Growers wanting to drill straight into cover crops will find the job easier after a pass with the new He-Va Crimper Roller, says distributor Opico.

The new implement can be operated on a tractor front linkage for one-pass preparation and drilling, and the tubular structure can be filled with water as ballast.

A staggered arrangement of blade sections roll and then cut and bruise cover crop foliage every 140mm along its length, which allows effective drilling, while also ensuring quicker decomposition of the foliage, says James Woolway of Opico.

See also: In pictures: Intermediate category highlights from the 2016 Farm Inventions Competition

This encourages quicker emergence of the following crop through residues, he adds, and in some cover-crop mixes using the Crimper Roller can cause sufficient damage to kill off the crop without the need to use glyphosate.

He-Va’s front press frame used for the new implement tows rather than pushes the roller, which means there is no impact on tractor steering.

On the 4m and 6m sizes, there is a damper designed to stabilise the machine as it compensates for slopes and prevent over-reaction to guidance systems.

There is a 3m rigid model in addition to the 3m, 4m and 6m folding versions.