Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 23 SEED TREATMENTS Invest in a powder applicator Growers wanting to continue applying an alternative powder on planter – either RhiNo DS or Emesto Prime DS – will need to invest in an on-planter powder applicator. Team Sprayers was the first to develop one 20 years ago and remain market leader with about 600 running nationwide. Each planter row has a hopper which dispenses powder via an electronically driven auger to a point on the planter where tubers are moving. For cup planters, this is in the hopper at the bottom of the belts, where seed is bubbling away. For belt planters it is a bit trickier, but powder can be dispensed at the bottom of the hopper where seed drops onto the belt or brush kits are available which coat the seed with powder before it drops behind the opener. The hopper must be fitted correctly to ensure that dispensing of product and subsequent seed coverage is optimised. Team Sprayers’ Danny Hubbard recommends that this is carried out by a specialist potato application service and calibration engineer, who will know the correct fitting procedures for the various brands and types of potato planter. “Potato planting is a big, complex operation, so getting it right at the start will prevent problems in the field later,” he said. The Team Sprayers powder applicator is twinned with the Digimon rate controller, which calibrates hoppers to an accuracy of +/- 5% and allows rates to be adjusted between 0.6kg/tonne and 5kg/tonne. As motors move at different speeds, hoppers are calibrated individually by weighing output when run for a set time, ensuring each row is getting the correct application rate. This is then fine-tuned depending on tuber size, with less applied to smaller seed and more for bulkier lots. The Digimon also adjusts applicator output to planter forward speed and has auto shut-off as the planter is raised or lowered into work. Also available is Techneat Engineering’s Powder Pro applicator, which offers a similar hopper and dispensing mechanism, but its control box is calibrated in a slightly different way. Like a seed drill, applicator augers are run for a number of rotations and output weighed. The control unit then regulates the speed of the auger to match the target kg/tonne seed treatment rate with the tonnes/ha seed rate. Its control box can be hooked up to a GPS speed sensor or the tractor’s ISO speed output for accurate rate control. Importantly, both electronically controlled systems adhere to National Sprayer Testing Scheme (NSTS) standards and Richard Lapage recommends getting an applicator serviced, calibrated and certified ahead of each season to ensure it is working as it should. “If you are applying 5-10% too much, you are wasting money. If you are under applying, you can compromise the quality of your crop,” he said. A Team Sprayers system for a two-row planter, complete with fitting kit for the planter, costs about £3,000 fitted by a company such as RWL Services. Techneat’s Powder Pro with a fitting kit comes in at £2,800. Adding a GPS speed sensor will increase cost to £3,200. Both systems require one control box for two- and three-row planters, with four- and six-row planters requiring an extra control box, which comes at additional cost. Calibrate applicators for Monceren alternatives When switching to alternative powders, users simply have to recalibrate applicators to the appropriate rate for each product. With a Team Sprayers Digimon, this is simple. Where moving on to RhiNo DS, users can select the Monceren setting and just change the application rate to 2kg/tonne, which delivers the dose recommended by manufacturer Certis for controlling black scurf and stem and stolon canker caused by Rhizoctonia solani. Alternatively, select Emesto Prime from the menu and the applicator will deliver the recommended rate of 1kg/tonne. For Techneat’s Powder Pro system, re- calibration is required for any change in product formulation to ensure the correct rate is applied. ➜ Removal Check inside hopper for residues Cleaning out Checking grub screws