One of the machines likely to draw big crowds at this year’s two Tillage 2007 events is Opico’s Sabre-Seeder. Co-developed with Danish cultivator firm HE-VA, it’s a single-pass way of establishing cereal crops at low cost.

Two rows of angled, serrated discs are responsible for both cultivating and seeding, with seed dropped through outlets on the convex side of each disc to drop seed in the freshly-worked soil.

Seed comes from a 1500-litre hopper via a Rauch metering system and is blown to the outlets by a hydraulically driven fan. A rubber press-roller then runs behind to consolidate the seedbed.

Opico says the unit can be used to put seed straight into stubble or it can work into land that’s already been cutlivated.

Rigid 3m and 4m machines and folding 4m, 4.8m and 6m versions will be offered. Opico says 3m machines are available for demo this year and the first units will be on sale at the end of this year. Prices for the 3m and 4m rigid units are £24,729 and £26,806 respectively.