increase font size
Lightweight rubber collection mats works with a free app to evaluate results.
Amazone has updated its EasyCheck calibration system to allow the lateral spreading pattern of fertiliser to be quickly and easily checked in the paddock.
First released in 2015, the system uses 16 lightweight rubber collection mats that work with a free app to automatically evaluate the results.
Testing in 2016-16 discovered that the black mats were unsuitable for dark-coloured fertilisers, so Amazone has changed the colour of the mats to purple to provide the best contrast.
To use EasyCheck, the user places the mats across four rows at specific distances from the tramline, before making a test pass with the spreader. The fertiliser deposited on the trays is photographed by cellphone then the picture is uploaded to the app.
The app automatically compares the volume of fertiliser collected on each row and the ratio between them to calculate a co-efficient of variation; from here the app suggests adjustments to the spreading disc speed, the delivery system on ZA-TS trailed spreaders or the spreading vane position on its ZA-V or ZA-M mounted spreaders.
Blair McElwee, Claas Harvest Centres product manager for Amazone, says the process is much quicker than the conventional system of hard plastic trays and then weighing the contents.
“It takes only a few minutes to lay out the mats, do the test spreading, photograph the mats and then calibrate the spreader,” he says.
“The mats take up little space, can be easily transported on the spreader or tractor and all 16 items can be easily carried by one person.”
DairyNZ has pulled together tactics that will help farmers improve on-farm efficiency and have positive benefits for the environment. These tactics are based on research, data, and lessons from leading farmers.
New Zealand farmers will face higher urea prices this year, mainly on the back of tight global supply and a weak Kiwi dollar.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients is expanding its fixed price offer to help customers manage input costs with greater certainty over the coming season.
With many European manufacturers releasing mechanical weeding systems to counter the backlash around the use and possible banning of agrochemicals, Amazone has added a new model to its Venterra mechanical hoe range.
Research findings published in Europe support the concept of foliar fertilisation or foliar feeding in improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) while maintaining pasture productivity.
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
'Common sense' cuts to government red tape will make it easier for New Zealand to deliver safe food to more markets.
Balclutha farmer Renae Martin remembers the moment she fell in love with cows.
Academic freedom is a privilege and it's put at risk when people abuse it.
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…
