Efficiency is a matter of survival in modern farming.
To get the crop in before the optimum seeding window slams shut, many operators have embraced massive equipment that allows them to cover hundreds of acres in hours.
That’s fine for farmers with large, square empty fields but for those with potholes and bush to steer around, an 80 foot or wider seeder can be cumbersome.
The answer, says Bob Vandaele, who farms 7,400 acres and operates Vandaele Seeds with his brothers Cal and Mark near Medora, Man., is to go faster.
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“We were in search of an air seeder that could go at higher speeds so that we wouldn’t have to go wider,” Vandaele said.
“Then we could stay at a 60 to 65 foot drill, but go faster.”
With this in mind, the Vandaele brothers booked tickets to Australia, a hotbed of no-till innovation.
“We always felt that the Australian farmers were probably the shrewdest farmers on Earth. They get no help from their government, they’re on the driest continent on Earth. If there’s a way to figure something out, those guys will do it,” Vandaele said.
“They’re seeding at 15 to 16 mph down there, and we’re seeding at five or six up here.”
On their tour, they discovered the Bullet, an air seeder manufactured by Tobin Disc Drills in Forbes, New South Wales.
The high-speed, reverse-coulter air drill hugs rolling terrain using a two-frame design. Sectional units are composed of a main frame attached to the hitch and frame tires, with a sub-frame underneath composed of modules that each hold four openers.
Each disc has inside and outside scrapers, with individual pressurized trips that can be adjusted from 70 to 650 psi.
The size, angle and position of the 24 inch tall, 1/4 inch wide single discs create minimal surface disturbance.
Vandaele said the disc opening is closed first by a hard rubber muffler wheel and then by a 13 inch closing wheel, which allows the Bullet to operate at double or triple normal seeding speeds without sacrificing seed placement accuracy even with small-seed crops such as canola and flax.
The press wheels squeeze the air out rather than travelling directly over the seed. This prevents crusting and allows moisture to seep through to the seed.
Other features include the ability to adjust depth and packing pressure from the cab and optional paired nitrogen banding discs whose bottoms slant in toward each other.
He said this feature allows the banders to pivot when turning corners, unlike rigid discs that tend to dig into the soil. The banders are operated with hydraulics and can be lifted or lowered from the tractor cab.
Because the seeder uses disc openers, draft is nearly half as much as with air drills that use knife-type openers. Vandaele said any tractor that can pull 60 foot drills will be able to handle the Australian unit at top speed.
He said short of finding an old-timer to teach how to drive a four-horse hitch or buying a turn-of-the-century steam engine, speeding up is the best way to cut fuel bills.
“You will see your fuel bill cut in half to seed the crop,” he said.
“You’re burning the same fuel per hour, but your drill is doing twice the acres. So your fuel bill per acre is cut in half.”
Less time seeding means less depreciation on the tractor, he added. At roughly $50 per hour for 500 horsepower units, shaving 100 hours off spring fieldwork amounts to significant savings.
Vandaele has bought one unit for use next spring on his own operation.
“The soil types in Australia are different, but I’m hoping that on our farm we’ll be seeding at 12 mph, which is double what we’re doing today.”
The Vandaeles plan to become North American distributors after testing market demand in Western Canada.
They are bringing a 20-foot demonstration model to the Farm Progress Show in Regina next month and hope to have a full-sized unit in time for Manitoba Ag Days next January.
