Amazone unveils flagship spreader
With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at the correct rate.
The Cirrus 6003-2 (pictured) and 6003-2C seed drills are now available with TwinTeC+ double disc coulters.
Amazone's new six-metre Cirrus 6003-2 and 6003-2D seed drills are now available with Twin-TeC+ double disc coulters that are said to enable precise and rapid sowing of large areas.
The 380mm diameter high-performance coulters are made of pre-tensioned boron steel for high wear resistance. Fitted on a row spacing of between 12.5cm and 16.6cm, the coulter pressure can be hydraulically adjusted from 15 to 100kg. This ensures accurate contour tracking on hilly terrain and precise seed placement, even with small seeds.
Coulter pressure is adjusted using the pressure relief valve, while working depth is altered using the mechanical crank handles. Depth guidance rollers with running widths of 50, 65 or 80mm can be fitted to match to light, meium or heavy soil conditions. A coulter harrow, with adjustable operating intensity, can be fitted to the wheel carriers of the second coulter row.
CLAAS Harvest Centre product manager Steve Gorman says the new coulters incorporate several technical innovations.
"TwinTeC+ coulters provide reliable operation under all soil types and operating conditions," he explains.
,p>"Even with crusted surfaces, heavy soils or undulating ground, the coulter reliably reaches the placement death. They cut perfet seed furrows with accurate depth at operating speeds of between 10 and 20km/h."
Gorman says the wide spacing between coulters and rows, together with the relatively flat 10-degree pitch of the seeding discs, ensures good throughput and blockage-free operation - even under different conditions.
Alternatively, the Cirrus can be equipped with the existing RoTeC single disc coulters, which are ideal for use on heavy or sticky soils or if there is a high amount of crop residues.
The coulter arm, manufactured from forged steel, thickens at the end and is interlocked with tongue and groove - thereby creating a longer and stronger welding seam. The coulters are attached to the machine frame via a special bearing clampmade of high-strength forged steel.
Embossing on the inside of the clamp prevents the four shock-absorbing rubber cords from moving or twisting. There is also a metal stop preventing the coulter arm from swinging up during road transport.
The disc carrier arms also carry a guide extension, which prevents the seed from jumping within the furrow, a closer that presses the seed into the bottom of the furrow for uniform placement.
BNZ says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through an innovative new initiative that helps make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier.
LIC chief executive David Chin says meeting the revised methane reduction targets will rely on practical science, smart technology, and genuine collaboration across the sector.
Lincoln University Dairy Farm will be tweaking some management practices after an animal welfare complaint laid in mid-August, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation into the complaint finding no cause for action.
A large slice of the $3.2 billion proposed capital return for Fonterra farmer shareholders could end up with the banks.
Opening a new $3 million methane research barn in Waikato this month, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay called on the dairy sector to “go as fast as you can and prove the concepts”.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.

OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…