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Mobile and efficient

The Taro 6 SL seed bars are used in combination with a front hopper HORSCH Partner at the front of the tractor. With a capacity of 1600 litres or 2200 litres the hopper guarantees an optimum weight distribution of the combination.

During the development of the HORSCH Serto we quickly saw the requirements for a machine without front tools that could be used only for sowing. There was a particular interest for such a machine in regions with smaller structures and among organic farms – also with regard to the flexibility of the row spacings. The result of this experience was that such a machine combination always has to consist of a packer and seed coulters. The packer versions guarantee a regular consolidation and thus equal conditions for every seed coulter. Each grain finds equal conditions, they are placed precisely, and the result is a regular emergence.

The Taro 6 SL is equipped with a RollFlex packer or trapeze ring packer, TurboDisc seed coulters of the 3rd generation and interesting equipment options to adapt the machine to the individual requirements of the customers. A characteristic feature of the machine is the low empty weight of about 3 000 kg (depending on the equipment) with a working width of 6.00 m. Due to the high variability with regard to the row spacings (12.5 cm, 15 cm, 25 cm and 30 cm) the Taro can be adapted individually to each site. The optional selective hosing of the two distributor towers and a HORSCH Partner with half-width shut-off allow for a simple changing from a row spacing of 12.5 cm (15 cm) to 25 cm (30 cm). The direct 3-point linkage and the generally very short and light seed bar prevents a lateral pull when sowing on slopes. This is particularly interesting for large row spacings, for it is a prerequisite for a precise mechanical weed control with a hoe. Due to the perfect seed placement and the separation of seedbed preparation and sowing, i.e. the possibility of blind sowing, the Taro SL is particularly attractive for farms in the hybrid or organic farming sector.

In addition, in years with a lot of rainfall there are new sowing windows due to the offset method, i.e. tillage and sowing are carried out separately.

Unlike the Taro SL, the Taro HD is equipped with a tyre packer which guarantees optimum depth control, fine earth production and consolidation. The PowerDisc coulter is responsible for the seed placement. The parallelogram-controlled double disc coulter disposes of a very high coulter pressure of up to 150 kg per individual coulter. Considering the higher empty weight of the Taro HD compared to the Taro SL it is mainly used on heavy and dry coarse soils.

The experiences of Johann Grötzinger, organic farmer from Lower Bavaria

After his national service, Johann Grötzinger joined the mixed farm of his family that was typical for the region. The farm had already been converted to organic farming in 1989.  By now he has added a biogas plant to the farm and has gone for a very varied and special rotation – with the objective to stand out from the other farms. For sowing his crops he combines a Taro 6 SL, a front hopper Partner FT and a Maestro 9 RX:

“On our farm we grow a lot of different crops, among others spelt, sweetcorn, oats, flax, peas and quite some more. To singulate sweetcorn, we together with another farm bought a HORSCH Maestro RX with a row spacing of 75 cm and the AutoForce system*.

*The coulter pressure regulation HORSCH AutoForce allows for a permanent, automatic adaption of the soil pressure according to pre-selected parameters. Thus, soil differences respectively different soil conditions are continuously compensated). With the Maestro we mainly sow sweetcorn. Sweetcorn is very delicate. The grain has little starch and thus little energy to emerge. This makes high demands on the seed drill. With our previous machine emergence simply was not satisfactory. With the Maestro we now dispose of a very good singulation technology. The embedding of the seed is very precise and thus emergence is excellent. And now the harvest results are very satisfactory.

Moreover, we bought a Taro 6 SL with a Partner 2000 FT. The double hopper is ideal to sow different mixtures, for example winter peas & triticale or clover grass in combination with elementary sulphur as a fertiliser. Thus, the environment of the grain is acidified, and the fine roots can better absorb the micronutrients from the soil. The result is a quick and better early development of the plants.
With the double hopper we can also use two components – what I like particularly is I can separately meter two different seed varieties – small as well as coarse grained ones. Thus, the application rate always is absolutely correct and perfectly arrives at the seed coulter without having to mix it before or running the risk of separating in the hopper.
I mainly want to use the Taro 6 SL with selective hosing for cultivating soya with a double row spacing. For all other crops I work with the standard row spacing. But in this respect, too, we want to test other ideas and put them into practice in the future.
What I particularly like about the Taro: Though the structure of our fields partly is very good, we still have small and unshaped fields. The Taro is extremely manoeuvrable, and it is very quickly ready for use. It does not take much time to adjust the sowing depth or the coulter pressure.
Before the Taro we used a trailed universal seed drill with a disc section. But the advantages mentioned above and also the new options of sham sowing quickly convinced me of the new technology.
Though I have to carry out one more pass for seedbed preparation, I only need 3 to 4 litres of fuel per hectare when sowing with my 160 hp tractor and the 6 m wide seed bar. As I can sow at the ideal time I always have a wonderful seedbed, optimum germination conditions and a perfect emergence. All this makes up for the additional pass. Due to the trapeze ring roller, I can also sow into a seedbed that according to Bavarian conditions is not perfectly prepared.

For us, the machine combination we use on our farm is ideal und perfectly meets our requirements. We can put all our plans into practice. And we are optimally prepared for all future challenges.”