New ideas on show at LAMMA
While the industry’s current downbeat mood is being reflected in sales of new machinery, this was not replicated in the halls at the LAMMA show, which recorded its biggest ever attendance in its 40-year history.
More than 40,000 visitors flocked to the event to see a wide range of equipment making its UK debut. While manufacturers report uncertainty is undoubtedly slowing sales, there was still plenty of interest from serious potential buyers.
Much of that interest was focused on new technology and ways to increase efficiency, particularly new spraying, mechanical weeding and other related equipment.
Star of the spraying show was the Knight Smart-Inject system that won LAMMA’s Gold innovation medal. By injecting neat or semi-dilute products at the nozzle, the Smart-Inject system provides instant product delivery for precise dosing for spot spraying.
A completely separate system, it works on booms equipped with recirculation spraylines without any risk of cross contamination. Full details HERE
AI assisted electric weeding
Garford has now incorporated an electric weeding option on to its Robocrop, in-row guided weeder. Unveiled at last year’s Cereals event, the RootWave weeder uses high frequency alternating electrical current to ‘boil’ weeds and their roots.
The front-mounted machine is powered by a PTO-driven power pack that generates 415V DC. This passes through a module that boosts the power to 600V and converts it to AC and increasing it from 15Hz to 1,800Hz.
This conversion, which has been patented by RootWave, is significantly safer than direct-current, typically used in electrical weed control. This, says the firm, makes electrical weeding highly effective as well as providing a chemical free option that does not disturb the soil.
AI vision
Guidance is now controlled by Garford’s new Robcrop AI InRow system, which is capable of green on green recognition. Developed in-house, it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to combine colour, infrared and depth information to precisely identify crop plants and stem location.
“Green on green plant recognition is a step change from the green on brown system that uses only colour. This new system uses multiples of different data streams from the camera. It is then able to identify crop plants and distinguish those from weeds or non-crop plants,” explains Jonathan Henry, Garford Farm Machinery managing director.
Key to this is its ‘multimodal’ camera system. By using infrared cameras, as well as a colour camera, depth imaging, calculating vegetative index and then using data fusion techniques, the system accurately detects stem locations, even where multiple leaves overlap.
“In practice, this means we can hoe closer to the plant to achieve a higher weed control efficacy, ultimately bringing better value to users,” explains Jonathan.
Autonomous weed or spray
A spot spraying system, first seen at LAMMA 24, is now an option for the Farmdroid FD20 weed and seed robot.
Designed for either in-row or inter-row applications of pesticides and micro-nutrients, it provides targeted doses rather than broad-brush, blanket coverage. Application control is integrated into the Farmdroid App and it can set to apply from 10ml/min to 300ml/min.
Applications are via a PWM controlled nozzle, which covers a 7cm width with a choice of an 025 or 04 nozzle. It can be configured for spot or band spraying, targeting the crop or the soil, enabling non-selective herbicides to be applied between crop rows.
New tine designs
Those choosing to weed mechanically now have a choice to use new A-shares and L-shaped knives to fit to the machine’s inter-row weeding arms.
Previously the only option was low-draft weeding wires, while the new blades are designed to deal with larger, more mature weeds and help in getting closer to the crop plants.
This, says the manufacturer, is particularly important in a growing season when poor weather stretches the interval between hoeing passes, allowing weeds to grow on and get ahead of the crop.
Air blast sprayer joins the fleet
The expanding Kubota fleet now includes a trailed air blast sprayer for fruit and vineyard applications. There is also a rear boom option for use in poultry units, which is likely to be one of the main areas of interest in the UK.
The 2,000 litre capacity XTA3320 model requires just 38hp to generate its maximum air production from its FFD Air 9.0 propeller. This uses helical, glass fibre reinforced nylon blades to create airflows up to 87.3³m/sec , with low weight and vibration resistance. A total of 26 TeeJet nozzles are arranged in two lines around the fan.
An optional H30 control system is available to provide intelligent calibration and precision treatments, which can reduce pesticide use by 25%.
This can be connected to the Special Crops Platform, an agronomic management tool that allows work commands to be configured and sent directly to the sprayer. Work commands are displayed on a touchscreen interface that provides real time control of the spraying parameters.
Mounting interest in new entrant
While Italian manufacturer Gaspardo has been making sprayers for generations, the brand is not that well known in the UK. Now, this is likely to change with a range of models available after the creation of its own Maschio Gaspardo UK subsidiary.
Managing director, Will Greenway says the new business is now selling equipment through 30 dealers in the UK, which include some big names such as Chandlers, Cornthwaite Group and Ernest Doe.
Maschio Gaspardo offers a wide range of sprayers but, says Mr Greenway, its currently concentrating on mounted machines as well as fruit and vineyard models, which don’t compete with some dealers’ existing ranges.
On display at the recent LAMMA show, the Tempo Ultra offers a fairly high specification, with tank capacities from 1,820-2,180 litres and booms from 15-30m as well as ISObus operation.
The Front Tank, also on show, boosts capacity with an additional up to 1,777 litres. Equipped with its own pump and rinsing system it can also be used, for example, as stand-alone sprayer for patch, band or liquid fertiliser applications.
