The ability to plant six rows of potatoes at once is not new. It is the sheer size of the rigid planters currently available that has prevented the idea from taking off in the UK. With its folding Big Boy H600 and H640 Quad planters, however, Ely-based Standen Engineering hopes to make six-row planting a reality for a larger number of growers
Although the ability to plant a hectare of potatoes in 10mins does overplay the true potential output of a six-row potato planter, 2.5ha/hr at 40cm spacing is achievable in the ‘real world’. If sufficient ground is prepared ahead of the planter and there aren’t too many short runs, realistic daily outputs could be as high as 25ha.
Established growers can skip the next few paragraphs but, for those outside potato growing, 25ha a day needs to be put into context. Divide this capacity by a third, and the more typical 8-9ha/day achieved with existing two-row planters illustrates clearly why a six-row planter could be such an advance. So the first question is why do growers not go to four rows if a six-row rigid planter is too big to make its easy transport viable?
A key reason lies with the now almost universal practice of destoning and declodding. Because of the way potato rows or beds are spaced, a four-row planter would make it necessary for the planting tractor to either run down the middle of a bed or require the planter itself to be offset to a degree users would find unacceptable.
For more up-to-date farming news click here and subscribe now to profi and save
