E Roper & Sons

PRECISION FARMING WITH E ROPER & SONS

We dropped in at Lyme House Farm, to catch up with Harry Roper of E Roper & Sons. He gave us the low down on his Kverneland Exacta TL Geospread.

Harry's dairy farm is situated in Longridge, Lancashire and has been operational since 1943.

With 820 acres of land over three farms, a herd of around 800 head of stock, including 360 milking pedigree Holsteins, Harry and his team run a progressive business in which reliable and efficient machinery plays a vital role.

The Geospread works through a Fendt 724 Profi Plus Gen 6 with FendtOne and integrated section control. The Geospread was acquired from Clarke & Pulman in early 2020, and the Fendt 724 in early 2021. The Geospread is predominantly used for fertiliser, but is also used for spreading grass seed, the farm do 4 cuts of 400 acres of grass per year – of which they re-seed around 80 acres per year as well as 150 acres of wholecrop.

“One of the main reasons we went for this model was its GPS system. The accuracy and consistency of the spreading has saved us at least four tonnes of fertiliser over the past year. That adds up, especially with the rising cost of fertiliser” explained Harry.

Harry Roper shows us around their hi-tech set up

How it works

Precision farming is at the core of Kverneland, but precision isn’t just about technology, it’s also about the configuration of the spreader. Kverneland has their own Spreader Competence Centre, a research facility in which the latest technology is used to create a complete 3D spreading profile of each different fertiliser. This data can then be used by farmers, like Harry, to match the properties of their fertiliser to Kverneland's spreading charts. It enables them to achieve optimal spreading of the fertiliser, avoid overlapping when necessary and provide the crop with the exact amount of nutrients required.

One of the key reasons Harry chose Kverneland was their unique CentreFlow Spreading System. The CentreFlow system uses large eight vane discs, which allow 9m to 54m spread widths. The eight vane discs ensure a continuous flow of fertiliser, whilst improving spread pattern quality, particularly when travelling at high speeds and using high application rates.

The CentreFlow system works by dropping fertiliser from the hopper into a dosing cup instead of directly onto the vanes, preventing fragmentation of the fertiliser granules. The fertiliser then gains speed in the dosing cup, before meeting the disc. The flat discs ensure a horizontal spreading pattern, even in windy conditions. Additionally, the fertiliser always contacts the vanes at the same point and travels the complete length of the vane, even when on a hilly landscape. Four load cells, a reference sensor and automatic calibration system enables the correct spreading rate, again even on hilly or bumpy terrain.

The spreader is compatible with left/right Variable Rate application, which means fertiliser can be spread at two different rates at the same time, facilitating perfect dosing and placement of the fertiliser. The spreader uses Geospread Section Control with sections of only 1 metre, with a maximum of 54 sections. This adjusts the dosing system using a GPS positioning system to optimise overlap and coverage, whilst minimising over and under dosing. Geopoint Headland Management is used to determine the exact point the spreader is activated when leaving the headland. Often, this is activated too early during manual operation, and therefore fertiliser savings of up to 15% can be made when Geospread Headland Management is used alongside Geospread Section Control.

" THE ACCURACY AND CONSISTENCY OF THE SPREADING HAS SAVED US AT LEAST FOUR TONNES OF FERTILISER OVER THE PAST YEAR."

After Sales Support

After investing in the spreader, Kverneland arranged to visit Harry at his farm, along with Clarke & Pulman, in order to demonstrate and set up the machine. The Kverneland team were very knowledgeable and worked very well in conjunction with Clarke & Pulman, who have even been back to visit Harry since his purchase, in order to install a software update and carry out a 12-month service and inspection. Harry’s experience with Clarke & Pulman has only been that of a positive one; “the back-up and service at Clarke and Pulman is very good, and there’s always someone at the end of the phone no matter what time or day an issue or question may occur”.

If you’d like more information about Kverneland or Fendt machinery, contact our Sales Support Hub on 01995 640302 or email saleshub@clarkeandpulman.com