Tillage

BASIC TILLAGE TOOL

A moldboard plow is used for tillage. It is a implement where various number of plows bodies are mounted according to the farmer’s requirements and the tractor power. A plow body consists of a blade that cuts the soil away from the bottom of the furrow, and a mouldboard. The mouldboard mixes soil with crop residue, crumbles and turns the topsoil over to the bottom of the furrow. Unwanted cereal seeds are moved to the bottom of the furrow thanks to the plow. The risk of secondary germination in newly established crops, even in the subsequent years, is high.

The plow has considerably evolved in the past few years, but its basic conception remains the same. The market offers an inexhaustible quantity of plow types that also allow for tillage outside the furrow, in a system called on-land.

DISADVANTAGE OF PLOWING

Although tillage is quite popular among farmers, this working operation creates undesirable plow pan, especially when performed at inappropriate times and in the same field, repeatedly at the same working depth. The plow bass then forms an impermeable layer that hampers penetration of water, mineral substances and plant roots into deeper soil layers.

TILLAGE HAS A CONSIDERABLE EFFECT ON THE ECONOMY OF THE BUSINESS.

Another disadvantage of plowing is the considerable need for towing power, which increases with the number of plow bodies and under adverse weather conditions. The higher consumption has a negative effect on labour economics, when performance decreases and the time needed for cultivating a field increases. Another disadvantage is the technical and time demands on subsequent tillage for creating a uniform seedbed.

WHAT COURSE WILL TILLAGE TAKE?

Tillage no longer has a dominant role in farming technology. When we add the short time frame for soil cultivation prior to winter crop establishment, caused by changes in the fall weather, many farms simply no longer use tillage.
Many farms have stopped using tillage also due to anti-erosion measures that completely prohibit tillage on fields at risk of erosion or on slopes.

AN IMPORTANT OPERATION

Fast quality stubble cultivation is one of the most important operations in tillage. According to the proper agricultural procedures, it should be done as soon after harvest as possible. Stubble cultivation ensures proper soil moisture management, quick weed emergence, thus preventing weeds from spreading in the field later on.

WHY TURN THE STUBBLE OVER?

Properly done stubble cultivation eliminates the occurrence of diseases, weeds and pests in the field, and also levels off the soil surface. SWIFTERDISC or ATLAS high speed discs are used for this operation. However, it is also possible to use equipment with shanks, such as the FENIX cultivator, or the VERSATILL VO_PROFI cultivator.

PREVENT THE GROWTH OF UNWANTED CEREAL SEEDS

Unwanted cereal seeds can be quite easily controlled by mixing them into the top parts of the soil profile using, for example, a speed disc. When using field cultivators, you need to make sure that the cereal seeds are not incorporated too deep, as they could emerge in the newly established crop.

FAST, EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIANT.

Extra shallow tillage means that the soil is processed in a depth of 0.8 – 1.6 in on the soil surface after harvest. The STRIEGEL-PRO straw harrow is ideal for such operation. In a single pass, the straw harrow achieves even distribution and cutting of trash after harvest and, above all, a fast and an inexpensive start of the growth of unwanted cereal seeds that are incorporated at a very shallow level. The unwanted cereal seeds quickly germinate and can then be mechanically controlled, or eliminated chemically.

WHAT TO USE: HIGH SPEED DISC OR FIELD CULTIVATOR?

Field cultivators or heavy speed discs with a maximum working depth are most often used for primary tillage in minimum tillage systems. Primary tillage is usually done up to a depth of 10″, followed with crop seeding. As in any other tillage method, it is important to pay attention to observing the set working depth, the quantity of crop residue on the soil surface, and even surface levelling.

PRIMARY TILLAGE USING FIELD CULTIVATORS

The FENIX or VERSATILL VO_PROFI cultivators, designed as highly versatile, including shallow tillage, provide an excellent mixing effect, important for even mixing of processed soil with crop residue. Field cultivators are mostly suitable for processing lighter and medium heavy soils where it is possible to work at an optimal depth level while keeping the set working speed so that a high mixing effect is achieved.

PRIMARY TILLAGE USING HIGH SPEED DISCS

The design of the heavy ATLAS high speed disc makes it possible to use the implements for tillage at a depth of up to 8″. The robust frame in combination with its high clearance and a large disc diameter allows for a trouble-free tillage and quality incorporation of large amounts of trash, such as after harvesting grain corn, or incorporation of organic fertilisers and cover crop.

CREATE A PROPER AND FUNCTIONAL SOIL ENVIRONMENT

Deep tillage has its proven advantages, and it can completely replace standard tillage when carried out at the right time and in the right way. Deep cultivation enables root systems to develop, disrupts hardened layers in the plough base, and creates optimal soil environment for proper functional water and air conditions of soil. BEDNAR implements can carry out deep loosening up to a the maximum depth of 26″. It is recommended to add profile fertilisation in the same pass, to provide soil with essential nutrients.

“We are specialists in deep tillage. We have been promoting this solution for many years, and we have been testing its positive effect on soil fertility and the yield in the grown crops in cooperation with scientific organisations and leading agricultural businesses.“

WHICH POINTS TO CHOOSE FOR DEEP TILLAGE?

If you want to achieve high-quality deep cultivation with perfect mixing, then we recommend using narrow points with a diameter of 1.6″, which easily penetrate to a greater depth. For tillage at a shallower depth, points with a diameter of 3.2″ fitted with wings are an ideal choice, which guarantees excellent undercutting of the entire soil profile at the set working depth.

DEEP TILLAGE USING FIELD CULTIVATORS

FENIX field cultivators are suitable tools for deep tillage of up to 14″. The optimally designed layout of the individual shanks provides excellent soil profile undercutting and mixing of crop residue with soil. Deep loosening provides soil with the proper structure, with the properties of a fungus that is able to absorb precipitation and provide water to roots in the dry season.

DEEP TILLAGE USING COMBINATION IMPLEMENTS

In recent years, the use of combination implements, such as the ACTROS RO or TERRALAND DO disc rippers, has become a prominent trend in deep tillage. These implements efficiently blend the advantages of disc and shank gangs in a single pass, playing a vital role in minimum tillage cropping systems for crops like grain corn, known for their significant crop residue.

These implements, with their integrated working components, effectively perform cutting and shallow mixing of crop residues with soil in one pass. Additionally, they excel in deep loosening, mixing, and breaking up hardened soil layers, reaching depths of up to 18″.

DEEP TILLAGE USING RIPPERS

Deep tillage up to 26″ has become a revolutionary tillage method compared with standard tillage. Deep tillage using rippers allows for deeper soil cultivation and, above all, achieving higher output with a lower need for pulling power, leading to lower fuel consumption. The use of a ripper considerably reduces the time needed for tillage before establishing the subsequent crop, since soil processed by a ripper is free from unevenness, clumps, and it is loosened well.

By using a ripper to loosen soil, you will achieve an ideally loosened soil structure with enough pores to allow for the movement of air, water and nutrients. TERRALAND rippers help increase rainwater absorption and eliminate the occurrence of puddles in the hardened areas of the field. The specially designed shape of the chisel also prevents bringing up infertile soil layers to the top.

SPRING SEEDBED PREPARATION

Inappropriate soil management (soil structure damage) and soil moisture may cause damage in spring that has a considerable effect on the final harvest outcome. When soil is processed too early, it becomes sticky; on the other hand, when the preparation starts too late, it reduces the water supply for spring crops. Therefore, the spring preparation should include as few passes over the field as possible, and appropriate soil maturity for cultivation.

SUMMER SEEDBED PREPARATION

Similar complications as in spring also occur in summer when it is often required to prepare soil during harvest for seeding winter crops, such as canola. In summer, there is no snow and frost that would help prepare a suitable, crumbling soil structure as in winter before the spring tillage. Therefore, it is recommended to choose equipment with an aggressive shank angle for soil processing and mixing.

SEEDBED PREPARATION USING A SEEDBED CULTIVATOR

In addition to standard straw harrows and levellers, seedbed cultivators are the most frequently used implements in seedbed soil cultivation after tillage. The SWIFTER seedbed cultivators are able to combine up to eight operations to create a quality seedbed for crop establishment during a single pass. It is important to minimise travelling across the field, especially during the spring cultivation, in order to maintain winter moisture in soil and eliminate its evaporation.

By combining several operations into a single pass, you can not only prepare a quality seedbed, but also reduce the costs of seedbed preparation. The Crushbar levelling bar or a mechanic leveller break the rough furrow well and level the surface; the shank or gamma tip section create a loosened soil structure, and the efficient combination of rollers provide the perfect soil structure with final surface consolidation, which is prevented from evaporation.

“We have become the most important global supplier of technology with a working width from 10′ to 60′ in this implement category thanks to the long-term development and testing.”

SEEDBED PREPARATION USING A FIELD CULTIVATOR

The VERSATILL VO_PROFI cultivators have proven to be effective, especially in fields with larger quantities of crop residue, or when processing wet soil. When compared with seedbed cultivators, these cultivators have a higher throughput, and in combination with narrow chisels, they can easily process soil in depths exceeding 6″.

SEEDBED PREPARATION USING A POWER HARROW

The power harrow with active working parts (rotors with spikes) used to be a very popular tool for seedbed preparation. Their popularity declined with the advent and development of minimum-tillage technologies. However, it still remains a popular implement on many important global markets such as France, Italy, Poland and Great Britain.

The power harrow is suitable for heavy, hard and dry soils. The active working parts that intensely mix and crumble soil up to a depth of 8″ are an advantage of the power harrow. Thanks to that, the seedbed is cultivated evenly at the set depth level, soil is aerated and shows sufficient porosity of the individual soil particles.

SEEDBED PREPARATION USING A STRAW HARROW

The STRIEGEL-PRO straw harrow is an ideal solution for early spring cultivation of lighter soils, or for opening, warming up and aerating heavier soils and acceleration their drying. In combination with the Crushbar levelling bar, the straw harrow levels the topsoil layer and any coarse unevenness. The tine section aerates and warms up the soil layers. The last two tine rows can be set at a different working angle, which allows it to achieve an excellent levelling effect.

SEEDBED PREPARATION USING A HIGH SPEED DISC

Even though seedbed preparation is not the primary operation of a high speed disc during the year, the SWIFTERDISC speed disc can also be used for this operation. The short machine design together with its low weight is undemanding for towing power, and so the speed disc can be used for the initial levelling of the rough furrow.

In combination with the Crushbar in front of the first disc row, SWIFTERDISC creates an even soil surface. The following two rows of discs provide an excellent crumbling effect thanks to the high circumferential speed. The rear packers have a sufficient crumbling effect and prevent fast evaporation of soil moisture by closing the soil profile.

“HARD BED, SOFT COVER”