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 first time, Lemken appears in these listings – the German company having launched a completely new product line at this week’s Agritechnica show.

See also: Herts firm invests in monster 15t, 18m Horsch Avatar drill

Aerworx

New Viper double-disc and Cobra single-disc models replace the previous DT1, bringing additional features and options – including fertiliser placement – while retaining a simple, mechanical design and a price that is affordable for small- to medium-sized farms.

Bednar

Bednar Directo © Bednar

A new 12m version has been added at the top of Bednar’s Directo NE line-up, with 48 coulters spaced 250mm apart and providing up to 300kg of downforce, a 6,000-litre split hopper for seed and fertiliser, and a transport width of 3m.

Erth

Imported by Dales Agri Sales Agency, new Erth Agriseeder direct drills are designed primarily for establishing grass, fodder crops and cereals.

E-series models have a simple setup with a 3m working width, 24 rows giving 125mm spacings, and a 170-litre plastic hopper.

Folding 6m Agriseeders are another new addition and share most of their features with the mid-range Pro series.

These come with a 125mm row spacing, standard E-drive 7in touchscreen display with a built-in camera, a 2.8m transport width and options including a secondary Erth-designed hopper, hydraulic front harrow, rear harrow and a choice of consolidation rollers.

KRM

KRM GS300 © KRM

Recently launched GS 300 direct grass seeding drills have been added to the Yorkshire firm KRM’s range, with a 3m working width and a choice of hopper capacities from 300-2,000 litres.

Tanks can be split to carry fertiliser as well as seed, and a secondary hoppers are also available with integral metering of a third product.

Coulters specially designed for grass have a 400mm diameter and a notched opener to cut into the sward, while the shallow 5deg working angle is said to minimise surface disturbance and allow slots to be easily closed and firmly sealed by the following prism roller.

A clever weight transfer system applies reduces the need to load extra ballast onto the implement when working on hard ground, keeping the drill weight to a minimum and allowing it to be used smaller tractors.

Lemken

The NT (No-Till) 600 marks Lemken’s first appearance in the disc coulter direct drill listings.

There are two versions, both trailed with a 6m working width and 167mm row spacing – one has a 4,400-litre single compartment hopper and the other a split setup of 5,100 litres for simultaneous seed and fertiliser application.

MA/AG

UK importer Ryetec will continue parts and service support for Italian-made Sicura drills, even though importation of complete new machines has now ceased.

Maschio Gaspardo

Increased demand for smaller, cost-effective direct drills suitable for cover crops means Maschio Gaspardo UK is now promoting its Diretta 3m model more extensively throughout the UK.

The Diretta comes in seed-only or seed and fertiliser versions with 156mm or 180mm row spacings.

Novag

Novag T-ForcePlus 750 © Novag

The Novag T-ForcePlus 750 comes in 7.2m (30 x 240mm, 36 x 200mm) and 7.5m (30 x 250mm) working widths, filling a gap between existing 650 and 850 models.

It is the first with IntelliHead, a new generation of distributor heads with advanced individual row section control and seed flow monitoring, and it’s compatible with isobus DDOP.

This adds manual control of active rows to achieve multiples of standard spacing for crops such as oilseed rape or maize.

The T-SlotPlus coulter system is shared with the rest of the Novag line-up, with working pressures of 100-500kg per unit to cut an inverted “T” into the soil to keep applied seed and fertiliser separate.

As well as the new working width, the 750 comes with a revised platform design, new ladders and a re-profiled 14,500-litre seed and fertiliser tank.

The French firm is also offering an “intelligent” applicator for mouse control in direct-seeded crops, utilising additional discs followed by torpedo-shaped tine coulters operating at 10-20cm depth behind the seed coulters of its T-ForcePlus-series drills.

Rodenticide is carried in a separate hopper with integrated metering, allowing dosing rates plus working depth adjustment on the move through the machine terminal.

SMS Agro

Appearing for the first time in Farmers Weekly’s Ultimate Guide, Czech-based manufacturer SMS Agro offers disc coulter direct drills from 2.5-4m.

The company currently has four UK dealers: Barcho Machinery, Robert H Crawford & Sons, The Small Bale Company, and K&K Whistance.

Vaderstad

Vaderstad Proceed V24 © Vaderstad

The Proceed V24 is a 6m, 24-row precision drill capable of operating at 225 or 250mm row spacings with seed supplied from a 2,200-litre hopper.

Seed is held in place on rotating discs using positive air pressure, singulated, then propelled down tubes of identical length to the coulters by air flow.

Pre-consolidation wheels ahead of the coulter prepare the ground, ahead of row cleaners, a stop wheel that places seed into the base of the furrow and a pair of closing wheels that seal and firm the slot.