Seeds & Seeding

Vaderstad proceed opens the future of seeding

Väderstad is introducing a new innovative seeding machinery category called Väderstad Proceed, where one single machine increases the yield potential of a full range of crops – such as wheat, barley, oilseed rape, sugar beet, peas, maize, sunflower.

“At Väderstad we build machines that keep our customers at the forefront of modern farming,” says the company’s senior vice president sales and marketing Mattias Hovnert. “We develop new methods and from time to time we set completely new standards. Proceed is one of those leaps that doesn’t happen often in the farm machinery industry, but when it does, it changes things.

“Väderstad Proceed can place the smallest of seed at the perfect depth with millimetre precision, enabling significant improvements in areas like yield levels, need for tillage, chemical treatment and use of fertilisers.”

Field trials show that Proceed can cut the wheat seed rate by half, while keeping the yield compared to modern seed drills. Importantly the crops are stronger and very even in all growth stages of the crop year.

“Proceed takes a huge leap from current seeding technology,” says Väderstad director product management at business development Lars Thylén. “It is outstanding in depth-precision, in-row precision, end-of-row precision, as well as seedbed optimisation. The result is a quick, even emergence and vital crop population where each plant is provided conditions needed to reach full potential.”

Results from trials show that a few months after drilling winter wheat at a rate of 150seeds/ m2 gave an increase of 102% in plant biomass, 72% in root biomass and 62% more shoots per plant, compared to a modern seed drill.

Highest precision for all crops For drilling cereals Proceed has a row spacing of either 225 or 250mm. By an easy configuration and a quick change of seed discs the machine can switch to 450 or 500mm for crops such as sugar beet or oilseed rape, to then switch again to plant crops such as maize, sunflower or cotton at 750mm row spacing. All crops will be established with an outstanding precision, maximising the yield potential for each seed.

At the heart of Proceed are high-precision row units. Prior to seed placement, individual preseeding wheels consolidate the field to ensure same conditions for each seed. The pre-seeding wheels are individually mounted, using hydraulic down-force to ensure high performance.

“When the seeds reach the row units from the central hopper, an adaption of Väderstad PowerShoot takes full control of each single seed all the way down to the soil,” says Lars Thylén, director product management at business development.

“Leaving the short seed tube, each seed is received by a stop wheel. This ensures optimal seed-to-soil contact at selected depth all over the working width. This provides the driver with full control, each row unit is electrically driven and controlled via the iPad-based control system Väderstad E-Control,” he says.

“Functions include row-byrow shut-off and variable rate, dynamic tramlining, individual calibration, as well as real-time precision monitoring and control. All of which are true technical innovations in the cereal seeding sector.”

NAAC Field Trials: Seed Size Matters

New independent field trials done this year by SGS, on behalf of the National Association of Agricultural Contractors (NAAC), show that bigger seed sizes result in significantly higher vigour, emergence, crop height and rooting weight. These trials are now being taken to harvest when final yield results will also be analysed.

These results are particularly important this coming autumn and spring as risk management will be key to growers. As input costs continue to remain at breath-taking highs, with no signs of abating, a tight juggling act will be needed to manage crop establishment and agronomy costs and cash flow, whilst commodity prices remain a relative unknown next year.

Farm saving seed will be an obvious choice for many but then it will be vital that every seed put in the ground is given the optimum opportunity to grow and reach a productive yield. Integrated farm management techniques will help growers to minimise the application of nutrients and plant protection products, but the seed itself will remain the building blocks of the following crop.

Whilst NAAC processors suspected that seed size matters, there was a lack of independent research and when initial processor trials in Cornwall indicated a link, this led to the NAAC commissioning scientific glass house trials of winter wheat and spring barley in 2020 to gather evidence.

Initial results (below) support the seed processors

long held belief that bigger seeds demonstrate improved germination, emergence and vigour.

The next step was to take the trials out to the field. In Autumn 2021, the NAAC commissioned a fractional seed size field trial with SGS, who planted the seed and monitored crop growth, taking the final crop to harvest for a yield response measurement.

Winter wheat and spring barley were sorted by size into four different fractions, varying from >2.8mm and <2.22mm in size, and drilled in field conditions. The results to date (June 2022), are showing that larger seeds, which receive the same inputs pre- and post- drilling, grow significantly better than smaller seeds.

Trial spring barley plots showing seed size less than 2.22 (on left) and greater than 2.8 (on the right)