Products to keep brassica seeds safe
Forage brassica crops provide an excellent source of energy and protein for grazing livestock at critical times of the year when the quantity and quality of pasture on offer is limiting livestock production.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the first Amazone seed drill – the 2m wide horse-drawn D1 launched in 1949.
Over the ensuing years, milestones have included the launch of the first seed drill combination, the RE reciprocating harrow carrying the D4 drill, in 1967. Indeed, this concept was so successful the company continues to produce thousands of drills each year that are mounted to PTO-driven KE rotary harrows and KG cultivators, or the non-powered CombiDisc.
In 1970 the company opened the Hude production facility in Oldenburg, Germany as a dedicated factory for drill and harrow production, employing experienced metalworkers who had been laid off in the collapse of the ship building industry in Northern Germany. The Hude facility continues to produce drill and harrow components, although assembly has moved to the nearby to the 18-line facility at Altmoorhausen.
Further highlights from the 1970s include the first commercially produced drill to offer a tramline system, the D7, while in the same era the EV Garant opened the door to 9m solo seeding and a 3m transport width, alongside the arrival of the NoTill drill as direct drilling became increasingly popular.
Eventually, the NT was replaced by the Primera which retained the same chisel opener principle but incorporated hydraulic folding and pneumatic seed conveyance.
Introduced in the 1990s, Airstar pneumatic seeders used a centralised metering system alongside a distribution head, feeding individual coulters via an air flow from the on-board fan. This offered the ability to completely empty the hopper, making it ideal for OSR and other small seeds where keeping a box drill covered over the full seeding width often resulted in large residues.
The introduction of pneumatic distribution systems also led to wider trailed drill working widths, such as on the Airstar Xact, and as farms continued to increase in area and min-till systems became popular, the larger tank capacity of the trailed Cirrus cultivator drill helped increase daily outputs.
The 250,000th seed drill left the factory in November 2019.
Can discarded beef skins become premium dog food? Would camel milk work for your morning flat white? These are just two of the questions that will be answered next week at an international conference in Palmerston North.
Meat the Need, New Zealand’s dedicated charity delivering locally sourced protein meals to food-insecure communities, is launching an online National Charity Auction.
The turmoil and challenges faced by the kiwifruit industry in the past 30 years were put to one side but not forgotten at a glitzy night for 400 kiwifruit growers and guests in Mt Maunganui recently.
The Government's passing of new freshwater management laws has been welcomed by farmers, but could cause some councils a headache.
Irrigation New Zealand chief executive Vanessa Winning is stepping down after four years in the role.
Free workshops focused on managing risk in sharefarming get underway this week.
OPINION: The country's dairy farmers will now also have a hand in providing free lunch for schools.
OPINION: The abrupt departure of Synlait chief executive Grant Watson could be a sign that Chinese company Bright Dairy, the…