MATADOR MO in a dry season: what the crop stands revealed

In a season with a prolonged lack of rainfall, the quality of crop establishment is not judged solely by plant emergence. The decisive work takes place below ground. A plant needs to establish, as quickly as possible, a root system capable of penetrating deeper soil layers and utilising the water reserves that are no longer available in the rapidly drying topsoil.

It was precisely here that the importance of the MATADOR MO seed drill became apparent in the monitored stands. At Agro Čejetice s.r.o. it was used to establish triticale, opium poppy and a forage mixture of pea and oat. Although these were different crops and soil conditions, the common element was deeper strip tillage applied directly at seeding.

In an exceptionally dry season this field operation was essential. The MATADOR MO’s legs created a loosened zone beneath the crop to a depth of 20 to 25 cm. This provided the roots with a route into the deeper parts of the soil profile, which could help the plants cope better with a prolonged moisture deficit.

The MATADOR MO was used on crops with differing stand architectures and establishment requirements in the monitored operation.

Individual yields cannot, of course, be attributed solely to the seed drill; the crop’s outcome is determined by the weather, soil conditions, preceding crop, variety, nutrition and plant protection.

From the perspective of evaluating MATADOR MO, another aspect is more important. In a season characterised by prolonged drought, the machine created, during seeding, a deliberately loosened soil profile that allowed roots to extend more easily to greater depth.

With sufficient, regular rainfall, a crop can take a significant proportion of water from the upper soil layers. During prolonged drought the situation changes: the surface of the profile gradually dries out and the importance of deeper layers increases.

A plant’s ability to utilise that water depends, among other things, on whether it can develop a sufficiently extensive root system to reach those depths.

Compacted layers with high mechanical resistance can be problematic. Roots must adapt to them, altering their growth direction or concentrating in a smaller part of the profile. This limits the volume of soil the plant can exploit for water and nutrients.

In the monitored crops, MATADOR MO worked with loosening legs at a spacing of 37.5 cm. In triticale they penetrated to 25 cm, and in poppy and the fodder mix to 20 cm.

It is therefore not only about creating a seed bed. The loosening section reaches significantly deeper and creates a zone beneath the crop with lower mechanical resistance.

This effect was agronomically significant during the dry season.

MATADOR’s working principle is based on targeted strip tillage. The legs do not perform intensive deep tillage uniformly across the whole area; instead they create a rootable zone that is later utilised by the established crop.

The result is a vertically loosened strip in which roots encounter less mechanical resistance when growing downwards.

In dry conditions this principle is especially valuable. Once the water in the topsoil is exhausted, a plant with a better‑developed root system can access a greater volume of the soil profile.

It cannot be claimed that loosening alone will automatically guarantee higher yields. The result also depends on the actual water reserves in the deeper layers, the soil structure, drought intensity and the specific characteristics of the crop.

However, MATADOR can remove one barrier that prevents the plant from accessing this deeper reserve.

This is a significant advantage during prolonged drought.

One of the monitored crops was triticale. The preceding crop was oilseed rape and the soil was classed as medium‑heavy.

After stubble cultivation to 8 cm depth and subsequent deeper tillage, seeding with MATADOR took place on 29 September 2025. The loosening legs operated at 25 cm depth, the deepest of the three monitored variants.

The seeding coulters were set to a spacing of 12.5 cm and the seed rate was 230 kg/ha.

The 25 cm working depth is particularly notable given the dry season. The strip created by the leg provided the roots with a relatively deep loosened zone in which they could develop downwards.

During seeding, MATADOR simultaneously applied an NPK 15‑15‑15 mixture and Wigor at a rate of 100 + 40 kg/ha. The fertiliser was placed at approximately 10 cm depth.

This creates another agronomically interesting combination: roots not only have space to grow deeper, but nutrients are placed below the seed and the roots must penetrate the loosened layer to reach them.

This is important in dry periods, because the surface soil can lose moisture rapidly, reducing the potential for effective nutrient uptake from that layer.

Triticale ultimately yielded 7.08 t/ha.

Another crop studied was poppy. The preceding crop was wheat and seeding took place on 18 March 2026.

MATADOR operated with loosening legs at a depth of 20 cm. The tine spacing remained 37.5 cm, while the seeding coulters alternated between 12.5 and 25 cm spacing.

The seed rate was 2.1 kg/ha.

In this case, the work of the machine’s working tools is more important than the seeding rate. Poppy is among crops that are sensitive to moisture conditions during the growing season. In a season marked by prolonged drought, the condition of the soil profile beneath the established stand therefore becomes more significant.

The legs of the seed drill MATADOR created a loosened zone to a depth of 20 cm, which could facilitate the extension of roots from the surface layer into deeper soil.

At the same time, 100 kg/ha of the fertiliser Fertistart Eurofertil was applied at a depth of approximately 10 cm.

When the soil surface is drying, placing nutrients in deeper layers is also important for their availability. A nutrient on its own is not sufficient: the plant must absorb it through an active root system in soil with adequate moisture.

The resulting poppy yield was 0.70 t/ha.

From the machine’s point of view, the fodder mixture presented a different situation.

On 9.25 ha, a mixture of peas and oats was sown on 27 March 2026. The seeding rate was 220 kg/ha for peas and 70 kg/ha for oats.

A significant difference from the previous variants was the heavy soil. Fertiliser was not placed into the soil profile here because, due to the discs on the legs, oats were sown almost on the soil surface.

It is precisely in such conditions that the quality of the loosening components is crucial. As the soil’s bulk density and mechanical resistance increase, the resistance to be overcome rises — initially by the machine’s working tools and later by the plant’s root system.

MATADOR worked here to a depth of 20 cm.

The loosening legs therefore did not merely create space for seed placement; their task was to form a vertical zone in the heavy soil that the root system could subsequently utilise.

In combination with prolonged drought, this effect is important. Heavy soil may contain a reserve of water, but if the root system is limited by a mechanical barrier and concentrated only in the upper part of the profile, the plant cannot fully utilise this reserve.

The mixture produced 9 t/ha of green biomass.

MATADOR did not apply fertiliser during this pass. NPK 15-15-15 was applied separately before seeding.

Experience from the monitored plots also shows why it is inappropriate to evaluate MATADOR solely by its maximum possible working depth.

In actual operation, work was carried out at depths of 20 or 25 cm, depending on the crop and conditions.

That is an agronomically correct approach.

The aim is not to work as deep as possible at any cost. The leg should remove or disrupt the layer that limits root system development and create sufficient space for the roots. Each extra centimetre of tillage simultaneously increases the traction requirement and the energy demand.

Therefore, the depth must correspond to the actual condition of the soil profile.

In a dry season, the benefit of correctly performed loosening may become more pronounced than in a year with regular rainfall. While water is available in the surface layer, differences in rooting depth may be less noticeable. However, during a prolonged water deficit, the ability of roots to continue downward becomes one of the key prerequisites for crop stability.

When evaluating seed drills, assessments often focus primarily on seeding uniformity, seed depth, or emergence quality. For MATADOR MO, such an evaluation would capture only part of the machine’s work.

Loosening legs working to a depth of 20 to 25 cm influence the environment in which the plant will develop long after emergence.

That is the key difference.

The seeding coulter determines the initial placement of the seed, while the loosening component of MATADOR simultaneously prepares space for the future root system.

In a season with long periods without significant rainfall, it became clear why this part of the technology is agronomically important.

With triticale and poppy, sub-surface placement of fertiliser to a depth of around 10 cm was also used during seeding.

Under drought conditions, this is an interesting complement to the whole system.

With surface broadcast application, some nutrients may remain in the dry surface layer during periods without rainfall, and their actual availability to the plant is then limited by the lack of water.

Placing fertiliser below the surface brings nutrients closer to the active part of the root system and places them in a more stable soil environment.

The effect, of course, depends on the type of fertiliser, soil properties, moisture and subsequent root development. In conjunction with a loosened root zone, however, a logical system is created: the leg creates space for the root, and nutrients are deposited in the profile that the root will subsequently exploit.

The results from three crops allow several practical observations to be made.

The most important work was below the surface: MATADOR, by means of its loosening legs, created a 20 to 25 cm deep zone suitable for further root development.

Strip tillage gained greater significance during the drought. As the upper soil layers dried, a deeper root system could enable plants to utilise water from a larger portion of the soil profile.

The working depth could be adapted to conditions. Triticale was loosened to 25 cm, while poppy and the forage mixture were set to 20 cm.

The machine also operated on heavy soil. It is precisely in such conditions that reducing mechanical resistance in the root zone can significantly affect vertical root growth.

MATADOR enabled the combination of loosening and targeted fertiliser placement. In triticale and poppy, nutrients were placed at approximately 10 cm in the soil profile.

Different crops could be established in different ways. The machine worked with the conventional 12.5 cm spacing and with alternative seeding-row arrangements to suit the specific stand.

The observed stands of triticale, poppy and the forage mixture endured a season with a pronounced and prolonged lack of moisture. Such conditions test not only the quality of seeding but also the method used to prepare the soil profile.

When establishing the stands, MATADOR MO created strips with loosening legs to depths of 20 to 25 cm. This reduced the soil’s mechanical resistance in the future root zone and created conditions that encouraged root penetration into deeper layers.

In dry conditions, this is among the most important agronomic benefits of the whole concept.

A crop whose roots remain predominantly in the rapidly drying surface layer has limited capacity to withstand a prolonged period without rainfall. A plant capable of utilising greater depth in the soil profile has a much wider zone in which to seek water and nutrients.

Therefore, MATADOR MO’s work does not end the moment the seed leaves the seeding coulter. A crucial part of its agronomic effect is the environment it prepares for the root system during the following months of the growing season.

JOY OF FARMING
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BEDNAR FMT s.r.o.