The soil is protected from drying out due to the soil tillage.

Sowing catch crops directly into the stubble in autumn means:

• Stubble and straw protect the soil from drying out
• Reduced soil erosion
• Cost reduction due to less soil tillage
• Exploitation of the dormancy of the volunteer grain

In this respect, it makes no difference whether it concerns a winter or summer catch crop. These positive effects also become apparent in a summer catch crop, i.e. from harvest until the sowing of the main crop in the autumn.

The Primera DMC can then be used to sow a spring crop directly into the winter-killed catch crop with the chisel openers in the spring. The catch crop can be left on the field as protection for the following main crop after being chopped up and/or sprayed. The catch crop not only serves as erosion and evaporation protection but also as a nitrogen fixer and a source of organic matter.

In addition to sowing cereals, up to three different materials can be applied in one pass with the Primera DMC depending on the model, e.g. seed and fertiliser in the Single-Shoot process. Different seed types can also be combined.

This means that different combinations of catch crops, e.g. legumes and grass seed, can be applied simultaneously. The legumes can be sown deeper as a nitrogen fixer. Fine seeds, such as grass, can be broadcast on the surface via the baffle plates on the GreenDrill. This principle also applies to sowing undersown crops! However, two different seed types plus fertiliser can also be applied in this way.

Extremely beneficial

Advantages of the use of undersown crops/companion plants/catch crops:

• Greater biodiversity
• Less soil erosion
• Better protection against moisture loss
• Improved soil structure
• Improved nutrient availability
• Fewer crop protection measures
• CO₂ fixing and humus formation
• Increased photosynthesis

1. Seed
2. Fertiliser
3. 2. Seed via GreenDrill

The GreenDrill 501 rear-mounted seeder box, with a capacity of 500 l, can apply an additional applied material such as seed, a starter fertiliser or slug pellets. The delivery point can be selected at will – via baffle plates in front of the harrows or by a simple tool-free repositioning of the conveyor section at the coulter into the seed furrow.

1. Baffle plates

Precise electric metering of the GreenDrill

The metering of the seed is carried out by an electrically driven metering unit. The electric drive facilitates easy setting of the seed rate using the ISOBUS terminal in the tractor cab. Alternatively, the electric drive can also be controlled fully automatically using application maps. It is furthermore possible to calibrate the system at the push of a button and to do pre-metering in field corners.

Benefits of GreenDrill:

• Flexible placement in the coulter or on the surface using the baffle plates
• Easily accessible via the loading board
• Fully integrated operation using the AmaTron 4 ISOBUS terminal or any other ISOBUS terminal
• Efficient air supply using the main fan
• Good visibility at night thanks to LED work lights

The GreenDrill seeder box is the ideal solution for sowing catch crops or the under-sowing of a secondary crop in just one operational pass. The GreenDrill seed hopper, which is safely accessed via steps has a capacity of 500 l. The seed is distributed over the entire area via distribution baffles in front of the harrow.

Benefits of GreenDrill:

• Sowing catch crops and fine seeds simultaneously with stubble cultivation or soil tillage
• Metering cassettes available for different seed rates and types
• Full-width broadcasting via the baffle plates in front of the harrow
• Easily accessible via access steps
• Machine control via ISOBUS interface

Control of the GreenDrill can be achieved in various ways, depending on the machine onto which the GreenDrill has been mounted. For example, if the GreenDrill 501 is mounted on a Primera DMC with an ISOBUS electronic system, it is fully integrated in the electronic system of the Primera DMC as an “ISOBUS participant”. The GreenDrill is shown in the controls of the machine operating section of the terminal as a second or third seed hopper with metering unit.

The metering of the seed is carried out by an electrically driven metering unit. The electric drive facilitates easy setting of the seed rate using the ISOBUS terminal in the tractor cab. Alternatively, the electric drive can also be controlled fully automatically using application maps. It is furthermore possible to calibrate the system at the push of a button and to do pre-metering in field corners.

Equipped with the Micro plus micro-granular applicator, small quantities of another applied material can be applied to the seed furrow at the same time as sowing using the Single-Shoot method. 

In conjunction with the GreenDrill, the Micro plus's applied material can also be broadcast on the ground as an option.  

The Micro plus has a central electric metering system located underneath the easily accessible 110 l hopper. The generous filling opening, having a diameter of 195 mm, allows the hopper to be quickly and easily filled. The micro-granular applicator’s control system is fully incorporated in the ISOBUS software of the seed drill.