Groundswell visitors will be able to evaluate trials of Kuhn Farm Machinery’s Striger strip till cultivator, which the company claims has delivered significant crop establishment savings compared with traditional methods.
According to Edd Fanshawe, Kuhn’s arable product specialist, reducing fuel use, lowering soil disturbance, creating a tilth, and maintaining soil structure, are all benefits that have been seen in Striger trials. “In two trials across the south and east of the UK during 2024, the Striger was evaluated against a two-pass min-till system and a traditional plough and press cultivation, to assess fuel and cost input along with end yield.
“Across both trials, the Striger delivered lower fuel use and comparable yields to the other two systems. In the eastern trial, the Striger cultivation used 8.6l/ha (£6.45/ha), whereas the min-till was 17.7l/ha (£13.28/ha), and the plough and press up at 28.1l/ha (£21.08/ha). This shows that significant savings in fuel and reduced number of passes are possible with the Striger, while preserving the soil structure through targeted cultivations,” he says.
Alongside the Striger, Kuhn will have its mechanical weeding range of the Tineliner and Rowliner with Rowlink camera guidance linkage on show.
“Our mechanical weeding machines can significantly cut herbicide costs in traditional cereal crops during the early growth stages. By regularly passing through crops, with varying tine aggressiveness, growers can disturb young weeds to prevent them outcompeting cereals and increase crop tillering. FETF grant funding can provide up to 50% of the machine’s total cost, to a maximum grant value of £25,000, to significantly help growers justify investment and improve productivity,” concludes Edd.
