German machinery maker Horsch has unveiled a series of product updates ahead of next month’s Agritechnica show.

It hopes to build on the success of its Leeb sprayer line-up by adding smaller, cheaper tank options to its trailed machines.

Joining the big 6,000-, 7,000- and 8,000-litre stainless-steel tanked units are new 4,000- and 5,000-litre versions with moulded plastic tanks that come in at a fraction of the price of the steel ones.

See also: What to do when sprayer ‘grandfather rights’ expire on 26 November

Boom widths range from 18-42m and Horsch’s mounting system means they can run at up to 30kph in the field and just 30cm above the crop.

The company said 90% of sprayers leave the factory with nozzles fitted at 25cm intervals, which it reckons will give more uniform coverage and a reduction in drift.

The new range of sprayers will start at £49,750.

Horsch has also launched a new system that detects obstacles in the crop.

Boom Sight scans the field ahead of the sprayer using a sensor to create a surface map and automatically lifts the wings over offending obstacles such as old water troughs.

If the obstruction is too tall to lift the booms over then the system sounds an alarm.

Tillage

On the cultivations side of things, Horsch has revealed a new seeding unit called the Mini Drill, which comes with a 400-litre seed hopper and metering system pinched from the Pronto drills.

There are six outlets across a 4m working width or 12 outlets for working widths 5m or wider.

The drill can be fitted to all three-point linkage mounted Joker disc cultivators and their tined Terrano equivalents.

It is designed primarily for one-pass drilling of cover crops and Horsch said it will cope with all shapes and sizes of seed in one load. Prices kick off at £5,420.

Other minor updates include a new 280mm knife roller for the Joker disc harrow to slice through oilseed rape stubbles ahead of the discs, and a low-disturbance, deep-loosening leg option for the Focus HD drill.