In the search for affordable equipment that can accurately apply fertilizer, small and medium farmers can use both new and retrofit designs.
Approaches may vary and some may cost more than others, but precision fertilization is growing in popularity.
In Ontario and Eastern Canada, some hydraulic trailed spreader manufacturers choose to upgrade their machines with application rate control modules. The large investment required to retrofit older PTO ground driven models (eg Wilmar XNUMX-point hitch type spreaders) is more significant – enough to make a new fertilizer unit more economically sensible.
Granular fertilizer boxes mounted on corn planters can also be retrofitted in a similar way if they are powered by hydraulics rather than ground speed. But because of the relatively small amount of nutrients applied at planting, investing in variable rate bulk spreaders is highly rewarding.
Liquid applicators are another area where manufacturers can easily upgrade to variable rate, as long as their sprayers are truly variable rate compatible. The use of Y-drop systems, whether purchased or homemade, is another strategy that is attracting the attention of growers who use sprayers for both crop protection and nutrient application.
However, even homemade Y-drop systems can be expensive. The Y-drop app is especially popular with corn growers in sandier soils and regions where rain can be expected.
Companies offering fertilizer upgrade kits include but are not limited to John Deere, Precision Planting and Ag Express.
Self-propelled sprayers, which many use for both crop protection and fertilization, often fall outside the price range of small and even medium-sized manufacturers.
For example, one farmer interviewed on the topic of this article used an Amazone ZA-TS dry fertilizer spreader with hydraulic drive and left and right sections. Although the part in question was in most of the models offered by the company, it effectively included any field mapping system (for example, Raven, Case-IH, etc.) and provided "almost perfect" section control.
Since then, the manufacturer has moved to other application equipment, although it has confirmed the usefulness of the design.
Similar models of equipment are available from other companies, for example, from the Danish company Brendal. Other brands such as Chandler also offer many of the above benefits through a combination of PTO and hydraulic drives and ISO compatibility.
These and many other examples are a step up from PTO spreaders with chain drive. But the technology comes with a price—for example, in the case of Chandler, between $40 and $000.