agricultural special equipment

When people talk about agricultural special equipment, many people immediately think of combines or tractors. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, the range of units - from soil cultivation and seeding complexes to machines for spot application of fertilizers and plant protection products - is much wider. And the main mistake that I often see among farms, especially beginners, is buying “according to the principle”: the neighbor bought it, and we will take the same. Without taking into account soil composition, crop rotation, scale and, critically, without understanding whether there are qualified mechanics to service this particular model. The equipment should work on the field, and not the field adapt to the whims of the technology. This is what I want to speculate on, based on personal experience and observations.

Tillage: not deeper, but more correctly

I'll start with the basics - with soil cultivation. Nowadays no-till and mini-till are in fashion, and these are certainly effective technologies for certain conditions. But blindly following fashion is the path to ruin. We had a case: on a farm on heavy loam, we tried to introduce direct sowing by purchasing the appropriate imported seeding complex. Result? The very first year with high humidity showed that the dense, uncut layer does not allow roots to develop. The harvest was catastrophically low.

I had to urgently return to moldboard plowing, but with a different approach. What is important is not just the fact of plowing, but its quality and depth, which vary depending on the predecessor crop and weediness. For example, after sunflower, heavy disc harrows are needed to properly chop the crop residues, otherwise they will interfere with the operation of the next unit. And deep, non-moldboard cultivation (chiselling) works well in fields prone to erosion, but requires powerful energy resources - here the question of economics arises.

A key point that is often missed is the condition of the working parts. A plow share and a harrow tooth are consumables. Their dullness leads to excessive fuel consumption by 15-20% and deterioration in the quality of crumbling. You need to control wear not “by eye”, but by actual mileage or hectares worked. At one time, we established a simple accounting journal, and this brought real savings.

Sowing complex: precision as a religion

If some tolerances are still possible in tillage, then sowing is already a jeweler’s work. Everything is hereagricultural special equipmentshould work like a Swiss watch. We are talking about the uniform distribution of seeds in depth and in the row. The discrepancy in seedlings cannot be corrected by any additional feeding.

Modern seeders are high-tech devices. Pneumatic sowing systems, electronic section control, parallel driving systems. But their effectiveness depends on two simple factors: setting and field preparation. It is useless to demand an accuracy of 2 cm from the seeder if the field after processing is a ridged surface. A roller or ring-spur roller as part of a sowing complex is not a luxury, but a necessity for creating a compacted seed bed.

One of the most painful topics is sowing small-seeded crops, such as sugar beets. Here, even a slight inaccuracy in the seeding rate results in huge losses. We experimented for a long time with different seeding discs and system pressures until we achieved a stable result. And one more thing: the electronics on a seeder are a great thing, but a mechanic must be able to check and adjust its mechanical part. Because when the sensor fails, you still need to sow.

Plant protection: not only a sprayer

Usually when you hear the words “plant protection equipment”? everyone nods towards the sprayer. Yes, he is the main one, but not the only one. The entire chain is important: from preparing the working solution to its application. And here lies a lot of pitfalls. Let's take banal mixing. It is not enough to simply pour water and the drug into the tank. Active circulation is needed, otherwise stratification and uneven concentration are possible - and now at one edge of the field the processing efficiency is 90%, and at the other - 40%.

The quality of the sprayer is determined by the condition of the sprayers (nozzles). Their wear leads to changes in the flow rate and spectrum of droplets. A fine drop is better retained on the leaf, but is blown away by the wind; large - less demolished, but can drain. Selecting nozzles for a specific treatment (herbicide, insecticide, fungicide) is a separate science. We once unknowingly used worn-out nozzles with increased flow rates for post-emergence herbicide. The result is phytotoxicity on the crop and crop failure. Dear lesson.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the barbells. Their stability and uniformity of movement over the terrain is the key to uniform coverage. Spring or hydraulic copiers are a must have for our imperfect fields. And, of course, speed. Spraying at speeds above 12-14 km/h with a wind of more than 5 m/s is most often a waste of money in the literal sense.

Forage procurement: when timing is everything

In livestock farming, the quality of feed directly depends onagricultural special equipmentfor the workpiece. And here everything is subordinated to one thing - speed. The optimal growing season of grasses for cutting is very short. Delayed for three days - lost in nutrition and protein.

Modern mower-conditioners are engineering marvels. They don’t just mow, but immediately flatten the stem for faster drying. But their effectiveness depends on the sharpness of the cutting apparatus. Dull knives do not cut, but crush the grass, which leads to loss of sap and disease of the plant. Sharpening control is a daily routine during the harvesting period.

Balers, both round and square. The debate about which is better will never subside. Roll bags are easier and cheaper to maintain, while bale bags provide denser and more stable packaging, which is better for long-term storage. Our choice fell on bale ones when we started working with haylage in film. It was important to achieve the ideal density of the bale to prevent air from entering. An under-compacted bale wrapped in film is guaranteed to cause mold. It took a long time to select the pressure modes and humidity of the mass.

Maintenance: where reliability comes from

You can buy the most advanced equipment, but without competent service it will turn into a pile of metal after the first season. Service is not only a reaction to a breakdown. This includes scheduled maintenance, diagnostics, and seasonal storage. And here I see a big problem in personnel. Finding a general mechanic who understands both John Deere hydraulics and Amazone electronics is almost impossible.

Therefore, it has become strategically important for us to cooperate with companies that offer not just sales, but a full cycle of support. As an example I can giveHulunbuir ?Jiujia Machinery Manufacturing Company (https://www.cn-fascar.ru). This is a modern integrated enterprise that is engaged not only in production, but also in R&D, sales and, critically, service in the field of agriculture and livestock farming. It is important for a farm to have a partner who can quickly help with advice, supply of original spare parts and a specialist visit. This is especially true for complex components, such as precision farming or automatic driving systems.

We have implemented a simple but effective system: each piece of equipment has its own “medical card”. — history of all repairs, replacements, adjustments. This allows you to predict wear and plan the replacement of components before their critical failure, and not in the midst of sowing or harvesting. For example, knowing the service life of the hydraulic pump of a specific model of baler, we change it prophylactically, even if it does not make noise yet. Cheaper than losing two days of cleaning in perfect weather.

A look into the future: digital and agronomy

Futureagricultural special equipment— it's not just more powerful engines. This is total digitalization and integration with agronomic data. Already, parallel driving and sectional control systems have become standard for many. But this is just the first step.

The next stage is differentiated application. When a combine harvester with a yield sensor collects a field map, and the next year a sowing complex or fertilizer spreader based on this map automatically changes the seeding or application rate in real time. This is no longer science fiction, but accessible technology. But their implementation requires enormous work in collecting and analyzing data, as well as retraining staff. The mechanic must be a bit of an IT specialist, and the agronomist must be able to read digital maps.

However, it is important not to get carried away with “numbers”. for the sake of the number itself. Any sensor can fail, any map can have an error. The final decision should always remain with a person who knows his field not by pixels on the screen, but by its real relief, color and history. Technology is just a tool, sharp and smart, but a tool. The most important ?sensor? is still in the agronomist's boot when he goes out into the field and kneads a lump of earth in his fingers. Without this understanding, even the most perfectagricultural special equipmentwill not bring the expected result. Everything must work together: knowledge, experience, data and hardware. That's the only way.