Farmers Experiences

iM  Peter, iM FARMING

“With IsoMatch GEOCONTROL and the GEOSPREAD I am saving 10% on fertiliser.”

Peter from Germany has already been working with Kverneland machines for 10 years. He recently invested in a Kverneland Exacta CL GEOSPREAD.

“The machines are reliable and the operation is very simple”, he says. “The equal distribution of fertiliser is very important. We have decided to buy a Kverneland spreader, because of the number of vanes per disc”, says Peter. He elaborates: “We took into consideration that the 8 vanes per disc ensure a more continuous flow of fertiliser and a more equal spreading pattern than spreaders with 2 vanes per disc.

Intuitive control with the IsoMatch Tellus GO 
“Up to now we are only using the IsoMatch Tellus GO for the disc spreader, but as we would like to invest in some more Kverneland machines in the future, we can use this terminal for more machines as well. The terminal has an intuitive design which enables you to easily find your way around the menu. The automatic start and stop function on headlands saves on fertiliser.” Peter tells us that it could be realistic to say that using GEOSPREAD brought them a savings of even 10%. The reason for these savings is that they first make one pass around the fields and afterwards the sections switch automatically, the spreader adjusts itself.

iM Warren, iM FARMING

”GEOSPREAD keeps the spreading accurate even on slopes and in rough paddocks”

Arable farmer
Number of hectares: 450 
Crops: Wheat, Barley, Oilseed rape
Vicon RO EDW GEOSPREAD

”After last year’s harvest yields were up reasonably high, we decided to just see if there was a chance to beat the world record. With all companies involved, people helping us right through the process and with the right equipment, it suddenly all fell together.”

Last Season, Warren and Joy Darling, who run a 450a arable farm on the coastal side of Timaru in New Zealand’s South Island, produced 13.8 tonnes of Barley per hectare, easily breaking the previous world record of 12.2 tonnes.

More accuracy and overlap control
GEOSPREAD is also increasing the precision by splitting its working width into 2m individual GPS controlled sections: this is unique for a disc spreader and prevents the huge overlap you would normally have on a single on/ off switching of 24m working width, especially in wedged fields like in this situation. This is adding a lot to precision and savings of fertiliser.

Warren claims a good barley crop revolves around three factors: what you do with the soil, your agronomy and the climate. The Vicon RO EDW GEOSPREAD is one of the tools he and his team have used to improve the soil and ensure best practice by applying the right amount of fertiliser at the right time. ”We’re trying to even out fertility across the whole farm. Some areas don't need any fertiliser and some areas require more. We aim to lower the cost of inputs but we haven’t got to that stage yet as there are too many uneven areas.”