Revolutionary air drill to launch in 2014
The technological advancements in seeding tools have been nothing short of amazing over the last decade. From on-row depth control, sectional control, variable rate drives to improvements in metering and scale. Even with all the advancements, there is still a lot of room for improvement. For example, a 15% +/- difference in seed and fertilizer delivery at each shank is considered acceptable according to PAMI (source).
So one shank might apply 100 lbs N/ac and the shank beside it may only apply 80-85 lbs N/ac. This is acceptable? See BA News article on air delivery systems here.
Air delivery systems will always struggle to deliver product accurately because they meter seed and fertilizer with variable densities under pressure, push product of various sizes down varying lengths of primary hoses, only to hit manifolds that distribute product into secondary hoses that vary up to 50% in length down to the seed boot. It’s any wonder that anything less than 15% +/- is considered acceptable. Acceptable until now that is, with the introduction of the CX6 Smart Seeder drill.
Check out this video outlining the CX6 Smart Seeder design.
The CX6 Smart Seeder drill is a game changing, revolutionary drill that promises to solve a lot of today’s issues with metering, delivery, sectional control and get this, on the go filling! Picture this, seed and fertilizer are delivered from the 430-bushel on-board air cart to each shank where six individual electric motors meter up to six products right above the opener. A foam roller that looks like a cog wheel grabs the seed and fertilizer and drops it via gravity into one of three openings in the triple shoot and that is also fully adjustable, paired row openers. The technology is equipped to variable rate six products on each shank, has sectional control and variable rate down pressure to control depth and packing pressure on each opener. Did I mention this is all controlled via wireless technology? No wires from the cab!
The second crazy feature on this drill is on-the-go filling, which virtually eliminates fill times. The drill comes equipped with a tow-behind 430-bushel tank that is designed to refill the front tank while you seed. When the back tank is empty, a simple unhook switch from the cab allows you to drop the tank off at the end of the field where a highway tractor can tow it back to the yard for refilling. A winch design behind the drill lets you hook the back tank up again and continue the cycle of refilling on the go. So, no more tandems, B-trains or special filling carts to fill the drill with next to no downtime.
To give you an overview, here are the solutions this drill provides:
1. Air flow issues by metering seed and fertilizer above the shank where it’s delivered to the opener by gravity.
2. Residue by placing a cutting disk ahead of the tyne which cuts residue and creates a channel for the tyne to flow through.
3. Equal metering from opener to opener. No distortion from manifolds to randomly divide seed.
4. More uniform distribution down each row without air flow to bunch seeds, ie peas, canola.
5. Overlap eliminated, less delay from meter to seed allows more accurate off/on times, and independent opener off/on rather than sections.
6. Accurate metering in non-linear travel. Turn compensation.
7. Ability to apply high resolution prescription. Both due to less delay in delivery gives a more accurate application position, turn compensation, and individual independent opener metering.
8. Depth control by prescription. Don't underestimate the value in this one.
9. Six-product capability, trivial versus five industry leader, but the shuttle cart makes it logistically feasible to do it.
10. Refill on the go. Huge efficiency gain in downtime, no extra trailers required, no conveyors, or augers in the field.
11. Shuttle cart handles six products and also can be used to change products in the field. For example, if you want to switch from durum to wheat, no need to take the drill home to clean out. No extra truck required in the field.
12. Shuttle cart frees up man power in that it takes two men to move a truck to the field, only one to position the shuttle.
Now, I know you’re thinking this sounds too good to be true or perhaps it’s way ahead of its time. What I do know is that every seeding tool manufacturer on the planet will be looking at how they can somehow incorporate the ideas from this drill, because they really are game changing. Clean Seed Capital is the name of the company based in Vancouver and they are on the TSX Venture if you want to look at the company profile. I cannot wait to see the launch of this drill in 2014.
About Beyond Agronomy
My passion for agriculture extends beyond agronomy. It’s all about working with producers to match leading edge agronomic practices with solid economics, so at the end of the day, the producer is comfortable with his or her decision and profit is the end result.
Steve is an independent crop advisor based out of Three Hills, Alberta. As owner of Beyond Agronomy, he manages over 30,000 acres of cropland and publishes Beyond Agronomy News, a weekly crop production and grain market newsletter with his wife Vanessa. He is also a first generation grain farmer who farms north of Drumheller and one of the first to implement a full controlled traffice farming and inter-row seeding system in Western Canada. He is also managing director of Preferred Carbon Land Management.
Steve has been working with producers for over ten years. He is a Certified Crop Advisor, has a diploma in Crop Advisory from Olds College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of Lethbridge. Steve is a 2007 Canadian Nuffield Scholar and had the opportunity to travel to Brazil (twice), Kenya, Australia (four times), New Zealand (twice), Mexico, United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to study precision agriculture and controlled traffic farming.
For More Information about Beyond Agronomy visit www.beyondagronomy.com
