Bourgault amps up air seeder distribution system

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Air seeders are getting bigger at the same time that farmers are applying more total product per acre. Is the distribution system that worked well on a 36-foot air seeder up to the task of evenly distributing 300-plus pounds of seed and fertilizer across an 86 foot air drill? Not likely.

Dale Leftwich, RealAgriculture’s Saskatchewan field editor, recently joined Jordan Henderson, territory sales manager with Bourgault Industries at Agri-Trade to talk about improvements to the company’s 7700 Series air seeder. Henderson says, with these improvements, the 7700 Series will now do an even better job of distributing seed and fertilizer across the whole width of seeding unit. (Story continues below)

New for this year on the 7700 series is the EvenStream Primary distribution system. According to Bourgault, this provides improvements in distribution accuracy, particularly on the double-shoot or mid-row bander fertilizer air stream.

Henderson says, “The biggest challenge we’ve found with our distribution is vey high rates of urea, or N. At the highest rates we found some challenges with distribution. This (new distribution system) solves those challenges. So, for guys up in that 300, 350, 400 pounds of N we’re keeping the distribution very, very good.”

It might be too much to say they have achieved perfect distribution, but there is significant improvement. As Henderson points out. “Well, we always say at Bourgault we are pursuing perfection, so you can’t say it’s perfect, but yes that’s exactly right, with the bigger footages of drills, higher rates of nitrogen you’re going to see improvements.”

There is another feature on the 7700 series that will make you feel better when you drive down the road and look at your headlands. Henderson says, “The other new feature that came out actually last spring is called dual-boom sectional control. We can actually change the ‘look ahead time’. It’s the time when you want product to start or stop at a headland. You can have a different set of times for your fertilizer compared to your seed.”

This should decrease the incidence of  lodging that occurs when the crop receives twice the amount of fertilizer on the headlands. The added benefit is that you save a little bit of money in the process, too, says Henderson.

Please follow this link to see other RealAgriculture stories from Agri-Trade in  Red Deer.

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