increase font size
MF Agri’s Ben Ferguson says the Tempo does everything you need out of the box, including micro granular applications, precision planting and offering hydraulic downward pressure.
An Otorohanga contractor is embracing the accuracy provided by Väderstad Tempo precision planters.
MF Agri provides a full range of contracting services around the Waikato region, including groundwork, silage and baleage, as well as planting crops for its sheep, beef and dairy clients, many of whom were asking for section control.
MF Agri’s Ben Ferguson says they chose the Tempo for many reasons. He told Rural News the machine does everything you need out of the box, including micro granular applications, precision planting and offering hydraulic downward pressure.
The company’s Väderstad Tempo F8 is a trailed, eight-row planter with a 6m working width, set at 750mm row spacing. It has the ability to apply fertiliser and a 17-litre micro granule hopper, which is also used to apply slug bait when drilling into strip-tilled ground. Each individual seed and fertiliser hopper holds 70 litres and features its own auto shut-off.
MF Agri uses it both as a direct drill and to plant into cultivated ground. Main operator Oli Jenkins says there is no difference between planting directly into untilled ground or into strip-tilled ground. However, he reckons the best results are in cultivated ground after a rotary tiller.
The Tempo offers fast planting speeds thanks to its PowerShoot metering system that uses air pressure to control the seeds’ movement right down the tube until it is in the soil. “Everyone is in a hurry to get their crops in as fast as possible. With the Tempo we can get more work done,” adds Jenkins, who has planted at 15 km/h in good conditions.
While much of the consistency and accuracy is because of PowerShoot, chassis design also plays its part. The machine has four interconnected, hydraulically-controlled wheels on the frame, ensuring consistent planting depths – even on rough ground. The hydraulic system can apply up to 325kg coulter pressure, with adjustments and tweaks achieved via the iPad control function. Each planter unit has its own rate control, allowing for mixed plantings.
Calibration is said to be a straightforward, twominute job. This requires a sample to be weighed, the result entered to the tablet, from where an adjustment is made. Data gathered from each job is stored on the Gateway on each planter, meaning there is no issue should the iPad become lost. The information is also being sent wirelessly back to the office for invoicing or client reference.
“The Tempo has made it easier for us to pick up planting jobs because of its accuracy,” Ferguson says.
Farm races or laneways are central to moving animals, people and machinery around the farm. In the case of dairy farms, their maintenance is paramount as cows may walk considerable distances two or even three times a day.
With effluent becoming a more important part of farm management, particularly for its value as an alternative to “bagged” fertiliser, it is timely for the Power Farming Group to be introducing the Fliegl range of tankers.
It has been a year of new products and innovation at Numedic, the Rotorua-based manufacturer and exporter of farm dairy effluent equipment.
Australian agricultural equipment distributor, Waringa Distribution, has increased its support to South Island farmers and contractors with the appointment of Brown Agri Solutions at Hororata, near Christchurch, as a sales agent.
John Deere has started the New Year with the release of JDLink Boost, using a satellite connectivity solution to ensure customers continue seamless work in fields with little to no cellular coverage.
If a New Zealand wool carpet maker were to win the bid for the hotly debated Kainga Ora state housing contract, the benefits to New Zealand would be “far reaching”.
For the first time in 17 years, DairyNZ wants farmers to contribute more cash to run the industry-good organisation.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is bolstering its frontline applications teams in a bid to reduce the timeframe for new product applications, but agri chemical producers say that it isn't good enough.
New Zealand’s apple and pear industry has surpassed $1 billion in orchard gate returns (OGR) for the first time.
With less than a week to go before submissions close on the Government’s controversial Gene Technology Bill, two agribusiness executives - John Greenberg and Michael Henne - are calling on Fonterra to demand an extension to the submission period.
Just on two years ago Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc in Hawke's Bay causing massive damage to NZ's largest apple growing region.
OPINION: We are told there is a wine glut - production outstripping demand worldwide - and the words 'wine lakes'…
OPINION: Science funding for the bulwark of the nation, agriculture, is in a parlous state and less taxpayer money is…
