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News and user views on the latest cultivation techniques to optimise crop establishment, minimise environmental impact, improve soils and reduce costs through direct drilling, minimum tillage, conservation tillage – as well as traditional ploughing and drilling techniques.

Latest cultivation and drilling articles

CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Four-wheel FarmDroid allows for crop bed seeding and weeding

The ability to seed and weed crops grown in beds is a key driver for the development of a four-wheel version of the usually three-wheel FarmDroid autonomous tool-carrier. It gains…

MACHINERY

Farmers share kit ideas for sowing SFI seed mixes cheaply

Getting the right kit for establishing SFI and Countryside Stewardship seed mixes needn’t cost a fortune. James Andrews takes a look at some nifty home-spun setups. See also: Low-input cropping plan…

CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Cheshire contractor's five custom seed drills for SFI sowing

Variable seed sizes, different sowing depths and the need for cost-effective establishment make environmental mixes tricky to get right. But thanks to their five modified seed drills, each of which…

CULTIVATORS

Adjustable wing helps Amazone cultivator adapt to soil

Amazone has introduced an adjustable 360mm-wide wing share for its Cenius and Cenio mounted cultivators that’s designed to work in a range of soil types and conditions. By mounting the…

PLOUGHS

On test: Kverneland's updated six-furrow LO plough

Kverneland has updated its long-serving LO plough range, most notably with a transport kit that promises to have it faithfully following the tractor on the road. The Trailer Transport System…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: Claydon Evolution big improvement over Hybrid

Three years after investing in a 3m Claydon Hybrid to speed up crop establishment, Thomas Langley had picked up sufficient extra contracting work to find himself on the back foot…

Cultivation and drilling reviews and tests

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CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: 3m Simtech T-Sem

When John Hawkins abandoned his intensive arable rotation for a low-input farming system, a 3m Simtech T-Sem Pneumatic was his new drill of choice. His aim was to use it…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's view: John Hawkins' Simtech T-Sem drill

Simtech’s T-Sem no-till drill uses a disc and inverted T-shaped coulter to establish a crop without the need for any prior cultivation. We visit Dorset farmer John Hawkins to see…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's View: Steve Heard's John Deere 750A drill

Leicestershire farmer Steve Heard imported and assembled his own John Deere no-till drill – he gives us his verdict on how it has performed, what he most likes about it…

PLOUGHS

Video: On test - Hubert's seven-furrow plough

Late last year, Suffolk firm Agri-Hire agreed a deal to take on Dowdeswell’s engineering operation with a commitment to restarting plough production on a national scale. Dowdeswell folded last summer,…

CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Driver's view: Jack Tooley's McConnel Seedaerator

McConnel’s Seedaerator is a single-pass strip-till dril that cultivates and seeds the crop in bands. Nottinghamshire farmer Jack Tooley talks us though the highs and lows of his machine. What…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's View: Weaving GD drill

Henry Muntz reveals how his Weaving GD no-till drill has performed across his farm of Warwickshire clay loam. What drill are you using? We’ve got a 4.8m trailed Weaving GD…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: Novag TForcePlus 440 improves soil

Since we visited Andrew Tucker last year, he has put another autumn and spring season’s worth of work through the farm’s 4m Novag TForcePlus 440 drill. It has performed well…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: 6m Weaving GD trumps old version

After five years of running a 4.8m Weaving GD drill on the 500ha arable he farms with his father, Edward, Henry Muntz decided to upgrade to a new 6m model.…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: 10m Dale Eco XL

This year marked a decade of Dale Drills at Whiting Ash Farms in Malvern, Worcestershire, and David Fellows sees no prospect of that changing in the future. His latest model,…

TILLAGE-LIVE

Tillage-Live's top cultivators and drills put to the test

Visitors to last week’s Tillage-Live event were treated to another September scorcher as the mercury touched 30C at Monks Kirby, Warwickshire. Here Farmers Weekly’s Machinery team presents some of the latest cultivators, drills…

PLOUGHS

On test: Kverneland's new five-furrow 2300S plough

Decades pass with little change to the humble plough, so a raft of major updates to Kverneland's mid-range models was big news for buyers keen to turn a more consistent…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: Sky Easy Drill

Cambridgeshire grower Edward Davison picks out the best and worst points of his Sky Easy Drill, which he bought in 2016 when his crop yields were hammered by a high…

Cultivation and drilling buying advice

Cultivation and drilling insights and practical advice

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CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

How to crack down on costly soil compaction

Improved on-farm understanding and use of tillage equipment combined with better use of tyre technology could be key to cutting costly soil compaction. Damaged soils are estimated to cost UK…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct tine drill 2022

There are a good few changes for this year’s Ultimate Guide to direct drills that use tine coulters to establish crops straight into stubbles. McConnel has dropped out of the…

TECHNOLOGY

Video: Low-cost tool offers alternative to post-harvest spraying

A novel Aussie-designed mechanical weed-seeking tool is set to go into commercial production this year, offering growers a non-chemical, less weather-dependent alternative to pricey stubble spraying regimes. The Weed Chipper…

CEREAL DRILLS

Spanish-made Virkar Dynamic adds to no-till drill options

The continued concerns over the future of key chemicals and the knock-on effect for those operating zero-tillage systems seem to have done little to stifle the direct drill market, with…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a trailed combination drill 2022

A couple of models have fallen by the wayside as others have come into the Ultimate Guide category for trailed full-width cultivating drills. These machines deploy tines or discs –…

CULTIVATORS

6 ways to improve autumn soil cultivation regimes

Many operators can be guilty of pulling the cultivator out the shed, heading to the field and cracking on with ground work, with the only parameter of success the sight…

PLOUGHING AND CULTIVATION

Plough, min-till and no-till compared: year one

A major trial has been set up to find the most profitable and sustainable way to grow arable crops by comparing three different establishment systems over five years. Establishment systems…

CEREAL DRILLS

12 power-harrow combi drill options with 3m working width

Its ability to create a decent seed-bed in almost any soil conditions and cultivation regime has helped keep the venerable combination drill at the sharp end of manufacturers’ sales charts.…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct disc drill 2024

Three new drill listings and additional models for existing ranges feature in the 2023 edition of Farmers Weekly’s Ultimate Guide to disc coulter no-till drills. New Zealand manufacturer Duncan appears…

ARABLE

Top stubble management tips to kill slugs

Cultural methods of controlling slugs have a key role to play in reducing the risk of metaldehyde slug pellets reaching water, as well as helping to cut the costs of…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct tine drill 2024

Two drill ranges from New Zealand – Aitchison and Duncan – and Kverneland make their debut in this year’s Ultimate Guide to tine coulter no-till drills. As usual, the guide…

Cultivation and drilling technology

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TECHNOLOGY

Autonomous robots drill a 50ha maize crop

Controlled by an app, a French technology company has built three highly accurate robots that are cultivating, drilling and caring for a 50ha crop of maize, completely autonomously. The project…

TECHNOLOGY

Aqua Till waterjets offer ingenious alternative to coulters

Just when you thought variable rate, variable depth, turn compensation and limitless fertiliser combinations had taken drilling technology to its limit, the rule book has been blasted open once again.…

CEREAL DRILLS

6m disc drill ticks the boxes for contractor’s CTF system

While striving to limit the travel of machinery across arable acreages is a very worthy cause, it’s not always that practical. True controlled traffic farming (CTF) zealots will tell you…

TECHNOLOGY

Video: Low-cost tool offers alternative to post-harvest spraying

A novel Aussie-designed mechanical weed-seeking tool is set to go into commercial production this year, offering growers a non-chemical, less weather-dependent alternative to pricey stubble spraying regimes. The Weed Chipper…

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CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Video: Grower builds cover crop broadcaster for £3,000

A farm-built broadcaster costing less than £3,000 has given James Hopkinson the opportunity introduce cover cropping as part of a "regenerative" approach to the arable enterprises he manages. The tractor-mounted…

CEREALS

Video: Machinery highlights from Cereals 2018

The Farmers Weekly machinery team headed to the southern site for the annual Cereals show, this year at Chrishall Grange in Cambridgeshire. Although several machinery manufacturers scaled back their stands,…

MACHINERY

3 Cereals videos: Top tractors, cultivation kit and sprayers

Machinery makers from across the globe flocked to Boothby Graffoe, Lincolnshire this week (10-15 June) for the annual Cereals 2015 event. We captured a few highlights from the tractor manufacturers, cultivation…

MACHINERY

Video: Autumn drilling season captured from the skies

After the success of last year’s harvest drone video we have been out with the cameras again, capturing autumn work in all its glory, from above. Our drones have flown over…