Menu

All articles about Cereal drills

Drills have divided opinion amongst farmers like never before, however they still have one of the most important jobs on the farm; to safely get seed into the ground and giving it the best start in life. Here you’ll find reviews from operators and owners on the best and worst points of their drill, along with launches from manufacturers of the latest technology and models. There is also a nod to farmer-built machines and how these can save thousands on buying a shiny new model.

Advice and tips

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…

MACHINERY

6 options for mounted 6m tine drills

With unrelenting wet and snowy weather halting many spring drilling campaigns across the country over the past few weeks, many growers that have eventually got a chance to get some…

Upgrade improves OSR drilling without cost of new machine

Growers considering a shift away from the "subcast" technique of establishing oilseed rape to improve the performance and economic viability of their crops are being offered an upgrade that enables…

See all

Case studies

CEREAL DRILLS

Angus grower builds custom single-pass drill to save labour

Jettisoning his power harrow drill in favour of a bespoke single-pass rig has allowed Arbroath arable and spud grower Craig Reekie to dramatically streamline his seeding operations. The Anglo-German mash-up…

CEREAL DRILLS

How Limavady farmer built versatile drill on the cheap

Tired of Limavady’s persistent rainfall hampering the use of his trailed disc drill, Alistair Craig hatched a plan to build a less weather-dependent alternative. Key criteria were that it should…

CEREAL DRILLS

Beds farmer builds 6m low-disturbance drill for wet ground

Nothing gets the cogs of a creative mind whirring quite like the pitter-patter of rain on the workshop roof when there’s field work to get done. With Green End Farm’s…

CEREAL DRILLS

Yorkshire farmer assembles a pair of tine drills for £10k

Recent autumn drilling campaigns have been a real slog for crop producers, with periods of extreme weather limiting work windows and leading to poor establishment. And that's all the more…

See all

Community

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2025: Richard Darling’s low-disturbance drill

Richard Darling won third place in our complex category. With wet weather proving to be kryptonite for Green End Farm’s Horsch Sprinter, he decided to build an insurance policy. Previous…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2025: Craig Grant’s Kinair bean and OSR drill

Aberdeenshire farmer Craig Grant is our complex category runner-up. He built a 3m bean drill after committing to incorporating more home-grown protein into his hens' ration. Rather than start from…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

FW Inventions Comp 2023: Karl White's budget direct tine drill

In a bid to slash the manpower, horsepower and time required to establish crops on his heavy arable land near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Karl White built a one-pass combination drill.…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

FW Inventions Comp 2022: Tom Carnell's OSR drill

Tom Carnell’s oilseed rape drill has won highly commended in our Inventions Competition. Agricultural engineering and electronics specialist Tom Carnell built a custom low-disturbance oilseed rape seeder for a customer…

See all

Insights

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…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct tine drill 2025

New drills, and all-new drill ranges, are among the headlines for this year’s Ultimate Guide to direct drills sporting tine coulters. Bramleys Seed Establishment and Grange Machinery feature as seeder…

See all

News

CEREAL DRILLS

Lemken launches trailed 6m Solitair PT combi-drill

Fans of power harrow seed drill combinations can go to 6m with a trailed implement now that Lemken has introduced the Solitair PT. Complementing the manufacturer’s tractor-mounted 8+ and MR…

CEREAL DRILLS

Horizon Ag takes mounted MDSX no-till drill to 9m

Having taken the trailed DSX no-till drill to 9m last year, Horizon Agricultural Machinery has followed suit with the mounted variant, now available in 7.5m, 8m and 9m sizes for…

CEREAL DRILLS

Sky adds lower-cost coulters to Progress harrow drill

Simpler and lighter single-disc coulters are a new option for the Sky Agriculture (formerly Sulky) Progress piggy-back air drill. The established P30 coulter design is already used on the manufacturer’s…

CEREAL DRILLS

Alpego returns with Dtek power harrow combi drill

Opico has relaunched Alpego’s Dtek power harrow drill following increased demand for the improved weight distribution of a front-and-rear combination. The 350hp-rated power harrow unit comes with quick-fit, drop-forged tines…

See all

Test and reviews

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: 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…

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

Direct drills revisited: Mzuri Pro-Til 3T out, Avatar in

The transition from multi-pass cultivations to a no-till system is all but complete at Gillshaw Farm, the final piece of the puzzle coming last summer with the switch from a…

See all

Video

CEREAL DRILLS

Flexrow concept offers quick drill row width adjustment

A Swedish company has designed a drill toolbar that allows for quick adjustments of row spacing to suit particular crops and varieties. Landberg Solutions' Flexrow concept was trialled last year…

ARABLE

Video: Grower cuts fuel costs as new drill hits blackgrass

The need to slash soaring fuel costs while tackling blackgrass at the same time has led to a wholesale change in establishment system on one Leicestershire estate. Farming 1,130ha of…

See all