Big drill investment pays off in healthy cost cuts
Big drill investment pays off in healthy cost cuts
A revamped drilling system is cutting crop establishment costs on a Shropshire farm. Robert Harris discovers how
AT first sight, Raby Farms Simba Freeflow drill may seem a bit of a luxury.
At nearly £20,000 before part exchange, it cost the estate at least 40% more than a replacement power harrow/drill combination unit, reckons farm manager, Andrew Lewis.
Take a closer look at the figures, and that initial high outlay soon makes sense. The drill is the heart of a new drilling system, and does the work of two combinations, so has more than paid for itself in two seasons, says Mr Lewis.
Until autumn 1995, the 613ha (1515 acres) of arable crops at Grange Farm, Uppington, near Telford, were sown using two 3m (10ft) combination drills. Feed wheat is the biggest crop, taking 364ha (900 acres). First and second wheats are grown on the mainly easy working sandy loams with some continuously cropped on heavier clay.
Mixed cropping
About 105ha (260 acres) of winter barley, 69ha (170 acres) of oilseed rape and smaller areas of winter linseed and peas are also grown. The balance is down to sugar beet and set-aside.
Each drill was pulled by a 115hp turbocharged Ford 7610; the two covered about 18-20ha (45-50 acres) a day. A five and a six-furrow plough worked just ahead of them, with another tractor rolling before and after the drills and slotting in with an extra power harrow on heavier areas.
That made a weatherproof system. "Working the drills tight behind the ploughs meant they were drilling into moist soil in a dry season. In a wet one, the soil ploughed up relatively dry," says Mr Lewis.
While the system worked well – wheat yields have averaged more than 7.4t/ha (3t/acre) for the past 10 years – it was not cheap. Mr Lewis reckons combination drilling cost £32/ha (£13/acre). Wider machines were tried, but he found them heavy with high power requirements, and unlikely to lower costs.
A demonstration of the Simba drill in autumn 1994 convinced him that was where the future lay. "It made a better job than the power harrow, was much faster and needed no more power to pull it," he says.
For the past two seasons it has drilled most of the combinable crops on the farm. Typical drilling speeds of 8mph means it can cover the same amount of ground as the two combination outfits it replaced, ensuring all combinable crops, apart from those after sugar beet, are drilled between Sept 20 and Oct 15.
Less downtime
The 15cwt hopper is filled from big bags or tote bins to minimise downtime. Most fields are about 16ha (40 acres) so work rates of 20-24ha (50-60 acres) a day are common. That higher output, coupled with reduced labour and power input and lower depreciation (Mr Lewis expects the drill to last six years, twice the life of a combination unit) has cut the cost of drilling to about £20/ha (£8/acre).
"The drill is basically running on ploughing. In good conditions, the ground is rolled in front using a heavy Twose roller. Occasionally a power harrow is still used to knock down heavier bits of ground."
The 125hp Ford 8340 or Steyr 9115 which pull the drill run on wide Michelin 600s run at about 0.7 bar (10psi). That minimises compaction, although some of the leading tines on the drill, usually not used on ploughing, can be used as wheel track eradicators.
A 3m Sumo press is still used up front, but rubber tyres have replaced cast iron – that metal, high speed and stones makes a fragile combination. "The Simba has no levelling bar, and the press helps to consolidate the seed-bed," comments Mr Lewis. "That improves establishment, and also helps to stop the steel roller on the front of the drill from bulldozing." A rubber-tyred option on the drill may be a better bet, he feels.
The drills following harrows tend to flick stones back to the surface, so ground is rolled again after drilling where possible.
At first, Mr Lewis stuck with the ploughs. Now a Simba Maximix, a combination of tines, discs and a press is used on cereal stubbles destined for oilseed rape, and on rape, pea and linseed stubble destined for cereals, further eroding costs.
A light cultivation is used to chit weeds and volunteers, except where ground is subsoiled once every four years. One pass with the Maximix then creates enough tilth for the Freeflows tines to produce a final seed-bed. Mr Lewis calculates minimum cultivation will save almost £5/ha (£2/acre).
"It allows us to prepare more ground earlier – the semi seed-beds tend to dry quickly if they are rained on. And it is cheaper than ploughing." With no blackgrass or sterile brome, weed worries are few. Volunteers are either controlled mechanically or are taken out in the following crop. *
Initial high price of the Simba Freeflow drill is more than offset by savings on establishment costs, says Raby Farms manager, Andrew Lewis.
Reducing the costs of establishment will be a key feature of Cultivations 97. The event takes place on Tues, Sept 9 at Shuttleworth Farms, Biggleswade, Beds, where over 40 exhibitors will demonstrate cultivation and drilling tackle on clay soils from 10am-3.30pm. Entry: £5 (EEAS members free). Details from EEAS: 01733-234451.
Raby Farms establishment costs
(£/ha)
————–
Traditional method
Subsoiling (1 in 4 yrs) 7.00
Plough35.00
Combination drill32.00
Roll (x2)15.00
—
Total89.00
————–
Simba + plough
Subsoiling (1 in 4 yrs) 7.00
Plough35.00
Simba drill20.00
Roll (x2)15.00
—
Total77.00
————–
Minimal cultivation
Subsoiling (1 in 4 yrs)/
cultivate (3 in 4 yrs)14.50
Maximix23.00
Simba drill20.00
Roll (x2)15.00
—
Total72.50
REDUCING COSTS
• One Simba Freeflow replaced two combination drills.
• Higher work rates.
• Reduced costs.
• Further savings from minimal cultivation.
• Better establishment and crop health.