Sky launches in the UK**

A new brand of agricultural machinery will enter the UK market at LAMMA 2016 with the launch of two innovatively designed trailed drills

OPICO is introducing two new trailed drills into the UK market following its appointment as UK distributor for French machinery company Sky-Agriculture. The innovatively-designed EasyDrill and MaxiDrill will be launched at LAMMA 2016.

OPICO’s MD James Woolway explains: “Sky-Agriculture is a relatively new company: it is a partnership between David Guy, a farmer and agronomist, and Julian Burel of Sulky.  It was established in 2013, and is based on a farm - ‘La Conillais’ - just north of Nantes in north-west France. Here, both machinery and cropping trials take place, and new techniques have been evolved over a number of years. So Sky’s products draw on Sulky’s decades of experience in seeding techniques and agricultural machinery manufacturing, together with practical on-farm trials.

“Sky is a new brand which has made a huge impact on the Europeanmarket in a very short time. The new thinking and superb engineering behind the machinery allows farmers more flexibility, and to employ a more weatherproof strategy than other machinery on the market at present.

“In France, Sky already has a significant market share in trailed grain drills, and has machines working on every continent around the world. This in itself has brought more experience, more knowledge and further refinements to the products making them stronger, more technically advanced, and enabling them to master a greater variety of conditions.”

Sky drills will be available through OPICO's network of HE-VA dealers and the two ranges will be one of the strongest combinations on the market. Mr Woolway explains: “Over the past 10 years, OPICO has provided a lot of input into product development with HE-VA. The result is a market-leading range of cultivation machinery, specifically designed for UK conditions and cultivation techniques.

“However, our customers and dealers were missing a drill range which would complement HE-VA’s cultivations machinery. With the new agreement with Sky-Agriculture, they now have two innovatively-designed trailed drills to choose from: the EasyDrill which gives the flexibility to drill in a range of ground and weather conditions, and the MaxiDrill which is designed to keep working in marginal conditions in late autumn when other machines have to head back to the farm.”

Mr Woolway adds: “In the current climate, investment in new machinery may have dropped from some farmers’ minds but I believe that investment in certain techniques and technology is critical to retaining and improving profitability of arable farms, large and small alike.”

Unique design of new trailed direct drill gives it great versatility across range of ground conditions and weathers

Sky Agriculture’s trailed direct drill – the EasyDrill is not only easy to set-up and use, but its unique design confers great versatility: it is suitable for No till, Minimum till, or Conventional  drilling systems, and it is also an ideal choice for drilling into cover crops.

James Woolway explains: “Although Sky Agriculture is a relatively new company, the design features of the EasyDrill have undergone over 25 years of development work and testing. So in just three years, the EasyDrill has already made a significant impact into the trailed drill market in France and Europe.

“Although the EasyDrill is classified as a ‘direct drill’, its design offers farmers a lot more: it is capable of working on consolidated ploughing, in min-till conditions, as a direct drill, or as a cover crop drill, and is equally at home in each environment.

“This versatility means farmers have the flexibility to adjust their drilling plans when the weather intervenes, or when they are forced to make rotational changes due to resistant Blackgrass issues.

“In fact, the design of the EasyDrill helps in the fight against resistant grass weeds like blackgrass as there is minimum soil disturbance. Also with less horsepower required, the use of smaller tractors reduces soil structure damage.”

In direct drilling conditions the 3.5 degree disc angle ensures minimum soil disturbance reducing the germination of volunteers and weed seeds. Furthermore, the carbide-tipped skim coulter keeps both the disc and the seed slot clean ensuring consistent seed placement. As the coulter is suspended between a rubber front roller and two rear metal gauge wheels the accuracy of seed depth is similar to that of a precision drill even when working on uneven soil.

On even the hardest of untilled soils, the EasyDrill can still be used as a direct drill, as it is designed to be able to apply up to 250kg of pressure through every disc.

“When used in minimum tillage and conventional drilling systems the EasyDrill’s front press wheel ensures that the soil which the seeding disc cuts into, is firm. This enables what was designed as a direct drilling coulter to outperform dedicated minimum tillage drills.”

Furthermore, in tough conditions the sharp disc with up to 250kg of pressure, makes light work of cutting through clods and seeding accurately. The rear angled press wheels then close the seed slot and firm the ground to ensure excellent soil-to-seed contact.

For drilling into cover crops, the EasyDrill is an ideal choice of machine: its press wheel and disc coulter combination allows it to roll down tall crops and slice through them, to place the seed accurately at the required depth. There is no need to mulch the cover crop before drilling, and there are also no problems with blocking, that may occur with other drills working straight into cover crops.

The EasyDrill employs market-leading metering and distribution technology, developed in co-operation with Sulky. So there is a very high standard of accuracy in both seed rate and seed spacing, regardless of the size of seed being planted.

All models can be fitted with a second distribution mechanism for fertiliser, and a third hopper can be fitted for microgranule products and small seeds.

Mr Woolway adds: “The EasyDrill’s name comes from its simplicity for the operator to set up and use, the fact that it takes very little horsepower to pull, and its minimal maintenance requirement. All of these things make it a very cost-effective drill.”

The EasyDrill is available in working widths from 3m, requiring an 80hp tractor, to 6m, requiring a 160hp tractor. Models can be built for grain only, or for grain and fertiliser. The price of a 3m EasyDrill starts at £42,233 +VAT, and a 6m EasyDrill starts at £89,164 +VAT.

The EasyDrill in action on 30^th September is a 6m model complete with seed and fertiliser hoppers and Pro Hopper, hydraulic brakes, bout markers and pre-emergence markers. This set-up retails at £103,613 +VAT.

When the going gets wet, Sky’s trailed mintill drill keeps going

Sky-Agriculture’s trailed MaxiDrill is a mintill drill which can also be used in conventional systems. Moreover its clever design allows drilling to continue even when conditions turn sticky.

Mr Woolway explains: “The Sky MaxiDrill has been evolved over many years and through drilling experience all over the world. It is designed to provide a high speed minimum tillage drilling solution with various options to allow the flexibility to work in a conventional plough-based cultivation system, and also as a direct drill in light soils.

“However, the big benefit of the design of the drill comes in late season where the clearance between the cultivation elements of the drill and its dedicated transport wheels allow it to keep working when other machines have to head back to the farm.”

The MaxiDrill’s hydraulically adjustable cultivator discs are individually rubber-mounted to protect them from stone damage and allow them to follow the ground. Their high rotational speed and small scallops ensure that all the soil is moved and a fine tilth is created in front of the press roller.

The offset press roller wheels evenly consolidate the soil surface behind the discs. Importantly, the press roller is dedicated to work in the field and so suitable tyres and tyre pressures are used for pressing the soil, unlike drills that use the press roller for transport too.

The two rows of Culti-Disc coulters are mounted on springs to allow them to follow the contours and protect them from stones. The clearance between the rows of 56cm allows the MaxiDrill to cope with high stubble residues and sticky wet conditions where other more compact machines will struggle. Furthermore, the press wheel which also controls the depth of the Culti-Disc coulter closes the seed slot and consolidates in all conditions.

The frame design that all the elements of the Maxi-Drill are mounted on, allows more clearance for soil and trash to move through the drill, which is a fundamental feature as it means it is capable of working in adverse conditions.

“Late drilling and spring drilling are becoming key tools in an arable farmer’s armoury to combat Blackgrass,” explains Mr Woolway. “Here, the MaxiDrill has a key advantage against its competitors: behind the press roller that is used for field work, is a dedicated road-legal, high speed braked axle that can be used to lift the weight of the drill when conditions dictate. This is critical when drilling in touch-and-go conditions late in the season as many farmers will not even venture out into the field with a trailed drill at this time of year for fear of getting stuck.”

A number of options are available for the Maxi-Drill, for example, centre and wing front press rollers to consolidate well-prepared seedbeds in front of the drill which ensure even seed depth and germination across the working width.

Like the EasyDrill, the MaxiDrill employs market-leading metering and distribution technology developed in co-operation with Sulky. So there is a very high standard of accuracy when it comes to both seed rate and seed spacing, regardless of the size of seed being planted. All models can be fitted with a second distribution mechanism for fertiliser, which can either be spread full width or distributed in bands in front of the press roller.

The MaxiDrill is available in working widths from 3m to 6m. The 3m drill requires 120hp, and 6m drill, 240hp. There are options for grain only or grain and fertiliser, with every model.

A 3m Maxi-Drill retails from £44,192+VAT. The Maxi-Drill in action on 30^th September is a 6m wide model with a seed only hopper, markers, half side shut off, pre-emergence markers and hydraulic brakes, and retails at £77,058 +VAT.

Further information on drills

Farmers and contractors interested in finding out more about the EasyDrill and MaxiDrill can get information and see videos of them in action at www.sky-agriculture.co.uk. Both drills will also be on display at LAMMA in January 2016.

For information on their nearest dealer for Sky drills, farmers and contractors should contact OPICO on 01778 421111.