Family-owned Swedish farm machinery company, Vaderstad, has released a 12-metre version of its Tempo precision planter.
Claas Harvest Centre product manager for Vaderstad, Murray Tuck, said the L32 was the largest Tempo planter to date and ideal for controlled traffic farming systems in Australia.
"A Tempo L set a world record in 2017 by planting 502 hectares of maize in 24 hours - an average working speed of 20 to 22 kilometres per hour," Mr Tuck said.
"This feat was impressive, not just in terms of its scale and speed, but also its accuracy.
"University researchers identified just 16 skips and 24 doubles in a sample of 6800 plants conducted two months after planting.
"The new L32 model maintains this accuracy but significantly increases its capacity to 12 metres," he said.
"The other thing to remember is that Tempo plants by individual seed which can significantly reduce sowing rates while maintaining excellent emergence."
Mr Tuck said the seeding units were set on 375mm (15 inch) row spacings, making them ideal for planting a wide range of winter and summer crops including cereals, pulses, canola and maize.
"However, every second row of the machine can be hydraulically raised and disengaged, effectively doubling the row spacing," he said.
MORE MACHINERY NEWS:
"This feature means producers can easily switch from planting canola or soy beans on a 375mm row spacing to, say, planting maize on a 750mm row spacing."
The Tempo L32 has a 3000-litre on board seed hopper but is designed to be used with a trailed air cart.
Options included the Seed Hawk 660 which holds up to 23,000 litres of seed and fertiliser in three separate bins, Mr Tuck said.
"This combination will provide enormous capacity for broadacre cropping operations," he said.
Fertiliser can be applied beside the seed furrow or with the seed in the furrow.
Mr Tuck said the Tempo L series was now available in a range of mounted and trailed models from three to 12m with adjustable row spacing and fertiliser options to suit all planting requirements.
An optional small seed kit includes suspended stop wheels to produce an optimal seed-to-soil contact.
In addition, the angle of the closing wheels can be adjusted to provide a good closing of the seed trench at shallow planting depth.
He said all models featured Vaderstad's PowerShoot technology which controls the delivery of the seed all the way to its placement in the soil, eliminating the effects of gravity, vibrations and slopes.
Recent improvements include the addition of optional hydraulic weight transfer and floating row cleaning systems.
"The ability to increase or reduce pressure row units enables the operator to precisely adjust the machine to field conditions, thereby ensuring an even seed depth and uniform crop emergence.
"Likewise, the floating row cleaner adapts to suit field conditions," Mr Tuck said
Each row cleaner was mounted on a parallel linkage, enabling it to precisely follow the field surface.
The row cleaner was fitted with a self-cleaning rubber wheel, controlling the depth setting of the spiked row cleaner disc, he said.
"With optimised working angles, the floating row cleaners are designed to perfectly match the speed and precision of the Tempo planter," Mr Tuck said.
All functions of the Tempo and any attached implements are controlled using the Vaderstad E-Control iPad inside the tractor.
Tempo can also be equipped with ISOBUS Task Controller which enables GPS-controlled variable rate application and automatic section control.
