Feed pad with rubber matting hailed as game changer
For Otago farmers Michelle and Rogan Borrie, a newly constructed feed pad on one of their three farms has been a game changer.
Accurate, tailored fertiliser application plays a critical role in reducing costs and protecting the environment. The proven, disc-integrated system uses shortened blades for more accurate, flexible spreading along borders. This allows the machine’s settings to be adjusted to a specific spreading situation – such as a crop edge, boundary or water course, from the tractor cab.
“For example, if a paddock borders onto land with a similar crop, 100% of the application rate can be spread right up to the edge of the field using the side spreading function,” explains CLAAS Harvest Centre product specialist – Amazone, Steve Gorman.
“If the paddock borders a road or public footpath, the boundary spreading function reduces the maximum throwing distance and prevents fertiliser from being thrown across the border.”
Large-scale field trials, conducted over several years, have compared the performance of AutoTS system to conventional border spreading techniques under real-time, practical conditions.
Comparing calcium ammonium nitrate being spread at 24 metres, over three separate passes, the average yield of the five-metre border treated using a conventional border spreading system was only 68% of the main body of the paddock.
This increased to 85% when using the Amazone AutoTS system.
“This improvement can really add up in small or irregular-shaped fields because they have a higher proportion of border area,” Gorman adds.
The value generated by the AutoTS system, compared to conventional border spreading systems, can be estimated using an Amazone’s online calculator: www.amazone.net/border-spreading-calculator
