Credit: Rhys Tarling / Farm Weekly.
“Precision, and specifically its ability to be precise in dry conditions.”
Those are the words of Newdegate graingrower Adam Gent, who just took delivery of a seeding rig from McIntosh & Son: a Morris 9365 TBT air cart and a 15-metre Quantum.
The 9 Series Morris air carts are known for their Spiral Fluted metering wheel, which delivers precise and continuous product flow into the air stream, even at low rates.
They are also known for their durability, as they are manufactured from 10-gauge steel and stitch-welded for extra strength.
The Quantum bars are imbued with a sophisticated, industry-leading flotation, with 15 per cent more tyre contact area, allowing operators to float through wet spots; this reduces soil compaction and ensures a more consistent seeding performance even in challenging conditions.
The rig is replacing a Bourgalt bar and a Flexi-Coil box, Mr Gent said.
“I’d been looking at field days for a couple of years, and there are a few of these Quantum bars in my area,” he said.
“Other growers have been pretty happy with them.
“And I wanted to deal with McIntosh & Son, because they’ve been very good on the backup of other machines.”
Mr Gent seeds 3200 hectares of barley, canola and a small amount of wheat.
He’s largely kept his seeding program the same, barring a couple of changes.
“I’m doing another thousand hectares this year because I had the opportunity to crop on some more land,” Mr Gent said.
He categorised last year’s yield as above-average.
He started seeding canola last weekend and put in his barley a few days ago, in what he said have been fairly dry conditions.
“There’s been some small, isolated rainfall events, but so far it’s been dry,” Mr Gent said.
Fuel and fertiliser prices and the tightening of supply have been another force for grain producers to contend with; however, Mr Gent says he has been fortunate in this regard.
“Seeing as I cart my own fertiliser, I had pretty much all of it in the shed before this all happened,” he said.
“Prices have been locked in on my fertiliser since January, so I’m just fortunate that I contracted it all earlier on.”
Of the new rig, Mr Gent said the delivery went smoothly.
“It’s quite different from the Bourgalt and Flexi-Coil rig; a lot more technology than what I was used to,” he said.
But he expressed much enthusiasm concerning the new features’ benefits, particularly the Auto-Lift and Auto-Pack.
These two features work in sync to aid in precise seeding; the Auto-Lift engages and lifts tynes with precision, while the Auto-Pack applies the right pressure for consistent seed placement, resulting in better crop establishment and a more uniform emergence.
“We’ll be seeing savings on fertiliser and seed, I imagine,” he said.
