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Avant la mise en route / Before start-up / Vorbemerkungen
D
P
raCtiCal reCommendationS
Preventing soil compaction?
1 - Whenever possible, use low-pressure tyres on all machines operated in fields in order to reduce superficial compaction.
Mounting wide tyres or twin wheels is not enough; the tyre pressure must be adjusted accordingly.
- Target the lowest possible pressure, in accordance with the tyre manufacturer's instructions.
As the Easydrill is a towed seed drill, it exerts no weight on the rear tractor wheels and does not require counterweights to be
mounted at the front!
2 - Reduce the load per axle to avoid in-depth soil compaction.
Avoid loads over 6 tons per axle: if heavier trailers must be used, park them at the field entrance. Prefer lightweight tractors: as
the Easydrill requires little traction power, moderately powerful - and therefore lightweight - tractors are sufficient.
3 - Till on dried-out ground.
Be patient, and wait for the right time of year before starting tilling. According to scientists, as soon as drying soil changes
colour, it acquires greater resistance to compaction. After 4 to 5 years of conservation tillage, the ground drains water faster and
becomes more resilient, which reduces the necessary waiting time.
4 - Provide calcium and magnesium to compensate for ground's acidity where necessary.
Aim to maintain a pH of 6.5 - 7 to ensure optimal stability of the clay-humus compound.
5 - Enrich the soil with organic matter to preserve it from compaction and to increase its resilience.
Return straw and harvesting residue, add manure, plant forage crops, plant cover, avoid tilling or any other soil working
technique which reverses the different environments and so on.
Burying the straw?
1 - Select a suitable variety.
According to the selected variety, the quantity of produced straw can vary, as well as its shock resistance. A variety that is
resistant to disease and which it is not essential to treat with a fungicide at the end of the season will also be more easily
decomposed by the fauna in the soil.
2 - Prepare and adjust settings on the combine harvester.
Tighten the thresher and increase the rotation speed to break straw better. Dry straw breaks more easily: under these
conditions, harvest the fields that you wish to sow first. The combine harvester must be equipped with a chaff spreader. Shred
the straw into chaff of 5-6 cm (sharpen the shredder blades, tighten all belts) and spread it evenly.
3 - Shred the chaff and stubble behind the combine harvester.
In particular, if the catch-crop period is short, the cutting level is high, the chaff is poorly spread out and you wish to till the soil
with tools fitted with tines.
4 - Thoroughly mix the straw on the ground and roll.
Do not bury the straw deeper than 5 to 6 centimetres below the surface in order to facilitate decomposition and avoid mixing
trash in. Rolling with a heavy roller improves the contact between soil and straw and facilitates decomposition by the fauna in
the soil.
Protecting crops against slugs?
1 - Disc early to deprive slugs of food.
2 - Till the surface to make the soil fairly fine, and roll to disturb slugs.
3 - A long time before sowing, keep the soil clean by means of mechanical and chemical destruction.
4 - Watch for the arrival of slugs with the first rains and set up traps if necessary.
5 - To ensure quick emergence, sow a little deeper, and in favourable conditions.
6 - Close the seed furrow well, and possibly roll after sowing. In a situation where the risk of damage from slugs is high,
treat with the appropriate product.
7 - Watch over the crop well after sowing, especially in damp weather and soil conditions.
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