To reduce soil disturbance, the Bonetto farm, based in Pralormo, Italy, chose to seed sorghum on no-tilled soil with the MaterMacc MSD Combi pneumatic folding drill, in combination with a 7m power harrow.
The MSD Combi drill comes in both rigid and folding frame versions that can be equipped with either single or double disc openers, plus a working down pressure up to 45kg on each seeding unit. The folding frame version allows for working widths ranging from 5 to 7m, while the rigid frame covers widths from 2.5 to 4m.
The drill’s standard front hopper capacity is 1800l but it can be extended to 2,200l; it has minimum inter-row spacings of 12.5cm and a transport width of 2.54m.
On the 700ha Bonetto farm, the Combi drill is currently sowing sorghum at 22kg/ha – a distribution rate set with the redesigned MagicDrill metering system and the fine seed roller. However, the drill can be used on a variety of cereal crop types.
The MagicDrill seed metering roller sections can also be operated individually or they can be operated simultaneously, for a distribution rate of 2 to 450 kg/ha at an average working speed of 10 km/h.
The MaterMacc seed drill has four metering units, driven by an electric motor and controlled by the MaterMacc X4 seeding monitor. With this, the seeding bar can be divided into four sections for uniformed large or fine seed distribution.
