Described by the Swedish manufacturer as a game changer, the Proceed precision drill can be used to establish a wide range of cereal crops, oilseed rape, sugar beet, peas, maize and even sunflowers. Trials in wheat show seed rates can be halved without any reduction in yield.
Taking three years to develop, the new drill is flagged up as one machine for all crops and conditions that can be used on ploughed land, in a min-till situation, into cover crops or as a direct drill.
The two banks of planting elements allows the row distance to be reduced to 22.5cm or 25cm in cereals. This can be quickly changed to 45cm or 50cm for sugar beet and oilseed rape and to 75cm in maize, sunflowers and cotton. The dual purpose of the press wheels ahead of each row unit is to support the weight of the machine and consolidate the soil.
Seed is supplied from a 3,000 central fill hopper (fertiliser from a FH2200 front hopper). Individual seeds are then handled by an adapted version of the company’s PowerShoot singulation system.
Each row unit is electrically driven and controlled via the iPad-based E-Control. Functions include row-by-row shut-off and variable rate, dynamic tramlining, individual calibration, and real-time precision monitoring and control.
Prototypes have worked in numerous crops in Sweden, England, France and Germany. Full-scale field trials in the UK and Europe are planned for 2022. In the meantime, we have a driving impression coming up in the January issue which should be out next week.
