New innovations to help arable farmers improve efficiency and performance will be centre stage at The CropTec Show at The East of England Showground, Peterborough, on November 24 and 25.

• Väderstad (hall 1, stand 72) will debut two new additions: The Tempo L Central Fill and Inspire 1200C/S. The Tempo L Central Fill features a central hopper for both seed and fertiliser, meaning there is only one hopper to fill. It will then take care of the precise distribution of seed and fertiliser to each row unit at high speed says the company. It is available with either 16 or 24 rows, allowing for row spacing alternatives from 450 to 762mm. The hopper holds a total of 7,200 litres (2,200 litres of seeds and 5,000 litres of fertiliser).The Väderstad Inspire 1200 is also aimed at growers with high-capacity needs. The responsive double disc seed coulter system is integral to the Inspire which is available in two different models. The seed-only 1200S is equipped with a 5,000 litre hopper for seeds while the 1200C combi model has a 7,200 litre hopper for seeds and fertiliser in two separate compartments.
• Garford Farm Machinery (hall 1, stand 78) will be showcasing its robotic mechanical weed control products. Specialising in row crop equipment, the Garford machines use video cameras and image analysis technology. The companys Tine Raiser is becoming increasingly popular feature for new orders, it says. Designed for section control in fields with tight headlands or varied shaped fields to prevent hoeing overlap, it is operated manually or in conjunction with the tractors Isobus system.
• BfS (hall1, stand 150) will be showing its extensive range of liquid fertiliser application equipment at the CropTec Show including the new Nova. This five-stream, fixed rate fertiliser cap is designed for use as a standalone cap or for use in conjunction with Dribble Bar II, where dribble bars are difficult to fit. Nova is suitable for use with all control system and application rates range from 90-280L/ha at 12kph.

Sprayers

• Aeon Centura is the new release to the Centura Line of sprayers from Hardi (hall 1, stand 151). Available with tank capacities of 4,200 and 5,200 litres and boom widths from 24 to 39 metres, it has Delta Force steel booms, individual nozzle control and automatic nozzle selection. The Aeon has rear-wheel steering, enabling the operator to make sharper turns on the headland while maintaining overall sprayer and boom stability, says Hardi. It also enables the driver to steer with booms folded to help increase efficiency, especially within the smaller fields. The Aeon Centura Line is also equipped with PrimeFlow - a pressure-fed boom fluid system that guarantees rapid priming and prevents sedimentation and clogging.
• Agrifac (hall 1, stand 151) will be showcasing its new generation of Condor self-propelled sprayers. The Condor V features a revised design and the Stage V Cummins engine. Stability, precision and innovation is a focus across the Condor range, says Agrifac. Options include wider track width and higher ground clearance and Agrifacs AiCPlus (location-specific spraying) and DynamicDosePlus (individual dosage per nozzle). The Condor V is available with 4,000 or 5,000 litre tank options, and booms of up to 48m.
• Kverneland (hall 1, stand 100) will be debuting its new tractor-mounted, trailed and front tank options. Across its sprayer range, buyers can choose from technologies including individual nozzle control, auto section control, iXclean tank washing programs plus prime and purge functionality, and boom line recirculation.

Other sprayer manufacturers exhibiting at CropTec are Bateman, Chafer, Fendt, Househam, Horsch, Knight Farm Machinery, Kverneland and Sands.

Other innovations:

Helping growers to reduce reliance on chemical inputs particularly nitrogen is a key concern for many other exhibitors.

• NRM, part of Cawood (hall 1, stand 109), will be sharing details of its N-Check soil mineral nitrogen package. The service builds on the companys longstanding Min-N service and helps customers to assess how much nitrogen is left in the soil after winter and therefore calculate how much additional nitrogen is needed to meet crop nutritional requirements.
• Updates to the Yara Atfarm platform will give growers much more detailed recommendations than the standard nutrient management plan. Atfarm uses years of trial data and knowledge to split N, P and K requirements into optimum timings, including all nutrients required for crop growth. Additional functionality including the option to upload soil analysis results, which will then change recommendations accordingly makes the interpretation and implementation of lab results much easier.
• Fielder Nutrition (hall 2, stand 13) will be sharing the potential benefits of its new Stretchur N product which is designed to help growers reduce their nitrogen use by around 30kg per tonne. Its mix of nitrogen polymers of varying chain lengths break down in a phased way, meaning that nitrogen is available to the plant for longer and is used more efficiently, the company says. There is also a potential yield boost as the plant has a readily available source when it needs it. Stretchur N can be applied to oilseed rape crops in early June and cereal crops at T3 application stage. It can also benefit potato, fodder beet and sugar beet crops when applied mid-season.
• Soil Fertility Services (hall 2, stand 20) will be talking to growers about its biological solutions such as Bio-N which it says can reduce conventional nitrogen inputs whilst still maintaining yield. The free-living bacteria are spray-applied to the crop during the growing season and convert atmospheric nitrogen into a more plant available form, it says. The microbial food source contained within the Bio-N also stimulates the bacterial herd and supports healthier soil to plant activity.
• A new soil treatment to balance pH and supply essential sulphur to soils in one cost-effective application will be available to UK farmers for the first time at CropTec. LKABs Calcifert LS11s sulphur content is coupled with high reactivity calcium carbonate, making it effective at neutralising soil acidity and maintaining the right pH level to optimise fertiliser and nutrient efficiency. It is suitable for all crops and best suited to spring application, but it is also suitable for autumn drilled oilseed rape and grass reseeds and can be applied with a conventional fertiliser spreader, says the manufacturer.
• Drone Ag will be demonstrating the latest version of its Skippy Scout mobile app, which includes 360-degree field imaging with virtual reality compatibility and plant counting. Visitors to hall 1, stand 10 will be able to experience how it works using a VR headset.
• LemnaTec will be showcasing its recent innovation in digital phenotyping and imaging in hall 2 stand, 15. The HyperAixpert Multisensor plant phenotyping systems diagnostic capabilities also has scope for assessing fungal growth or insects feeding on leaf discs and will be of interest to those in research and development, plant research and breeding.
• Microgenetics (hall 1, stand 36) is keen to share news that its SwiftDetect rapid detection test will be re-launched in March 2022 with the capacity to detect more crop diseases. When first launched in March 2021 the test could Septoria in wheat even in the latent period giving users an early warning and data to help with decision making. The team have now developed it to be able to detect yellow rust, brown rust and mildew in wheat and ramularia in barley too.
• The team at Frontier will be speaking to visitors about updates to its offering including the adoption of radar imagery to the MySOYL application for the 2022 season. It will help growers to monitor crop performance during the key nitrogen application windows and therefore help support more targeted applications. Visitors to CropTec will also be able to view and interact with live demonstrations of the MyFarm platform, a digital tool that has recently had the addition of Kings new environmental mapping tool, amongst other updates.