Rake & Roll Application

Straw Spreading

Minimising straw and chaff concentrations makes the following cultivations and drilling easier especially in reduced pass systems, as well as improving seedbed consistency and seedling emergence.The unique tine action effectively breaks up the straw matt. The R&R is a trailed machine which evenly distributes straw and chaff across the field, not simply combing it onto the headland.

Cultural Weed Control

The combination of straw rake and consolidation make the R&R the most effective machine available to create a fast stale seedbed. The vibrating tine action shakes weed seeds out of the straw matt and creates fine surface tilth, consolidating them directly into this tilth for good seed to soil contact. This is important as subsquent rolling as a separate pass will not be as effective once the tilth has dried out.The effects of consolidation on germination are illustrated in the chart below from Monsanto trials on volunteer OSR plants.

Blackgrass seed germination is affected by UV light, where light stimulates germination and helps to break dormancy. Black-grass seed dormancy is affected by conditions at seed maturation where hot and dry conditions produce low dormancy and cool and damp conditions produce high dormancy. By breaking up the straw matt, shaking the seeds out and thereby exposing them to light, the action of the R&R helps to stimulate early seed germination. Straw matts and burial of the seed will tend to encourage seed to germinate later in the growing crop and will contribute to increasing the weed seedbank in the soil.

The effect of straw cover on blackgrass emergence with no soil cultivations as shown by HGCA can be seen below. This illustrates the benefits of exposing black-grass seeds to light rahter than burying them.

Enhanced Rolling

The R&R is used for seedbed fining and finishing before the drill, as well as for post-drilling consolidation and to enhance herbidcide action. The R&R is also the ideal platfrom to establish cover crops, grass and OSR following a subsoiler or cultivator, or as a stand alone machine.Carrying the weight of the machine fully on the roller gives precise control over tine depth and angle which are hydraulically adjustable. The rake tines assist fine seedbed production, levelling and tilth creation, while the FT roller delivers consolidation equivalent to a light Cambridge roll and runs longer in damp conditions.

Slug Control

The tine action disturbs slugs and slug eggs whilst the consolidating action reduces slug activity. Mounting a Stocks applicator or similar to the R&R makes it the ideal platform to apply slug pellets in a fast and accurate pass which can be applied during stale seedbed prepartion and before the slug activity has built up. The applicator can also be used to apply Avadex granules post drilling as another tool to combat black-grass.