Horsch: Setting standards in plant protection technology

Avatar SD raises the bar on the integral fill single disk drill market, taking it to a whole new level.

Sowing methods for direct drilling from Horsch

Michael Horsch, among others, explains where which sowing method fits best, how it is used, and which preparations are required. The focus will be on the disc and tine technology.

Which technology fits where?

“From our past we have a lot of experience with tine systems for direct seeding“, Michael Horsch summarises. The Airseeder technololgy and then the Sprinter line with the different tools have always been optimised and adapted further over the years. Today, they offer a lot of options – from direct seeding with only little disturbance of the soil to an almost all-over work.

Tine technology is used, for example, in regions where farmers want to sow immediately after the harvest in fresh residues of the previous crop, such as rape or catch crops. The seed tine has a clearing character and leaves a clean seed furrow for a good soil contact of the seed.

“In the past 10 years, we also dealt more and more intensely with direct seeding with discs“ Michael Horsch explains. Especially in regions with a lot of water or in very dry conditions you need a sowing technology that moves considerably less soil than a tine coulter. In Brazil, for example, the customers want to sow below the straw of the previous crops or the catch crop. If too much “open soil“ is left behind, the erosion risk increases considerably and soil temperature rises significantly because of the lack of soil cover.

From an agronomic point of view, the HORSCH Avatar SingleDisc seed coulter has been optimised for as little soil movement as possible and a precise placement of the seed. “The seed coulter of our Avatar opens an extremely small furrow and places the seed very precisely at the bottom of the furrow. The adjustable closing wheel provides the required soil cover.

The Cultro’s double knife roller boasts minimum effort for maximum hectare output

Sowing in wheat straw with disc technology

However, not all straw is the same. You have to differentiate between the different crops that generate different amounts of straw and, of course, the characteristics of the residues.

“It is always an enormous challenge if you want to sow in white, i.e. fresh wheat, barley or rye straw. Immediately after the harvest, the straw is very tough and not easy to cut. Sowing with disc technology involves the risk of the straw being pressed into the seed slot. As a result, seed-soil contact and emergence may suffer.

“In this case, trash discs are a great help, but only if the row spacing is 25 cm.” In direct seeding, brittle straw is much easier to handle. “If after the harvest there are four to five weeks of sunshine and perhaps a rain shower every now and then, wheat straw for example can be cut considerably easier with a disc and the risk of the so-called “hairpinning” effect is reduced significantly.”

The Cultro is ideal for crushing catch crop populations in spring or autumn as well as for ultra-shallow stubble cultivation.

If it is necessary to sow into fresh straw immediately after the harvest, it makes sense to cultivate the residues a little bit beforehand. A solution could be to drive over the field to align the straw and to bend it in advance. The resulting effect is the later the disc gets through more easily and draws less straw into the seed furrow. The Cultro is also very interesting regarding capillarity and water loss. “Even in very dry, dusty conditions you can still move the soil, even if it is only 1 to 2cm. This is enough to close the capillaries. This is extremely important. For if dry cracks are closed, residual moisture moves below the layer of dust on the surface. If you draw up moisture from the soil and then sow, there is the chance that the seed will germinate successfully.”

To take up the topic of cracks again: if there are cracks in the soil, they will get larger and larger in case of an increasing and continuing drought. The cracks act like a chimney, i.e. water escapes through these cracks and evaporates. This, of course, complicates sowing and germination considerably. “A clayey soil will dry like concrete the longer the sun shines on it”. In this case, you have to close the cracks beforehand. Experiences from the past two years show that, in this respect, too, the Cultro is an excellent tool that requires only little effort.

The Leeb PT powers up! Self Propelled Sprayer

New PowerGear and HighPowerGear gearboxes improves its climbing ability. The new Leeb PT is available with two gearbox versions; PowerGear and HighPowerGear. Both offer improved power application to the wheels over the outgoing PT 280, which was already ahead of the competition.

The new transmissions offer infinitely variable speeds from 0- 50 km/h and have been specially optimised for the use in the plant protection sector with high efficiency factor in the main working range.

Intelligent all-wheel drive dynamically distributes drive torque to provide the best traction control for every tyre. Larger wheel motors at the rear axle means higher driving power at rear and enables the Leeb PT to manage any terrain easily. For those in very demanding conditions, HighPowerGear has even more torque at the wheel for the highest performance in the field.

The new ComfortDrive chassis concept offer a new level of driving comfort. The ComfortDrive chassis with central frame and hydro-pneumatically spring-loaded individual wheel suspension is a completely new development. Active level regulation provides superb driving comfort on the road, in the field and on slopes. The wheel hub drive provides automatic load-dependent stepless drive and an anti-slip control.

The front cabin layout optimises weight distribution and the all-new cabin offers excellent visibility and space. The new ErgoControl armrest focuses on simple, safe and comfortable handling of all sprayer function. To guarantee maximum user protection the spacious cabin features Category 4 air filters to clean the cabin air.

In short: The PT offers almost infinite variability for highest requirements on technology and on driving experience.

Contact CLAAS EASTERN / CLAAS WESTERN / CLAAS MANNS / OLIVERS or HAMBLYS for Horsch cultivation, seeding, crop protection and a second-to-none service.