Hoes and more at the DLG Feldtage

The DLG Feldtage were not hindered by the rain. Even after a heavy shower, the hoeing demonstrations on the beautiful loess soil of 'Gut Brockhof' farm continued without any issues. - Photos: Martin Smits

Mechanical weed control was one of the major topics at the DLG Field Days (Feldtage) demonstrations from June 11 to 13 in Erwitte, Germany, near Soest. It is also wet in Germany, although the Field Days were not affected by this. Even after a heavy shower, the hoeing demonstrations on the beautiful loess soil of ‘Gut Brockhof’ farm continued without any issues.

The dozens of small fields with crops, or more accurately, varieties from various seed suppliers, looked immaculate. There were no major surprises at the demonstrations, but manufacturers showcased their top models and latest developments, many of which were first introduced at the recent Agritechnica.

Introduced last year at Agritechnica and with the first units delivered this year: the APV hoe. Previously known primarily for its harrows and rotary hoes, the 12-row (50 cm) hoe with a Claas Multicam camera, as shown, is listed at €62,500.

Also on the market for a while: the Dickson-Kerner hoe. It is one of the most compact linear side-shifts for row correction available in the market.

Einböck also presented its top model at the demonstration. This model features a clamping system that allows for quick adjustments of hoes and other settings. By using a wrench to operate an eccentric lever, adjustments can be made easily and swiftly.

How are the crops doing at the neighbors’ fields? On the hundreds of demo plots from various suppliers, everything looks perfect.

Lemken (Steketee) also showcased a model with stepless width adjustment for the hoes. This adjustment is operated with a crank on a threaded system.

The Volmer hoe is pulled by a tractor equipped with pneumatically retractable dual wheels (with air pressure adjustment) from Becklönne. It slides on 6, 100 mm thick axles. The construction supports 390 kilograms per wheel. The sliding range can be custom-made.

The rotary hoe from the German machine manufacturer Photoheyler has been in development for a while but has only recently entered the market.

Monosem (a part of John Deere) is one of the few demonstrating its hoe that fully follows the rows using RTK GPS.

The Volmer hoe is a standard three-point hoe that in this case is mounted on a universal sliding trestle from Reichhardt.

Not necessarily new, but also a special hoe: the Samo hoe with hydraulic width adjustment of the hoe blades. Unlike all other providers, Samo does not work with a linear or parallel arm controlled camera correction, but has a system with a rocking system.

Since last year there has been a new name in the world of hoes: Väderstad, which has taken over the hoes from the Danish company Thyregod.

Not a hoe, but a tool for striptill from the German manufacturer Sinus Werke in a demo field of the sugar company Pfeifer & Langen. The tool has been around for some time, but the sugar company has been testing this system in sugar beets since last year.