Why Plough? Many Farmers believe that they need to plough and fully cultivate their land in order to establish a high yielding crop but this is not necessarily true. Firstly you must ask yourself why plough? Ploughing is traditionally used to control weeds which can now be very cheaply and effectively controlled by spraying before establishment. Ploughing also causes the soil to degrade subsequently causing compaction, erosion, a loss of vital nutrients from the soil, pollution of water and the release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere.
What does a seed need to grow? It will need a constant supply of water but not so much that the seed becomes waterlogged causing it to rot, tilled soil that releases nutrients for the seed to be fed from, giving it cover from birds, insects and the elements and darkness that will trigger the seed to grow. |
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The patented technique used by Claydon direct drills gives the crop the above growth necessities and more! Our first tine busts out compaction and shatters the soil below the seeded area allowing the seed to grow extraordinarily wide and strong tap roots enabling each plant to feed and grow into exceptionally high yielding crops. The roots of each plant tap into the retained water in the unturned solid channels left between the crop rows ensuring the plant has a constant supply of water. The first tine also creates a drainage channel that stops the plant from becoming water logged or the seed from rotting before it has developed. The Second tine then tills the soil for the seed to be injected underneath by the seeding boot that spreads the seed into bands, not rows, giving the seed cover from the elements and a wide growing environment, where plants are not fighting for root space in the soil. Finally the wheel gently presses the soil down giving good soil to seed contact and protection from predators. As all of the operations are conducted in line the drill only tills the soil in the seeded area leaving solid channels each side of the seeded area which retain their natural soil structure, nutrients, water and micro organisms. These not only supply water and feed to the plant, they also support machinery significantly reducing compaction and soil erosion, much improving the soils quality and structure.
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