After two years of waiting, MaterMacc Campus returns: five intense days dedicated to the main themes of the world of agriculture, to be shared together with company employees, historical and potential customers and the trade press.
The 2023 edition dealt with the topics of digitalisation of information, the return to organic and Precision Agriculture: themes that are linked to each other to enable the farmer to operate at the increasingly desired high working speeds.
Any equipment can operate at high speeds, but with what levels of precision and yield? With respect to organic, is it possible to operate at higher speeds in mechanical weeding operations? Is it possible to operate cereal seeders while observing the dictates of precision farming?
These were some of the questions at the heart of the discussion in the classroom and in the field.
Several aspects characterised this edition, also at the organisational level. First and foremost, the careful preparation of the fields: the five hectares owned by and adjacent to the MaterMacc factories were divided into four zones, each prepared in a different way to allow specific working of the soil according to the agricultural machine presented in the field.
Field N-W without preparation, for direct sowing; Field N-E prepared using conventional techniques; Field S-E prepared with minimum tillage; Field S-W sown with maize (see picture). The individual fields prepared in this way allowed observation of a specific MaterMacc agricultural machine at work.
THE MACHINES IN THE FIELD: PRAISE FOR SPEED, IF WITH GUARANTEED PRECISION AND PERFORMANCE
After a morning dedicated to visiting the company, the production departments and classroom training, the guests were able to observe the machines at work directly in the field. With reference to the plots prepared, the company's seeders and weeders that went into the field are illustrated below.
The field to the north-west, without preparation, welcomed the MS 9100 FF precision seed drill, a model officially presented at EIMA 2022 in its final version but never appreciated at work in a field exhibition. The event was an opportunity to see it at work in a portion of land consisting of a first very stony area and a second one on chopped barley so as to be able to assess its residue management as well. It is a machine designed with the dual purpose of being used in minimum tillage at high seeding speeds or in a no-till version for direct seeding. Even on unprepared ground, the speed is respectable with excellent seeding quality. The model shown has the full optional and full electric configuration for micro, fertiliser and seed.
The field in the north-east prepared with conventional technique allowed the MS 8230 8-row precision planter to work in combination with the Sva Elektro front hopper. In the configuration shown, seeding speeds of 12 km/h can be achieved while maintaining a high level of quality. This can be monitored in real time and row by row via the latest release of the award-winning - remember the recent winner as technical innovation at EIMA 2022 - MiPlus. Until now, the front hoppers for fertiliser integration, at the same time as seeding, were managed by a monitor called X4 or, on request, with the now widespread Isobus systems. In this role, however, it was equipped with the MiPlus electronic system. It was therefore possible to monitor the work of a precision seed drill and a pneumatic hopper for fertiliser distribution at the same time and from the same tablet with arbitrary priority given the possibility of choosing and switching, with a simple tap, from the seeding screen to the fertiliser screen.
The south-eastern field prepared in minimum tillage saw the MSD ELEKTRO cereal seeder at work: a machine that in various applications demonstrated working speeds ranging between 13 and 15 km/h, guaranteeing daily productivity close to 70 hectares. The field show placed the emphasis on combining productivity with energy and crop savings by providing a tool such as the section control - 4 sections in this case - that is as responsive as possible, given the speeds mentioned above. The MSD ELEKTRO is one of the few machines on the market that has 4 metering units and 4 distribution heads to guarantee homogeneity of distribution, while at the same time being able to be used for section control with concrete readiness.
Finally in the south-west field, sown with maize, the prototype weeder UNICA PVI with automatic guidance could be observed. In recent years weeders are playing a key role in mechanical weeding instead of the classic abuse of chemical products. This has resulted in a growing demand in the BIO world for weeding machines with precision and speed of operation.
To meet this demand, MaterMacc has developed its own automatic weeder guide (prototype to date) that can be applied to any weeder in the range: from fixed-frame weeders to hydraulic folding machines. At the Campus, the guide was applied to one of the most impressive hydraulic folding weeders in the range, with an 8-row configuration at 75 cm, managed by the MiPlus multifunctional control unit. Tests are being carried out at speeds ranging from 8 to 14 km/h.
MaterMacc was delighted to welcome its most valued partners and customers to share with them its experience and ongoing desire for comparison and shared growth. In the knowledge that the work of farmers is constantly evolving, must be followed closely and studied constantly, and represents our implicit growth that makes us proud to operate in this sector of primary importance for the environment and for human beings.
MaterMacc would like to thank Claas Italia and Pioneer Corteva Agriscience for their cooperation in making the event a success.
