Drills maker to launch cultivator at LAMMA

A Suffolk-based agricultural machinery maker is set to launch its latest farming implement at LAMMA this month.

Claydon Drills, based at Wickhambrook, near Newmarket, specialises in direct strip seeding technology and will be unveiling its new shallow cultivator, the Claydon TerraStar.

LAMMA, a leading agricultural machinery equipment and service show, takes place on January 20 and 21 at the East of England Showground in Peterborough.

The TerraStar, described as a “simple, low cost, low disturbance” cultivator is aimed at complementing the company’s straw harrow. The company says it will enable farmers to create a shallow tilth which encourages volunteers and weeds such as blackgrass, which poses a particular problem to farmers, to chit (or sprout), while also helping with slug control, drainage and the incorporation of manures.

The implement’s unique tines (or prongs) produce thousands of miniature plugs of soil which form a fine surface tilth, levelling the field and leaving the surface intact, encouraging volunteers and grass weeds to germinate and grow, while helping water to drain from the surface.

A shallow tilth is created which the Claydon Straw Harrow is then able to move by breaking off growing plants at the germinating stage and at the one-leaf point of growth, which eliminates the need to spray with chemicals.

The implement, which costs £15,000 plus VAT, can also be used as a mechanical weeder, with multiple passes reducing the need for glyphosate, making stubble management much easier and reducing slug populations.

The company will also be exhibiting its new 4m Claydon Hybrid T4 trailed drill for the first time at LAMMA, which joins its existing range of 6m and 8m drills.

It can be used to deliver seed only or a combination of seed and fertiliser, a system which is becoming increasingly popular with farmers and agricultural contractors throughout Europe and Scandinavia.

Design and manufacturing director Oliver Claydon said: “Farmers are having to reduce production costs to remain profitable, so it makes good business sense to fully utilise available capital and allowances by investing in equipment which will significantly reduce their cost base for the future rather than simply updating existing equipment that offers no real economic benefit.”

The Claydon Strip Seeding System, developed and patented by Suffolk farmer Jeff Claydon, is now sold in 27 countries by the company’s commercial team and ever-developing distribution network, with Claydon products operating across the widest range of climatic conditions and soil types.