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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

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…

ROLLS

Lamma 2026: NRH adds Stocks seeder to RollX GSD

By fitting a Stocks seeder to its RollX roller, Yorkshire-based NRH Engineering has created a multi-purpose rejuvenation tool. Buyers can spec either 610mm diameter Cambridge rings or a smooth ballasted…

Cultivation and drilling reviews and tests

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MACHINERY

12 no-till drills on show at farmer-organised demo day

Reduced-tillage drilling continues to gain popularity as farmers look for new ways to improve soil structure and reduce cultivation activity during the autumn. With that in mind, hundreds of growers headed…

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…

MACHINERY

Combination drill buyer's guide

Combination drills Host implements Buyer's Guide Min-till, strip-till and no-till may be all the rage but the once ubiquitous combination of power harrow and piggy-back seeder still retains a place…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s View: Jean-Baptiste Bady’s Claydon Hybrid 3m

Estate manager Jean-Baptiste Bady and farm manager Callum Orr, who run an arable operation at the world’s most northerly castle on the small central island of Shapinsay, Orkney, have picked…

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…

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…

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…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: David Bird's Primewest Cross Slot

Suffolk grower David Bird gives his verdict on the performance of the Primewest Cross Slot no-till drill. Find out how it works, its good points and what could be improved.…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: Novag TForcePlus 440 improves soil

Since we visited Andrew Tucker last year, he has put another autumn and spring season’s worth of work through the farm’s 4m Novag TForcePlus 440 drill. It has performed well…

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…

PLOUGHS

Six-furrow plough round-up: Specs and prices

If you thought the UK plough market was limited to a handful of well-known brands, think again. We suss out six-furrow offerings from 11 makers. For an implement that took…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's view: James Grandy's Amazone drill

Yorkshire farmer James Grandy runs through the good and bad points of his Amazone Cayena drill and how it has slotted into his establishment system. What drill are you using?…

Cultivation and drilling buying advice

Cultivation and drilling insights and practical advice

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DRILLING

Direct-drilling: Main findings from major five-year trial

Farming on heavy land in Leicestershire, Joe Stanley was skeptical that reducing cultivations by adopting a direct-drilling system would increase farm profitability and improve the environment. But after seeing the…

SOILS

Top tips to achieve more resilient and sustainable soils

One of the most common questions for farmers relating to “soil health” is how best to measure it and monitor progress once they have embarked on a mission to improve…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a trailed combination drill 2026

Amazone, Lemken and Maschio Gaspardo lay claim to the most notable changes in this year's buyer's guide to trailed combination drills. These implements pair disc coulters with a cultivation element…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct disc drill 2026

Buyers shopping for disc coulter-type direct drills next year will find there’s more choice than ever, with manufacturers adding a ruck of extra width and row options. And, for the…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct tine drill 2024

Two drill ranges from New Zealand – Aitchison and Duncan – and Kverneland make their debut in this year’s Ultimate Guide to tine coulter no-till drills. As usual, the guide…

TECHNOLOGY

How moisture-seeking drilling kit helps drought-hit Aussies

A new drilling outfit developed in Australia is using clever moisture-sensing tines to automatically alter sowing depth according to soil conditions. Moisture Planting Technologies (MPT), based in New South Wales,…

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

How, why and when to mole drain

Soggy fields, ruts deeper than your wellies and bubbling water from broken drains are all telltale signs your field drainage could do with a boost. It’s only in a wet…

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…

Cultivation and drilling technology

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CULTIVATORS

Topcon launches Norac-designed tillage depth control

Norac is well known in spraying circles for its boom levelling technology and now parent company Topcon has used the same principals to dive underground and develop a tillage depth…

TECHNOLOGY

How moisture-seeking drilling kit helps drought-hit Aussies

A new drilling outfit developed in Australia is using clever moisture-sensing tines to automatically alter sowing depth according to soil conditions. Moisture Planting Technologies (MPT), based in New South Wales,…

PEST MANAGEMENT

How a grower uses cultivations and tech to kill slugs

Slugs have been a major headache for North Yorkshire grower Graham Potter since he switched from a plough-based crop establishment system to direct drilling. But with proactive implementation of integrated…

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.…

Video

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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…

MACHINERY

Video: Autumn drilling season captured from the skies

After the success of last year’s harvest drone video we have been out with the cameras again, capturing autumn work in all its glory, from above. Our drones have flown over…

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…

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,…