The season is moving on, so it’s time to think about what ploughing can add to your system. With pressure on for faster and faster turn-around, farmers and contractors are looking for new and better ploughing solutions.
While 5 furrow ploughs are still the most popular option, 8 and even 10 furrow gives the option of achieving more in just one pass. (That’s around 4.5 metres for a 10 furrow. And the farmers using them are very satisfied with the results.)
For burying trash, ploughing is unrivalled. That also means reduced spraying and the resulting costs and environmental impact.
When weather is unpredictable (and when is it not?) ploughing allows for complete turn-around in one day – ploughing, cultivation and drilling.
As FarmChief notes; “The tradition of ploughing is making a come-back – no doubt about it.”
These could be some of the reasons.
FINE POINTS
FarmChief’s Agrolux plough’s flush points are extremely durable and highly engineered. The result is that they help keep the plough in the ground, and need less horse power to pull them.
The point, the share and the mouldboard are in the same plane meaning that wear is distributed evenly, material expenditure is lower and the risk of soil sticking to the mouldboard is less.
Some farmers have worked 300 hectares without a change of points. That makes a big difference and saves a lot of downtime costs.
PUSHING OUT THE FURROWS
The new XLD Bodies (mouldboards) make wider furrows, allowing for wider tractor tyres up to 750mm. These are also helping establish the level finish.
BEFORE AND AFTER
It’s been around for a while but recently, FarmChief’s noticed there’s been a bit more interest in the combination of forward and rear mounted ploughs. Which makes the headlands “nice and short.” Again, the intention is getting more done, in less time. Maybe it’s going to be the new “big thing”.
SET UP
To make sure everything goes smoothly FarmChief have experienced ploughmen who will help set-up and demonstrate ploughs on your property to make sure you have the perfect match for your operation, tractor and soil type. It costs nothing, and it’s always good to get a second opinion.
Robbie’s view
Robbie Pankhurst farms 335 hectares at Norwood, in Canterbury, on Lismore soils, growing crops including process peas, grass seed, ryecorn, barley, and oil seed rape, and fattening lambs.
His substantial, 10 furrow, reversible, Agrolux plough is primarily used to bury trash after barley stubble, after kale when the lambs come off it, and for working-over some grass paddocks.
Robbie says he chose the plough because it was a good, well-engineered machine. (He’d previously had an 8-furrow manufactured at the same factory.) He says the size of the plough, and reduced effort and passes really matters, in his system. “We’re always in quite a hurry to get things back into the ground, after the lambs have been grazing, or after the crops. It’s great!”
Robbie also appreciates the significantly increased longevity of the points and their positioning, in relationship to the XLD mould board, which he says makes pulling the plough easier, also saving time and fuel.
Check out farmchief’s SEMI-MOUNTED REVERSIBLE PLOUGHS, MOUNTED REVERSIBLE PLOUGHS