The Scottish Farmer - 23 June 2007
 Growers impressed with OPICO’s Till-Seeding approach to low cost establishment of oilseed rape can apply similar principles to cereal crops using the new Sabre Seeder.
Designed to finish its own seed bed while sowing – and also to prepare a stale seedbed if necessary – the implement uses serrated discs as coulters and drops seed behind and slightly to one side of each disc where it is covered by soil thrown across by the adjoining one.
“When talking to farmers about Till-Seeding for oilseed rape, I’m constantly asked whether the technique can be used for cereals,” says James Woolway of OPICO. “In principle it can, but unlike broadcasting rape-seed from the back of a subsoiler or cultivator, cereal seed needs better depth control.”
The Sabre Seeder is based on the Disc Roller cultivator made by Danish manufacturer HE-VA, but is far from simply an adapted cultivator, Mr Woolway emphasises. For one thing, it has a full-size Rauch seed hopper with integral metering and air distribution system as used on the HE-VA Fanterra plain disc coulter drills.
“We didn’t get it right first time but field experience on a dozen sites throughout the UK helped us refine the set-up,” he adds. “For example, the seed tube is now more in line with the disc arm to reduce the risk of collecting trash and the packer roller has been changed from steel to flexible rubber tyres to cope better in sticky conditions.”
A slightly narrower hopper will allow the folding 4m and larger versions to pack more neatly for road transport.
Each of the slightly dished Sabre cultivating/seeding discs is carried on an arm with rubber buffers that allow it to deflect when necessary while maintaining consistent depth control down to 4.5in.
When used as part of a Till-Seeding system, the Sabre Seeder’s surface cultivating performance will often be enough to get the job done with just one or two passes, Mr Woolway claims. That is because the soil structure benefits of broadcasting oilseed rape from a subsoiler the previous year should still be available to the following wheat crop.
Where easy soils type and conditions allow, a single pass on stubble should therefore be sufficient, and when a stale seedbed is needed for weed control, the implement can be used for a two-pass system, first as a cultivator with the sowing mechanism disengaged, then as a drill.
For second wheats, deeper soil loosening can be introduced by fitting HE-VA’s Combi-Lift subsoiler unit between the drawbar and frame.
The Sabre Seeder can also be used as part of a plough-based crop establishment system, Mr Woolway emphasises, with Shattaboard paddle levelling tines along the front to break clods and level the ground.
Two models are planned – a 3m unit retailing at £24,700 and a 4m version for £26,800. Ownership costs, thanks in part to the relative simplicity of the machine, which implies modest repair and maintenance requirements, are calculated at £30/ha for a single pass and £53/ha for two passes.
“A typical minimum tillage approach is more likely to cost £98/ha for a stubble cultivator and suitable drill, while ploughing is around £108/ha,” suggest James Woolway. “In the Sabre Seeder, we’re offering a relatively simple implement that can be used as both cultivator and drill, providing effective crop establishment at lower cost.”
For more details on the HE-VA Sabre Seeder Grain Drill click here.. |
