Maize Drill for Sugar Beet

[Chris W]

Has anyone got experience of using a maize drill (Horsch Maestro, KV Optima etc) for Sugar Beet?

Any benefits or drawbacks ?

Main reason for considering it as an option is hopefully better depth control on heavier ground?

 

[Battlefield Machinery]

Have done some demos and been successful over here in Shropshire with a Kv optima v HD , that was fodder beet, only drawback was the fifth of the 6 row, what are you drilling with now?

 

[Lincs Lass]

I thought beet drill units had to be checked by british sugar for spacing accuracy,,would they allow a maize drill for sugar beet

 

[Chris W]

Have been running a KV/Accord Monopill but can struggle to achieve a consistent seed depth on stronger ground

 

[Exfarmer]

I thought beet drill units had to be checked by british sugar for spacing accuracy,,would they allow a maize drill for sugar beet

I grew beet for 20 years and never had mine checked.
you can certainly check them your self winding them over a few times and doing a seed count. i liked to check them in the field every year first time after re assembly

 

[Lincs Lass]

I grew beet for 20 years and never had mine checked.
you can certainly check them your self winding them over a few times and doing a seed count. i liked to check them in the field every year first time after re assembly

My old boss used to send his stanhay units of to be checked over ,,,he was always panicking when the seed arrived and the drill units hadnt come back .

 

[Exfarmer]

My old boss used to send his stanhay units of to be checked over ,,,he was always panicking when the seed arrived and the drill units hadnt come back .

Stanhay did offer the service asdid most dealersin beet growing areas. The first year I grew beet the driver suggested that the units should go off for checking so I spoke to the rep who suggested I save my money.
there was no magic just a frame which held the unit a belt under, driven by a motor which drove the unit at the same time.. turning the wheel of the drill sufficient to go 3 yards or so collect the seed. Dived distance by seed and you arrive at the spacing. Any unit out will reveal itself. Dropping double seeds was a bigger issue. When I worked in onions the grower had his own testing frame

 

[Western promise]

I thought beet drill units had to be checked by british sugar for spacing accuracy,,would they allow a maize drill for sugar beet

Ben Burgess Test 100’s of Monosem units every year & are offering a on farm service for electric drills if all goes to plan. I would not buy a used beet drill unless it has been tested , most important part of the crop !

 

[Western promise]

As we move forward lots of people are using a maize drill to plant a variety of crops inc OSR ,pease,beans & it will not be long till we are planting cereals as well. Monosem do a NG+M which goes from 12 x 50cm to 8 x 75cm in less than 30 minutes. For me I would look at a front fert tank so it can be used with a hoe for Fertiliser placement.

 

[robbie]

I thought beet drill units had to be checked by british sugar for spacing accuracy,,would they allow a maize drill for sugar beet

It's a service all dealers who sale beet drilles will offer but it's an extra cost in a job what's already being squeezed. As @Exfarmer said do a round and get off you bum, carefully scrape away the soil to find the seed. Do this for a half a dozen seeds in a row and measure the spacing between the seeds or measure the length, count the seeds and divide. Do this on random rows a time or two across the field and jobs a good'un.

You'll be getting off to check the depth anyway so it's no big deal.

 

[Western promise]

It's a service all dealers who sale beet drilles will offer but it's an extra cost in a job what's already being squeezed. As @Exfarmer said do a round and get off you bum, carefully scrape away the soil to find the seed. Do this for a half a dozen seeds in a row and measure the spacing between the seeds or measure the length, count the seeds and divide. Do this on random rows a time or two across the field and jobs a good'un.

You'll be getting off to check the depth anyway so it's no big deal.

I agree but can you afford to not test your drill & have a bad plant population?
If a drill is tested , then it’s worth more to sell. Even if it’s been tested as you said you still need to check the spacing in the field. BBRO go to great lengths to help you achieve max plant populations in the field , they even have a device that they put on your drill units to test your unit movement at different speeds.

 

[robbie]

But if your getting off and checking regularly are you going to have a bad plant population??? I'd put money on not one of the fields drilled this spring that has suffered bad germination is to do with the drill being tested or not.

I suppose having a drill tested my enable the big boys to put a dribbly on the seat for peanuts and aslong as he has enough brain cells to put seed in, press go/stop for the gps and turn the wheel a bit on the ends then testing is a good thing but for us mere peasant farmers it's in our interest to drill them right and do the best we can so I consider testing yet another unnecessary cost.
Ps do you by any chance have a vested interest in promoting drill testing @Western promise ????

 

[Jon Boy]

We plant all our fodder beet with either a monosem ng or a vaderstead tempo , we used to use a kleine /kverneland monopil but they just were not robust enough for our stoney conditions the monosem and vaderstead are much better built and plant just as well if not better than the kleine we also get a large increase in output especially with the vaderstead as we are planting at 10kph+ compared with 6-7kph for the kleine.

 

[Will 1594]

But if your getting off and checking regularly are you going to have a bad plant population??? I'd put money on not one of the fields drilled this spring that has suffered bad germination is to do with the drill being tested or not.

I suppose having a drill tested my enable the big boys to put a dribbly on the seat for peanuts and aslong as he has enough brain cells to put seed in, press go/stop for the gps and turn the wheel a bit on the ends then testing is a good thing but for us mere peasant farmers it's in our interest to drill them right and do the best we can so I consider testing yet another unnecessary cost.
Ps do you by any chance have a vested interest in promoting drill testing @Western promise ????

Robbie , he is mr monosem .
and likes pies from a famous town ,
He is a very helpful chap , with any thing regarding knowledge on precision drilling ,
He is in front on ideas on inter row weeding and fert placement , catch him at an event like bbro. Or normac. You will be interested in what they have been doing with the drills on heavy and very heavy land growing beet

 

[Western promise]

But if your getting off and checking regularly are you going to have a bad plant population??? I'd put money on not one of the fields drilled this spring that has suffered bad germination is to do with the drill being tested or not.

I suppose having a drill tested my enable the big boys to put a dribbly on the seat for peanuts and aslong as he has enough brain cells to put seed in, press go/stop for the gps and turn the wheel a bit on the ends then testing is a good thing but for us mere peasant farmers it's in our interest to drill them right and do the best we can so I consider testing yet another unnecessary cost.
Ps do you by any chance have a vested interest in promoting drill testing @Western promise ????
[/QUOTE

Robbie , he is mr monosem .
and likes pies from a famous town ,
He is a very helpful chap , with any thing regarding knowledge on precision drilling ,
He is in front on ideas on inter row weeding and fert placement , catch him at an event like bbro. Or normac. You will be interested in what they have been doing with the drills on heavy and very heavy land growing beet

Thank you for those few kind words. I just don’t have an interest in precision planting , I love the soil & Farming & look to get the best results from all crops.

 

[Suffolk Serf]

A large farming company from Essex and Suffolk (I won’t name them but they were sold last Autumn and had an online equipment auction in June) drills both sugarbeet and maize (for AD) with a Vaderstad Tempo.
Both drilled in about 18 inch rows. Been doing it for at least three years now. Seems to be sensible use of an expensive bit of kit. It wouldn’t surprise me if they drilled well over 3000 acres per season with it.

 

[Chris W]

What are the disadvantages of using a maize drill for sugar beet? (Other than cost)

Pottentially lower accuracy due to the higher drop height ?