45 Tonnes of Feildings Finest!

Two more locally produced Cross Slot no-tillage seed drills rolled out of the Baker No-Tillage factory recently. Destined for Canterbury, the two drills made an impressive sight as they rolled past Feilding’s “shepherd at the sale yards” on the back of the DB Contracting 600HP Western Star truck and trailer. The drills are 3.3m wide for transport but fold out to 5m when in the field. Each weighs 13 tonnes. Baker No-Tillage General Manager, Bill Ritchie, said the machines are going to two Canterbury agricultural contractors. One has traded his existing 3.6m Cross Slot drill for a new machine and the other will become the partner for an existing machine based in Methven. No-tillage seeding of crops is a revolutionary management technique as it eliminates costly ploughing and cultivation saving fuel, time, moisture and soil. Most of the machines delivered recently from the Feilding company have been destined for the export market. Cross Slot drills can reduce farmers costs for planting crops from $450-500 per hectare to around $300 per hectare." The technology will also significantly improve yields whilst making food production more environmentally and economically sustainable.

Local agricultural and cartage contractor DB Contracting has an exclusive contract to deliver the machines. Mr Ritchie said that Duncan Baker had been delivering Cross Slot drills around New Zealand for the last 10 years. “He does a great job for us. I guess he knows that his Dad (Baker No-Tillage CEO, John Baker) won’t be pleased if he drops one!”

One of the new drills gets a new Fendt 936 as its power plant and is ready for work in Canterbury, New Zealand