Today, Ukraine’s agricultural market is one of the most progressive markets in the world. Farmers are actively adopting innovative production solutions that boost business efficiency and deliver record harvests. Most implements from foreign manufacturers now seen on the market have been improved, or even built, in response to demands from Ukrainian agricultural producers and to fit Ukraine’s conditions.
Technology and agricultural machinery play key roles in this development process. Year after year, machines become more reliable, more precise and more economical. At the same time, a shortage of qualified operators creates yet another problem for designers – building machines that are easy to set up, keeping the human factor to a minimum.
That’s exactly why Horsch is bringing new planters to market in 2020, in the 8- and 12-row Maestro segment. The new lineup includes three series: CV, DV and RV.
The main feature of the new Maestro is its versatility and even (attention!) the ability to sow grain crops! This became possible thanks to a large central hopper with a volume of 2,800 l (single-section hopper) or 3,500 l (two-section). On the central frame where the hopper is mounted, a four-point hitch is provided, which lets you attach a row-crop or grain bar, and in the future also use this hopper for local fertilizer application during tillage. There’s also the option of installing a 200 l micro-granule hopper, which makes this combination the most versatile machine on the row-crop planter market. Just imagine: while sowing, the planter can also locally apply up to three types of fertilizer!
To get a metering unit that’s simpler to set up, Horsch developed a new metering element specifically for these planters, one that preserved all of the manufacturer’s key sowing principles. The simplicity of the AirVac vacuum meter is explained above all by the absence of a seed singulator, which, in other similar designs, usually requires particularly fine adjustment. That’s not an issue here – you just need to pick the right metering disc. This design feature potentially lets you use the machine for precision sowing not just of the traditional set of row crops (corn, sunflower, sugar beet and soybean), but also rapeseed, peas and other legumes. The meter has an electric drive, which ensures trouble-free operation of electronic systems like SectionControl or VariableRate.
The sowing units themselves were also modified to increase the rigidity and durability of a design that works under high hydraulic pressure. Mobile mounts were also added, allowing quick reconfiguration of the machine from an 8-unit to a 12-unit setup and back, which was the main requirement from clients interested in this kind of equipment.
Every Maestro applies fertilizer with an individual single-disc fertilizer coulter, which has particular advantages on heavy, sticky soils. The fertilizer coulter is integrated into the sowing unit’s overall design, which doesn’t complicate reconfiguring the machine from one row spacing to another. All other additional options from the predecessor models, such as, for example, various types of packing wheels, automatic section-refill systems, or the ability to work from task maps, were fully preserved in the new machines.
These planters are available for sale, and you can already become the owner of the most versatile planter on the market!
Vyacheslav Shyposha
head of the tillage-equipment department
Tel.: +38 (050)-358-79-37
Email: v.shyposha@astra-group.com.ua
