Menu

Know How / Cultivation and drilling

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

CEREAL DRILLS

How Limavady farmer built versatile drill on the cheap

Tired of Limavady’s persistent rainfall hampering the use of his trailed disc drill, Alistair Craig hatched a plan to build a less weather-dependent alternative. Key criteria were that it should…

CEREAL DRILLS

Horizon adds 3m and 4m rigid-frame DSX direct drills

Grain and oilseeds growers – as well as contractors – operating in smaller fields and across fewer hectares are being catered for by 3m and 4m rigid-frame additions to Horizon…

CEREAL DRILLS

Beds farmer builds 6m low-disturbance drill for wet ground

Nothing gets the cogs of a creative mind whirring quite like the pitter-patter of rain on the workshop roof when there’s field work to get done. With Green End Farm’s…

CEREAL DRILLS

Kuhn revamps 4-8m Espro cultivator seed drills

A straight disc option for Kuhn Espro cultivator drills provides a moisture- and power-saving alternative to the 460mm scallop-edge concave discs fitted as standard. While the current fitment completes seedbed…

CULTIVATORS

Amazone unveils Venterra 1K crop hoe for 70hp tractors

Farms wanting to mechanically weed crops with a modest tractor of 60-70hp are catered for by Amazone’s new Venterra 1K hoe, which the manufacturer describes as a versatile “lightweight all-rounder”.…

CULTIVATORS

Hydraulic break-back for Amazone Ultra stubble cultivator

A new version of Amazone’s Cenius tractor-mounted stubble cultivator sports a hydraulic break-back mechanism for the heavy-duty tines to protect the frame and other components from sub-surface impacts. The compression…

Cultivation and drilling reviews and tests

See all

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…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's view: John Mair's Ma/Ag SSP drill

John Mair from March, Cambridgeshire, gives us the low down on his Ma/Ag no-till drill. He reveals the benefits to soil and cost, tells us how it has performed, and…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: Sumo swapped for versatile Weaving

There have been some changes since Farmers Weekly last checked in at Chestnut Tree Farm, with Tom Hounsfield previously running day-to-day operations and drilling done with a custom 4m linkage-mounted…

CEREAL DRILLS

Is French-made Novag disc drill king of cover crop drilling?

French farmers are established as some of Europe’s pioneers in the brave new world of cultivation-free drilling and pre-season cover crops, so it’s no surprise that the country is home…

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,…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's view: Robert Hinchcliffe’s Triton drill

We asked Yorkshire farmer Robert Hinchcliffe to run through the good points and bad points of his 3m-wide Triton drill and explain why he picked it.  What drill are you…

CEREAL DRILLS

Direct drills revisited: 3m Triton aids blackgrass fight

Wet weather was halting harvest progress when we caught up with Robert Hinchcliffe to see how he was getting on with his 3m Triton direct drill. While adverse conditions can…

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…

MACHINERY

12 no-till drills on show at farmer-organised demo day

Reduced-tillage drilling continues to gain popularity as farmers look for new ways to improve soil structure and reduce cultivation activity during the autumn. With that in mind, hundreds of growers headed…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: Andrew Tucker’s Novag T-ForcePlus 440 drill

We get the lowdown on the 4m Novag T-ForcePlus 440 drill owned by Monkton Farleigh Farms near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, which is driven by farm manager Andrew Tucker. See also: What's in…

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: David Bird's Primewest Cross Slot

Suffolk grower David Bird gives his verdict on the performance of the Primewest Cross Slot no-till drill. Find out how it works, its good points and what could be improved.…

Cultivation and drilling buying advice

Cultivation and drilling insights and practical advice

See all

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 trailed combination drill 2024

Consolidation is the theme for this year’s Ultimate Guide to trailed combination cultivator drills – not in the soil-firming sense, but rather in the way manufacturers are sticking to tried-and-tested…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct disc drill 2025

The most noticeable absentee in this year’s Ultimate Guide to direct drills with disc coulters is surely the Cross Slot seeder, built in the UK in recent years using original…

CEREAL DRILLS

Ultimate Guide to buying a direct tine drill 2023

In the Ultimate Guide listing for direct drills using tine coulters, Claydon has the most changes from the previous edition thanks to the changeover from the Hybrid to Evolution design.…

ARABLE

Effect of cultivation method on crop yields

There are many ways to cultivate a field, ranging from deep ploughing to no-till farming, and choosing the right variety and cultivation technique combination is the key to getting the…

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…

CULTIVATORS

How strip-cultivating power tillers can offer cost savings

Does it really make sense to cultivate where only weeds are going to grow? Or create a soil structure vulnerable to a period of heavy rain just as the field…

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…

SOILS

Tips on getting soils and rotations back on track

After one of the wettest winters on record, it could be assumed that UK arable soils will be in desperate need of first aid before the next cropping season begins.…

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…

Cultivation and drilling technology

See all

CULTIVATORS

Case-IH introduces AFS Soil Command for cultivator

An automatic control system designed to ensure consistent performance from multi-element cultivators has been introduced by Case-IH in North America to help improve seedbed quality. See also: Tips on selecting…

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…

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

Opico to sell FarmDroid drilling and weeding robot

Opico has branched into uncharted waters by taking on the distribution of Danish-made autonomous tool carriers. Carbon neutral and powered by sunshine alone, the so-called FarmDroid is the brainchild of…

Video

See all

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…

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,…

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

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…