Seeder boosts liquid assets

Carnamah farmer Roger Dring with children Reuben, 4, Jackson, 6, and Olivia, 8, with their new seeder behind them.

Carnamah farmer Roger Dring will enter the 2009 season with a new Ausplow air seeding rig.

The machine's 15,000-litre capacity more than doubles the size of Roger's previous seeder box and the 60-foot-wide bar makes for a huge improvement.

"It's all the same set-up except we just changed the bins over, from the Morris to the Ausplow; mainly because of the liquid fertiliser," Roger said.

The liquid fertiliser set-up allows Roger to use deep-band Flexi-N with liquid trace elements wherever they're required.

He said whether the soil requires potassium or sulfur, he can add the elements accordingly which will let him be a lot more flexible than he was with granular fertiliser.

Roger believes the increase from 10-inch spacings to 12 will have both benefits and deficits, saying there won't be a drastic yield penalty but there will still be one there.

"But if we kept the spacings at 10-inch we would have had to change over the tractor too," Roger said.

With a better chemical incorporation and wider point spacings, Roger can now drive faster because before with the 10-inch spacings the soil throw was too high.

The new machinery will also reduce the input costs by having the liquid under the soil instead of on top, improving fertiliser availability for the crop.

You don't waste nearly as much," he said. Roger said he was due for an upgrade in machinery to keep up with technology and reduce input costs where he can.

"I tend to turn my seeding equipment over more often and I'll hang on to a harvester longer," he said.

The harvester's ready to go but you've got to make do with what your priorities are - you've got to grow the crop before you can harvest it."

After Carnamah's rain in mid April, Roger is well and truly excited to get his new seeder into action.

He will start sowing canola the day after Anzac Day, with a cropping program including 400ha canola, 400ha lupins and 2200ha of wheat.

"We're just a bit worried I suppose.

"We could have put some in now but it's going to be 34 degrees on Sunday so it's too hot for the canola. They're talking about rain for later next week."

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