REGINA – Morris Industries debuted a form of automated sectional control to its seed cart systems at this year’s Western Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina.
“We knew farmers were looking for the ability to shut off the sections of their machines when they are overlapping previously covered ground at the end of a field or when working around sloughs and other variable field lines,” Don Henry of Morris said while attending the farm show. “Now our units have it.”
Operators of the company’s air seeder carts have always been able to shut down one side of the seed meter feed if necessary, but they had to do it manually by moving a slide at the bottom of the product hoppers.
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As a result, Randy Ellis of Morris, said farmers seldom bothered to use the feature.
“They weren’t likely to stop and get off and shut down up to four tanks.”
Henry said not only are the overlaps expensive but also poor agronomy.
Putting in too much seed and fertilizer can cause crop lodging, delayed maturity and seed set.
“Producers are looking for greater precision with all the high producing genetics and nutrient systems they have at their disposal,” he said. “In a dry product cart, they expect all of the tools to make it happen.”
Morris’ air cart seed metering systems use separate seed run meter rollers and can be operated independently or shut off with multiple slides. The company’s new 86 foot Contour drill, when mated with a cart featuring its seed cut-off technology, joins other large hoe drills from Saskatchewan manufacturers Seed Hawk and Seedmaster in size and sectional control.
Ellis said the hydraulically driven shut-off slides are a $7,500 option on the carts and represent a first step in that line for Morris.
“We’re looking at five different options to do this, so we can close off smaller sections of the machines (and make it fully automated).”
The Contour precision drill’s independent shanks are hydraulically managed but Ellis said unlike other machinery designs, they will stay in the ground when dry products are cut off to avoid machine skewing.
Henry said the new system gives dry fertilizer users some of the same control enjoyed by liquid and anhydrous ammonia users.
“We already worked with Topcon (Precision Agriculture) and Pattison (Liquid Systems) to control those nutrients and producers liked the option, so we added it to dry.”
The 86 foot parallel linkage drill is priced at $215,000 to $258,000.
Ellis said the drill has a new hydraulic block that reduces delay times when dropping or raising the openers. It also has a $17,000 conveyor loader option, which Ellis said is a gentle way to handle expensive and sometimes fragile seeds on their way to the carts’ hoppers.”
It decreased loading time in the field as well.
“The conveyor is a heavy weight option and has three hydraulic cylinders for operator positioning. For more information, visit www.morris-industries.com or call 306-933-8585.
