After crop farmers cough up for what is one of the most expensive inputs in agriculture – fertiliser – it’s imperative they ensure it is spread accurately. The latest Amazone ZA-M profiS Hydro takes this task to a new level of accuracy and consistency, getting maximum results out of inputs and saving money. Joe Spencer reports.
Deon Basson, from the farm Klipgat in the Moorreesburg district of the Western Cape, convinced his father Giepie it would be a good investment to upgrade their fertiliser distributor. He explains, “To be in full control of our input costs, it was essential we eliminate basic mistakes like double overlapping and provide precise, yield-orientated fertilisation right up to the field border.“
He knew they’d only get the required precision using a global positioning system (GPS), and his homework spotlighted the Amazone profiS Hydro, in combination with the all new GPS-Switch technology. GPS-Switch enables automatic section control, avoiding unnecessary overlaps.
Once the coordinates of the border have been set, the system opens and closes the shutters at the headlands without driver intervention. Spreading width is automatically controlled thanks to the hydraulic drive to the spreading discs, which alters the spread width according to the shape of the area. Weight cells are standard equipment, so calibration is also automatically adjusted on the move to meet the application rates for specific areas as defined by yield maps. Optimum fertilisation maximises yield.
The differential GPS signal that operates the GPS-Switch on the Amazone profiS Hydro is received and shared with an AG Leader EZ-Guide 500 lightbar system, supplied and fitted by Louis Giliomee of the local company Crosscape Precision.
Tailored to requirements
The Bassons will plant 900ha of wheat, lupins and oats this year. The Amazone profiS Hydro spreader will be used to spread a new type of organic fertiliser in pellet form called Neutrog Rapid Raiser, and later in the year it will be topdressed with LAN. Because of the Rapid Raiser pellets’ unusual properties and a bulk density of only 650kg/m3, there was concern it might pose a problem for the Amazone spreader. But the Soft Ballistic System (SBS) proved it could spread this type of fertiliser perfectly, even though the flow factor is a low 0,35.
Once the flow factor has been determined, the requirements for kilograms per hectare and spreading widths are selected on the Amatron+ on-board computer, a major component of the spreader package.
When the new spreader was installed by product specialist Ruben van der Merwe from the importers, Falcon Agricultural Equipment, the required rate was set at 225kg/ha. After a full hopper had been spread it was confirmed an incredibly accurate 224,9kg/ha had been applied. |fw
