If you were paying close attention at the 2008 Cereals Event, you might just have noticed a new piece of kit called the Ferticast on the Opico stand. As the company’s managing director, James Woolway, now admits, most visitors didn’t give it a second look, dismissing it as silver version of the Variocast. But those growers that did spot it, and took time to stop and chat about the concept, helped shape the latest development of Opico’s till seeding concept.
The idea behind the Ferticast was that it would be mounted on a subsoiler beside the Variocast and could be used to place granular fertiliser in bands on top of the slots where the oilseed rape seed was sown.
The principal was sound, but there were drawbacks. The fertiliser had to be sown at the back of the till seeding unit so that the seed and fertiliser granules did not come into direct contact, the capacity of the Ferticast was limited – leading to extra downtime as it was refilled – and filling was awkward with today’s big bulk fertiliser bags.
Despite these issues, Opico did sell a handful of units, but more importantly the discussions Mr Woolway had with growers led to the development of a new system that has all of the advantages of the Ferticast, but with none of the drawbacks.
Called the Nitro-Jet, the new system, which will be launched at this year’s Cereals Event, now uses liquid fertiliser and a pump-based distribution system to spray narrow bands of fertiliser directly in front of the subsoiler legs on a till seeding unit. The action of the subsoiler then mixes the fertiliser into the soil where the seed can be placed without risk of scorching.
In its standard, subsoiler-mounted format, the Nitro-Jet system has a 600-litre fertiliser tank. That might not sound all that much bigger than the 400-litre hopper on the Ferticast, but in fact the different specific weights of the granulated and liquid fertilisers means that the new system can hold 80% more nitrogen and, therefore, work for 80% longer before stopping to refill. And when you do refill, the high-capacity pump on the Nitro-Jet will refill the 600-litre tank in less than a minute.
While Opico is keen to supply the Nitro-Jet system for its own He-Va Subsoiler till seeding units, the company is also supplying the system as an aftermarket kit to be fitted to any make of subsoiler. As well as the standard 600-litre machine-mounted tank, an optional 800-litre tank can also be specified, as well as 600 and 1,000-litre tanks that can be carried on the front linkage where space is limited on the subsoiler.
The standard kit comes with piping and fittings for five spray jets (for a five-leg subsoiler), although additional spray units and customised distribution manifolds can be supplied to suit any machine. The whole set-up is controlled by an electronic control system that facilitates ground-speed-related rate control and on-the-move rate adjustment. That means that you can set up the machine to apply the same rate across the whole field no matter what speed you are travelling at, or change the rate at different point in the field depending on soil nutrient levels.
James Woolway said that while till-seeding had been developed as purely a cost-saving exercise, allowing you to sow seed while cultivating, the system had developed into much more.
“As well as reducing establishment costs and allowing a faster turnaround, till-seeding also: conserving moisture in the soil; reducing traffic on the land; improving the soil structure; allowing better plant growth; and resulting in stronger plants,” he said. “The result is better yields at lower cost.”
But as arable farmers faced new challenges, till-seeding, and the Nitro-Jet system in particular, could now offer new solutions.
“We saw poor autumn growth in 2007 and 2008, with the cold, wet conditions last year proving especially challenging and leading to crop failures as well as the danger of reduced yield and income,” Mr Woolway said. “But by applying fertiliser at seeding you can boost the crop at establishment to ensure better autumn growth and increased viability before the winter sets in.
“High fertiliser prices are another challenge we face, but using the Nitro-Jet you get precise application that only puts the fertiliser where it’s needed; you don’t fertilise weeds. And by applying the fertiliser while seeding, you’re saving the cost of an extra pass with another tractor – costing up to £10/ha – as well as avoiding the extra stress that pass would put on the soil.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Mr Woolway added that with the extension of NVZs, the Nitro-Jet allowed better control of the way fertiliser was used.
“The electronic control system for the Nitro-Jet will provide a high level of traceability for the use of nitrogen on the farm, but the band spraying effect has an even more important benefit,” he said. “While there may be limits on the total quantity of fertiliser that you can apply in the autumn, the Nitro-Jet allows you to only put that fertiliser where it is needed.
“In effect, if you are only applying fertiliser to one third of the field, the parts getting sprayed can get three times the application rate while the field as a whole remains within NVZ limits.”
The front-mounted tank (top) and spray nozzle in front of the subsoiler leg (right). |
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Agronomically sound
According to Masstock’s Northern technical development manager, Philip Marr, one of the keys to successful oilseed rape production was seedbed nutrition.
“As Justus von Liebig stated about 150 years ago, ‘the level of crop production can be no greater that that allowed by the most limiting of the essential growth factors’,” he said.
In the case of oilseed rape, nitrogen could be a limiting factor at establishment, especially in a cold year where only limited mineralisation was taking place.
“The big demand for nitrogen is in the first five weeks after planting, so placing fertiliser where the young plants can make use of it will make a big difference in a difficult year,” Mr Marr added. “And don’t automatically deduct the autumn-applied fertiliser from your spring nitrogen application – instead rely on the green area index to set your spring rates.”
While it was still too early to tell if the autumn nitrogen would affect final yield, Masstock trials had already shown that seed planted using a till-seeder fitted with the Ferticast system had gone into the winter much stronger and remained more advanced that seed planted without fertiliser.
“Of course nutrition is only part of the jigsaw of elements that result in a successful crop,” Mr Marr said. “The condition of the soil is one of the most important factors and the best thing you can do before sowing the crop is to dig a pit to assess the soil so that you can use the most appropriate method for establishing the crop.
“The aim is to maximise seed-to-soil contact and to lock in moisture by using sufficient consolidation, while ensuring that there is no impediment in the soil structure for tap root growth.”
For more information visit: http://www.opico.co.uk/.
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The subsoiler-mounted Nitro-jet system holds 600 litres of liquid fertiliser. |
