The financial and practical benefits of using strip tillage to establish a wide range of vegetable crops are being realised by one the UK’s biggest growers.
Establishment savings of £150/ha for a wide range of vegetable crops is allowing a state-of-the-art strip tillage machine to challenge the traditional multi-pass plough and power harrow system as the favoured soil preparation system for T H Clements in Lincolnshire.
Farm manager, Neil Sharpe, has been impressed with the results in the machine’s first full year and says the savings have been significant.
“We are comparing the Striger system to the power harrow cultivation method we are currently using. It has proved to us that we can use half the fuel and gain three times the output from the Striger to achieve the same seedbed for planting. It also allows us versatility to try new approaches when establishing crops.”
T H Clements demoed Kuhn’s Striger in 2023 and used it to establish some of the 4,400ha of varied cropping across Lincolnshire. The business has a further 485ha in Cornwall, supplying a range of major consumer-facing clients. The cropping is varied from cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, several varieties of cabbage, leeks and potatoes, along with traditional cereals and, more recently, the introduction of cover crops.
The intensive production system means crops are harvested 310 days a year and produce leaves the site in Bennington, Lincolnshire, 363 days a year. However, Mr Sharpe says the unpredictable weather, staff availability and increasing machinery and diesel costs have shown the need to assess different options for soil preparation.
First strip till cultivator
Kuhn’s Striger strip till cultivator prepared land ahead of the 10-row precision planter, with the Striger chosen for being lightweight, simple to use and it could be run on an existing 250hp tractor.
“We first looked at strip till cultivation in 2022 where we trialled a small area to prove if the theory would work. The trial wasn’t great, but what it showed us was the potential for the system to revolutionise how we planted crops across the business. We evaluated several options but chose to work closely with Kuhn to get the machine we wanted. From cultivating 8ha with the Striger in 2022, we plan to prepare around 1,200ha using it this year.”
The Striger features a series of row units that are independent from the frame, with a depth gauge wheel at the front followed by an opening disc to cut through trash. Debris cleaners clear any surfaces residues from the strip before a leg loosens the strip between depths of 70-300mm. Following deflector discs prevent soil from leaving the strip before rear press wheels reconsolidate the planting line to preserve moisture.
Immediate savings
Adopting the strip till system offered the business a chance to significantly reduce cultivation costs by removing passes from the intensive ploughing and power harrow regime. Mr Sharpe said using something new and replacing a tried and tested system was a risk, but it has proved one worth taking.
“We can’t afford to have land out of production as the impact throughout the business is too great. Cultivating land with the strip till during 2023 has been game-changing for the whole field production system. We have managed to remove two, or in some cases three, passes by not power harrowing and pressing soil multiple times, but instead strip tilling into ploughed land or directly into desiccated cover crops.”
By removing the passes, especially power harrowing, the strip till establishment returned an average fuel use of 20l/ha to prepare a seedbed for drilling compared with 45l/ha on the power harrow system. Mr Sharpe says these fuel savings are very welcome but further benefits in output have been seen, with the strip till returning a work rate of 3.5ha/hr, whereas the power harrow system offers a maximum output of 1.2ha/hr. Up to 30ha/day is possible in good conditions with the Striger.
The 9-row machine that the business had on demo has been purchased with an extra row added to match the 10-row precision planter at 610mm spacings, and a fertiliser applicator will be added before this spring. Both machines use the same guidance lines for repeatable accuracy and precision when sowing directly into the prepared strips.
Adding cover crops
The versatility of the Striger is another factor that has been essential for Mr Sharpe to maximise his investment in the machine. The business has started adding cover crops into the rotation to keep soil covered and provide better structure and nutrition for following crops, as Mr Sharpe explains.
“Ploughing is becoming a greater risk to the business as we don’t get the frosts to provide natural furrow breakdown, and the fuel, labour and machinery involved in creating a seedbed from ploughing is expensive.”
Part of the investment in the Striger has allowed Mr Sharpe to use cover cropping as a break crop instead of a traditional cereal, with the strip till able to cultivate bands into the desiccated crop. This option won’t be possible with every crop, but with a growing emphasis on protecting the soil, using less cultivations, and reducing the farm’s carbon output, it will have a growing place in the system.
“One of the biggest benefits of the Striger has been the ability to travel on the land when in previous years we would have been stopped due to the waterlogged fields. This also has benefits at harvest as the firmer ground and wheelings means we aren’t causing the ruts in wet areas that we would have done in the past.”
One example of this has been during 2023’s wet autumn and winter where the Lincolnshire farm has received 200mm more rain than the yearly average. A cover crop was established with the system in August as an overwinter crop, and during the wet weather, the field has shed it all, with no standing water on the field.
Future plans
This year Mr Sharpe plans to run the Striger on a Fendt 828, which, along with a potential fuel saving, will also have variable tyre inflation to further prevent soil compaction. Although the strip till method has its benefits, it is a learning process about how to use the machine and it requires a dedicated operator who understands the reasons behind the change.
The business has pressures to reduce its carbon output, and adopting a strip till cultivator for a growing number of its crops will help lower the intensive cultivations it has been used to in the past and allow the business to gain from small changes.
“Unlike a power harrow, we need a dedicated operator for the Striger to get the most out of it and leave the rows in the right place for planting as it is essentially telling the planter where to go. It has required some of our team to challenge the way they have been used to establishing crops, but overall, the benefits are obvious, and the savings speak for themselves!”
concludes Mr Sharpe.