracked undercarriage, a monster 7,700-litre hopper and…

Cultivation and drilling reviews and tests

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CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: Claydon Evolution big improvement over Hybrid

Three years after investing in a 3m Claydon Hybrid to speed up crop establishment, Thomas Langley had picked up sufficient extra contracting work to find himself on the back foot…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: 6m Weaving GD trumps old version

After five years of running a 4.8m Weaving GD drill on the 500ha arable he farms with his father, Edward, Henry Muntz decided to upgrade to a new 6m model.…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: Sky Easy Drill

Cambridgeshire grower Edward Davison picks out the best and worst points of his Sky Easy Drill, which he bought in 2016 when his crop yields were hammered by a high…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's view: John Hawkins' Simtech T-Sem drill

Simtech’s T-Sem no-till drill uses a disc and inverted T-shaped coulter to establish a crop without the need for any prior cultivation. We visit Dorset farmer John Hawkins to see…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: New 6m Amazone Cayena replaces old

One Yorkshire business has been so content with the performance of its 2013 Amazone Cayena that it plumped for a like-for-like replacement when trading it in three seasons ago. The…

TILLAGE-LIVE

Tillage-Live's top cultivators and drills put to the test

Visitors to last week’s Tillage-Live event were treated to another September scorcher as the mercury touched 30C at Monks Kirby, Warwickshire. Here Farmers Weekly’s Machinery team presents some of the latest cultivators, drills…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: 6m Virkar Dynamic DC

Two years on from its arrival at Ralph Castle’s 170ha Oxfordshire arable farm, the 6m Virkar Dynamic DC looks as if it could play a prominent role in finally getting…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: Horsch Avatar 6.16 SD

Few farmers will have first-hand experience of quite as many direct drills as father-and-son team Lionel and Edward Shaw. Having got a taste for a low-till approach during a trip…

MACHINERY

Maize drills - what's on the market

The tediously slow job that used to be drilling maize is being transformed by a new generation of machines that work with precision at much faster speeds. Peter Hill reports…

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

Driver's View: Steve Heard's John Deere 750A drill

Leicestershire farmer Steve Heard imported and assembled his own John Deere no-till drill – he gives us his verdict on how it has performed, what he most likes about it…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: Tom Hounsfield's Sumo DD drill

Lincolnshire farmer Tom Hounsfield gives us his verdict on the adapted Sumo DD no-till drill he bought in 2015. He tells us why he switched to no-till, his likes and…

Cultivation and drilling buying advice

Cultivation and drilling insights and practical advice

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CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

How to crack down on costly soil compaction

Improved on-farm understanding and use of tillage equipment combined with better use of tyre technology could be key to cutting costly soil compaction. Damaged soils are estimated to cost UK…

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…

TECHNOLOGY

Aqua Till waterjets offer ingenious alternative to coulters

Just when you thought variable rate, variable depth, turn compensation and limitless fertiliser combinations had taken drilling technology to its limit, the rule book has been blasted open once again.…

SOILS

How to raise headland yields by cutting soil compaction risk

Yields on field headlands are typically 10% lower than the rest of the field, which is why farmers will benefit from measures that minimise the impact of increased traffic on…

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…

PLOUGHING AND CULTIVATION

Why no-till is profitable despite having a yield penalty

As machinery costs are the main driver of arable profit, no-till farms can afford to produce 1t/ha less wheat than their more conventional counterparts. Speaking at the Groundswell event in June, accountant…

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

Chain-linked disc harrows offer speedy stubble management

Chain-linked disc cultivators have yet to take off in the UK, but their simplicity, moderate power requirement and ability to incorporate stubbles at high speeds could change that. The versatility…

PLOUGHING AND CULTIVATION

Transition farm switch to strip-till boosts margins and soil

At a Farmers Weekly Transition project farm walk in Suffolk, Claydon Drill demonstrated how low-disturbance systems can boost soil health and improve margins. Claydon’s 360ha Gaines Hall arable farm and…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct tine drill 2023

In the Ultimate Guide listing for direct drills using tine coulters, Claydon has the most changes from the previous edition thanks to the changeover from the Hybrid to Evolution design.…

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…

Cultivation and drilling technology

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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

Aqua Till waterjets offer ingenious alternative to coulters

Just when you thought variable rate, variable depth, turn compensation and limitless fertiliser combinations had taken drilling technology to its limit, the rule book has been blasted open once again.…

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…

CULTIVATORS

Garford improves spec of super-accurate Robocrop guidance

Garford has launched the latest version of its super-accurate camera-based Robocrop guidance system. Now in its fourth generation, the kit comes with a compact touchscreen to speed up the process…

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CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Video: Horsch reveal drilling innovations and tillage tweaks

German implement maker Horsch is experiencing strong UK sales from its tillage and crop protection machines. However, with the uncertainty surrounding glyphosate regulation and Brexit, the company thinks that exploring…

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…

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…