Strip tillage remained a major theme at this year’s Cereals event and McConnel was one of the latest companies to unveil a strip-till drill.

UK farmers got a first look at the Shropshire firm’s 3m Seedaerator when the covers were pulled off on Wednesday morning.

The Seedaerator has nine leading shear-pin-protected legs designed to minimise soil disturbance. These loosen the root zone of the seed that is placed by the following seed coulters, with the soil between bands remaining unmoved. Leg depth can be adjusted and feet are designed to avoid bringing clods to the surface.

A row of chevron-lugged tyres firm and crumble the soil behind the legs. These also help to distribute weight and maintain a constant working depth.

Seed is blown from the standard 600kg hopper through an RDS metering system to the seed coulters, which place seed in 150mm bands.

The adjustable pressure of the rear packer wheel maintains uniform seed placement and firms the soil to improve seed-to-soil contact. Heavy duty covering tines can be moved at the back depending on the conditions.

It should comfortably travel at 10kph (in good conditions, anyway) and will require about 160hp to run.

Prices start from £29,500.

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