One-pass systems tend to be associated with cereals as a way of minimising the cultivation and therefore expense of repeatedly travelling across a field.
This same desire to reduce costs is shared by potato growers and Dewulf has released its latest answer to combining cultivation with planting – the Certa 40 Integral.
The machine was first shown at Potato Europe 2023 held in September in Belgium, but it will also be present at Agritechnica later this month as a static display.
The machine is a four-row planter that mimics the concept of seed drills ‘piggy backing’ on power harrows; in this case it is a 3,500kg bunker feeding four planting elements mounted above a horizontal cultivator.
Unlike a power harrow/drill combination, the Certa 40 Integra appears unsuitable for primary cultivation except in lighter soils; the cultivating elements throw the soil up against a cover rather than rotating the clods against each other.
Once the soil has passed through the cultivating tines, it is formed into the four ridges which are then split by the planter elements and the seed potato placed into the crown.
Full ISOBUS with Certa 40
The major adjustment in this arrangement is the cultivation depth and for this Dewulf has fitted nine individual depth wheels which help support the weight of the machine across its whole width.
Planting depth on the ridge is controlled by adjusting the height of the splitter beam while precision farming makes its debut on the company’s planters with individual control of the planter elements, enabling variable rate and section control.
Every part of the system communicates via ISOBUS. The system is designed in-house and can be accompanied by a 12″ Topcon touchscreen and joystick, allowing all the functions and adjustments of the planter to be controlled from the cab.
Potato planters are not the biggest selling machines in Ireland and it is unlikely that this will be the largest market for the company.
However, this latest machine does mark a step forward in fine tuning the planting process, increasing the competitiveness of growing operations that have the resources to purchase one and the area to justify the investment.
