The 2022 potato sales season has ended. Potato growers are summing up the results of the year, and it is obvious that for many farms it has not developed in the best way. Is the weather and other “external” circumstances to blame? Or could farmers still influence the situation? We will discuss this together with the specialists of the Agrotrade Group of Companies
LLC COMPANY "AGROTRADE" (part of the GC "Agrotrade") SPECIALIZES IN FULL TECHNOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR POTATO PRODUCERS WITH EVERYTHING NECESSARY, INCLUDING SEEDS, plant protection products, EQUIPMENT FOR PLANTING, CARE AND CLEANING, IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, VALVES IATIONAL, REFRIGERATION AND PACKAGING EQUIPMENT, VEGETABLE STORAGE CONSTRUCTION.
STRETCHING A LANDING IS STEALING MONEY FROM YOURSELF
Last year, farmers fell out of favor with the heavenly office literally from the beginning of the agricultural season. The spring was cold and wet, with planting in most regions far behind schedule. Each enterprise solved the problem in its own way: someone was waiting for a "window" in the midst of bad weather (some - literally until the summer), someone planted them in the "mud".
“Potato growers are well aware of the conditions under which planting should be carried out in order to get even, friendly seedlings and not provoke the development of diseases., - comments the head of the PPP sales department of the Agrotrade Company and an agronomist with great experience Alexander Bylinin- the earth should warm up to a temperature of + 10 ° C (at a depth of about 10 cm) and dry out (soil moisture - no more than 80% of the total field moisture capacity). Of course, there are years when the weather fails, but even in the most difficult periods, you can choose the most suitable days and use them to the maximum.
But far from all agricultural enterprises can work super-efficiently.
“Planting performance is affected by many factors: operating speed, headland length, turning and maintenance time, planting rate, fertilizer and dressing rate., - lists the chief process engineer of the Agrotrade Company Sergey Ariskin- Logistics has an important influence: the time of loading seeds, fertilizers and disinfectants.”
If all work processes are well-organized and the weather conditions are favorable, planting proceeds at a good pace, but it is not worth counting on the farm to be able to complete the plan of 300 hectares in two weeks with a single planter. Even if it is theoretically possible.
«Consider almost ideal planting conditions for a four-row planter (75 cm row spacing), says the expert, soil in physical ripeness, head length - 800 meters, working speed - 7 km/h, turning time - 2 minutes, planting rate - 3 t/ha, fertilizer application rate - 400 kg/ha, dressing rate - 130 l/ ha, loading of seeds is carried out in no more than 10 minutes, fertilizers and disinfectant - in the same time.
Theoretical calculations show that for an 8-hour work shift, taking into account the fact that 1 hour is spent on servicing the unit, the productivity will be about 11 hectares. With two-shift work - 22 hectares per day, 308 hectares in two weeks.
Under adverse weather conditions, both the shift time and the number of days on which landing can be carried out are reduced. So, with one and a half shifts and planting every other day, the average productivity will drop to 10 hectares per day (up to 150 hectares in two weeks). But this is provided that all other parameters remain the same.
«In reality, the performance figure is usually two to three times more modest, even in good weather., - Sergey Ariskin is convinced, - somewhere the logistics is not established, somewhere there are breakdowns, somewhere the machine operators do not have enough experience. Fearing to be behind schedule, farms often decide not to wait for the soil to be ready and start planting as early as possible. But during the pre-planting preparation of the soil and when planting in such conditions, lumps are necessarily formed. Subsequently, this will directly affect the harvesting performance and the quality of the harvested potatoes.”
According to the expert, there is only one conclusion: there should be potato planters on the farm with a margin for adverse conditions.
Alexander Bylinin:
“In most regions of Russia (with the exception of the southern ones), the vegetative period of plants is short, therefore, by stretching the agrotechnical planting time due to a lack of equipment, the farm actually shortens the period during which potatoes could develop. That is, he literally steals money from himself ... "
“When there is a set of mass of tubers, every day gives an increase of 1 ha to half a ton, explains Alexander Bylinin- multiply 0,5 tons by 10 days and get the approximate amount of losses: 5 tons per hectare! Even if the price for potatoes is not very high this year, this is 75 thousand rubles.”
In an effort to reduce these losses, farmers often delay harvesting, which allows potatoes to grow to their planned yields. But at the same time, the risk of leaving the crop in the field increases dramatically, especially if there are not enough combines either.
“The enterprise, which is poorly provided with planting and harvesting equipment, is hostage to the situation and is very dependent on weather conditions, - emphasizes Alexander Bylinin- at the same time, well-equipped farms perform the necessary operations just in time in any weather.”
Focusing on many years of experience, the expert believes that for successful work, any farm must have at least a four-row planter
for every 150 ha of area (optimally 100 ha) and a trailed two-row harvester for every 100 ha (optimally 50-60 ha). Planting company should last 7-10 days, harvesting 2-3 weeks.
In practice, one has to deal with other figures: farmers prefer to purchase one planter per 200-250 ha and one combine harvester per 150-200 ha. "People hope for a chance, and there are seasons when everything works out, - states Alexander Bylinin- but last year, the savings on technology went sideways for many.
THE MINIMUM PACKAGE IS NOT ENOUGH
The harvesting of the 2022 season was not inferior to the planting in terms of extremeness. Rather, even surpassed. “In early September, there was a severe drought in the Nizhny Novgorod region, - recalls the head of the service department of the Agrotrade Company Vladimir Katunin- and farms that did not have irrigation equipment decided to postpone harvesting until a good rain. The rains were not long in coming, but charged without stopping. Cleaning had to be carried out not at the time that people expected. Those who had the minimum set of equipment for a certain area of potatoes, in 70% of cases left 30 to 50% of the crop in the field.”
Autumn passed according to the scenario of spring: the farms were gaining piece fine days and were trying to squeeze everything possible out of the available equipment. Could this development have been avoided? Yes, if each farm assessed its capabilities in advance - adjusted for likely circumstances.
As the chief process engineer of the Agrotrade Company explains, the productivity of combines largely depends on the operating speed. Both too dry soil and too wet soil reduce the possible harvesting speed. Potato yields are equally important; organization of logistics
there is time that is spent on unloading); the amount of soil entering the bunker; qualifications of machine operators; the number of days on which cleaning is possible.
“Consider the ideal conditions for a two-row combine (75 cm row spacing), - comments Sergey Ariskin. - Operating speed - 5 km/h, bunker capacity - 6 tons, unloading time - 5 minutes, turnaround time - 2 minutes, headland length - 800 meters, two-shift operation, maintenance time - 1,5 hours per shift. Productivity - 50 tons per hectare. The number of lumps in the bunker heap is 5%. In this case, the harvester can harvest up to 3 hectares per shift (6 hectares per day) or about 300 tons per day when working in two shifts.”
“Even if the cleaning takes place in the best possible weather conditionshe continues, if soil moisture can be adjusted by pre-harvest watering (in case of increased dryness), but the spring was unfavorable, soil content in a heap in some years can increase six times compared to standard indicators (from 5% to 30%). In this case, we fill the hopper not only with potatoes, but also with soil. This alone reduces productivity by 1 hectare per day when working in two shifts. Productivity drops by 15-20%.
In unfavorable weather conditions (wet soil) the operating speed may drop.
"Let it be 2 km/h, the specialist counts. - In addition, the time for servicing the unit will increase significantly - the combine will have to be constantly cleaned. Let's say it will be 3 hours per shift. The number of shifts will be reduced - at best, to 1,5. At the same time, the productivity of the combine can decrease to 1…2 hectares per day (three times!), the harvesting volume will be no more than 100 tons per day.”
In real conditions, taking into account the presence of good days, as the expert notes, productivity drops less, but the harvesting time is still stretched. According to him, if under favorable conditions 100 hectares are harvested in three weeks, then in difficult conditions it will take a month and a half. In very difficult conditions, it is possible that some of the potatoes will remain in the field.
Thus, all funds invested in cultivation will be thrown to the wind.
Sergey Ariskin notes that the well-equipped EVO 280 with the NonStop hopper, with well-organized removal of potatoes from the field, using 2 + 2 technology, can dig twice as much as the standard SE 150-60. But this does not mean that you need to replace two combines with one. In difficult harvesting conditions, this can be a fatal mistake.
Of course, the choice of combine always remains with the potato grower. Only he knows all the conditions of his economy. The number and type of tractors, cultivation technology, soil type, availability and type of transport to transport crops from the field - all this affects the decision.
HOW TO ACHIEVE INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY OF COMBINES?
Sergey Ariskin recommends to farmers
pay attention to the following factors:
- working speed. In difficult conditions, it is primarily affected by the cleaning performance of the combine, in other words, the separation area of the conveyors. For example, the separation area of the GRIMME SE 150-60 combine with XXL cleaning is 20% larger than the standard one. Performance
cleaning can be increased up to 40%. The EVO 280 has a 40% larger separation area than the standard SE 150-60. In combination with additional options that allow for automatic and operational control of the combine, an experienced machine operator can significantly increase the working speed. - Hopper capacity. The larger the capacity of the bunker, the less unloading. This directly affects performance. If a 150 ton bunker is optionally installed on the SE 60-7,5 combine, productivity can be increased by up to 5%. The EVO 280 has an 8 ton bunker, i.e. plus 6% to
performance. Even higher performance can be achieved with the NonStop hopper, which can be installed on the SE 260, EVO 280 and EVO 290 combines. The ability to unload on the go eliminates stops for unloading. If we compare SE 150-60 (NonStop is not installed on it) and EVO 280 with NonStop hopper, then the productivity of the second can be increased by more than 20%! However, it is important to understand that oversized or non-stop bins place additional demands on transport. - The method of guiding the digging device along the depth of digging. The vast majority of harvesters use ridge drums for this, which rest on the top of the ridge. Under normal conditions, this method of regulation does not affect performance in any way. However
in conditions of high humidity, especially on loamy soils, soil sticks to the drums, they stop, and the machine operator has to clean them. Installing plastic drums improves the situation somewhat, but does not solve the problem radically. The same can be said about the ridge pressure control systems that are optionally installed on GRIMME combines (TerraDisc depth guidance system).
Maintaining a given depth is carried out with the help of copying skids. Such a system significantly reduces the time for maintenance of the harvester for cleaning. But keep in mind that TerraDisc works well only after the haulm has been removed. “Let's imagine that two combines are working on the same site: SE 260, equipped with the TerraDisc option, and SE 150-60 with ridge drums,” says the specialist, “under normal conditions, the productivity of the SE 260 is about 15-20% lower. However, when working on heavily waterlogged ridges, the TerraDisc-equipped SE 260 harvester is as productive as its older brother SE 150-60.” - Application of 2+2 or even 2+4 technology. Its essence lies in the fact that with the help of a potato digger, two rows are dug out and placed in the aisle of two adjacent rows. Next, the potato harvester digs two rows and picks up potatoes from two rows dug
potato digger. In the case of 2+4, the potato digger digs two rows on the right and left. Naturally, productivity does not double, because the speed of the unit will be less, since twice as many potatoes are supplied for cleaning, and the number of unloadings (if not
NonStop system) is doubled. However, we can talk about a 15-20% increase in productivity.
For a small farm, it hardly makes sense to choose an expensive, richly equipped combine harvester that will harvest in a matter of days, but will pay off for many years. Complicated "farm" configurations of combines should be purchased only in those cases when there is confidence that a machine operator of the highest qualification will work behind his "helm". Although if there is such a machine operator or the farmer himself is ready to act in his role, the machine can become the most effective assistant.
“In 2022, our company delivered a well-equipped EVO 280 to the Nizhny Novgorod farm, - shares information Vladimir Katunin- this was already the third potato harvester for the company (SE 150-60 and SE 260 were available). 100 hectares were allotted for cultivation.
The new machine proved to be excellent. With a yield of 70 t/ha, we dug according to the enrichment system (a WR 200 digger was in front of the combine, that is, the combine harvested potatoes from four rows at once). The first 50 ha were harvested in good weather, at a speed of 6 km/h. Then because of the rains the speed
decreased. Nevertheless, the crop was fully harvested, not a single hectare was left under the snow, and not all neighbors in the region could boast of such a result.”
PLANS FOR THE NEW SEASON
In 2023, the weather conditions in many regions please agricultural producers, but it is too early to say that the new season will be more successful and easier than the previous one. In addition, not everything in agriculture depends only on the weather.
“We recommend that farmers conduct a full analysis of their last year's harvesting campaign and determine what the main problems were related to: these could be errors in technology, logistics; shortcomings in the preparation of equipment, - He speaks Sergey Ariskin- now they have time to correct many shortcomings.
Another important advice for farmers from the experts of the Agrotrade Group of Companies is to form your own reserve stock of spare parts.
Recall that at the start of last season, farmers called restrictions on the supply of spare parts one of the main risk factors. Fortunately, there were no global mass stoppages of work due to a lack of consumables. This year, things could turn out differently.
“By the beginning of the 2022 season, a large stock of parts remained in warehouses in Russia, thanks to which agricultural producers practically did not experience serious problems - explains the head of the spare parts department of the Agrotrade Company Ilya Zobov- this year, the reserve has been greatly depleted, and the sanctions list has expanded.”
The specialist emphasizes that the list of spare parts prohibited for import is constantly being updated: some positions are added, some, on the contrary, are taken out of harm's way thanks to the efforts of European partners. It is not easy to guarantee the customer the receipt of components in such conditions.
“We do not just keep the most popular spare parts in stock, but we are constantly expanding the range. Since 2019, the list of items that are always in stock has tripled, - tells Ilya Zobov- but it is impossible to import everything. It is also not always possible to predict the logic of the next ban.”
What should farmers do in this situation?
- Work ahead! “Even before, we constantly reminded customers that it is better to carry out troubleshooting of equipment in advance and not to delay with orders of spare parts., - comments the head of the spare parts department of the Agrotrade company, - Now this is not a recommendation, but a condition for survival. Each agricultural enterprise needs its own stock of consumables, and its replenishment must be dealt with, understanding that the timing
deliveries of parts from abroad rose by an average of a month. Moreover, prices for both goods and transportation do not stop, and what costs 100 euros today may cost 500-600 in two months.”
SAVINGS ON IRRIGATION
The results of the last year forced many agricultural producers to reduce investments in the development of their enterprises. At the same time, farmers tried to keep the most important projects for them - for example, the introduction of irrigation, without which it is very difficult to obtain the desired indicators for yield and commercial quality of potatoes. Significant savings were achieved by those farms that opted for irrigation equipment from the Chinese company Yulin Irrigation.
"Yulin Irrigation is a leading manufacturer of agricultural irrigation equipment in China, - says the project manager of the Potential company Dmitry Valetov- the company began its work as an OEM manufacturer (from the editor: OEM from the English original equipment manufacturer - “original equipment manufacturer”) - that is, it produced parts and equipment, which were then sold by a European manufacturer under its own brand. Yulin sprinklers are equipped with original components from Nelson (USA), the world leader in the manufacture of sprinklers, which ensures high quality irrigation.”
The equipment has been delivered to Russia for more than five years, and over the past year the demand for it has grown significantly.
“This year we have already delivered two cars to the Astrakhan region, three to Vladimir, one each to Samara, Saratov, Orenburg and Chuvashia, 12 cars to Kazakhstan, - sharing information Dmitry Valetov- in Astrakhan, the equipment was put into operation in March, watering is carried out almost non-stop, there are no complaints from the customer”.
The equipment is equipped with aggregated panels that allow you to control irrigation from a distance. The servers are located on the territory of Russia, which excludes the possibility of their shutdown. The production of irrigation systems takes about two months. The term depends on the level of loading of the plant,
As a rule, most orders come from January to March: farmers are in a hurry to start watering in the new season.
Although from the point of view of the Potential project manager, it is better to launch an irrigation project after carefully considering everything, moreover, it is much more convenient to assemble the machines in the fall, after harvesting is completed, but before plowing.
“At this moment, the farm has free working hands and equipment, you can safely do the installation. The only negative is that the farm starts watering the next year, that is, a year is added to the payback of the project, he notes, in the spring, the work goes hand in hand with the preparation and holding of the sowing campaign, and this is a stressful situation for all participants.”
Delivery of equipment "from factory to farm" takes about one and a half months. The warranty for Yulin equipment is three years, service is provided by the dealer company. The Potential company supplies Yulin Irrigation equipment to the farms of Central Russia and the Volga region, as well as
is the official dealer of the manufacturer in Kazakhstan.