Direct drilling with the New DIRECTO NO Seed Drill Helps Protect Soil and Reduce Costs

Direct drilling, also known as ‘no till’, is an important element of regenerative agriculture, along with the cultivation of subsidiary crops.
With rising input costs and a changing climate, there may be a gradual decline in the profitability of conventional farming. This is another argument in favour of the no-till method of managing agricultural land.

As the name suggests, this method is based on seeding directly into uncultivated soil. This avoids disrupting the soil structure and natural processes occurring in the soil. It is also important that when using this method, a significant amount of crop residue from the previous harvest remains on the soil surface, helping to retain soil moisture and minimize water and wind erosion. In response to the increasing demand for this technology, BEDNAR introduces a new machine for direct drilling, DIRECTO NO, to the market. This machine is designed primarily for direct drilling into uncultivated soil, stubble, and catch crops.

For quality placement of seeds at the desired depth, the machine is equipped with patented drill coulters with a pressure of 250 kg per drill coulter. The high pressure ensures optimal seed placement even in heavy soils or when there is a large amount of crop residue on the soil surface.

In practice, direct drilling into a mature catch crop or a crop flattened, for example, by cutting rollers is very common. In such cases and where there is a large amount of organic matter on the soil surface, it is essential for the seed drill to provide optimal spacing between individual drill coulters for high throughput, a requirement that DIRECTO NO with a row spacing of 16.7 cm meets.

In no-till soil cultivation, establishing crop in fields with high moisture can be challenging due to the risk of ruts and undesirable compaction. Therefore, the DIRECTO NO seed drill is equipped with large floating tyres sized 710/50 R26.5, which minimize soil pressure and eliminate rut formation. Nevertheless, it is advisable to have a universal cultivator such as VERSATILL available to level the land if necessary.

Two-chamber pressurized tank with a volume of 5,000 litres can be used for seeding one or two types of crop, or one chamber can be filled with fertilizer, and fertilizer can be applied simultaneously during seeding. When equipped with the ALFA DRILL seeding unit with a volume of 400 litres, it is possible to seed another type of crop or apply microgranulate. The advantage is the wide range of crop establishment options with up to three types of seeds in one pass. Therefore, it is not a problem to establish both the main crop and catch crop simultaneously, which is often used in no-till farming. The costs of establishing crops are significantly reduced compared to conventional seed drills.

When using fertilizer application during seeding, DIRECTO NO offers two methods of fertilizer placement: together with seeds or below seeds. The ‘grain & fertilizer’ method (mixing seeds with fertilizer) means that fertilizer is mixed with seeds in the pipeline, and the material travels to the distribution head together. This results in joint placement, making the fertilizer quickly accessible to the young plant and contributing to its faster development. This method can only be used under certain conditions suitable for the cultivated crop. The second option, which is the separate placement of fertilizer slightly to the side and below the seed depth using fertilizer discs, allows for the use of higher fertilizer doses even in drier conditions and promotes root growth to depth.

In the conditions of the Czech Republic, direct drilling technology can still be considered relatively new. However, given the climate change and the associated need to protect the soil and the entire environment, it is already considered highly relevant. It is a relatively specific technology that needs to be adapted to the crop rotation and management system on the entire farm. However, it provides many advantages. It cannot be expected to increase yields but rather helps stabilize them from year to year, minimizes soil degradation, and brings economic savings through a significant reduction in costs for crop establishment operations.

Have a look at the equipment options for the DIRECTO NO seed drill in our open configurator..

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