Auto shut-off for sprayers and fertiliser spreaders is well established, but slurry kit has been relatively slow to benefit from the technology – until now.

Belgian firm Joskin says its slurry injectors and spreading booms will be getting the technology.

Its Isobus-based section control system means it can automatically open and close the different sections of a slurry injector or spreading boom. As with fert spreaders, an outer GPS antenna sends out the position of the unit and compares it with the previously recorded positions so that it can close the sections on areas which have already been covered.

Given the ever more strict control of ammonia losses from slurry spreading, the system should help meet legal requirements as well as avoiding overlaps, especially on headlands and around corners and when dodging other obstacles.

Hydraulic or pneumatic shut-off valves pinch off the pipes in 1m sections across the 12m width of the firm’s Pendislide spreading boom. Outer sections on each side can be treated as one unit to give a precision of 20cm.

On adjacent runs, only the outer hose will stop being fed if the driver gets too close to the last row of the previous passage. The timing of this can be configured by the operator. To avoid having too much space between two adjacent passages, the operator will be able to adjust the process so that it can be activated when the overlapping reaches 50%.

The Isobus box immediately notices the pressure and flow differences resulting from the section breaking and alters the main feeding valve of the macerator accordingly to keep the right application volume.