High-flow with high accuracy

Growing 3,000 acres of brassicas around Spalding, Lincs, family-owned vegetable producer PC Thorold invests up to £500,000 each year on fertilisers. Making sure every kilo produces a consistent crop, the firm relies on an Exacta TLX with GEOSPREAD capability.

“The TLX is our second GEOSPREAD, and the accuracy and performance is just superb,” says farm manager Steve Mayfield. “We can’t afford to get it wrong.”

Bought in 2021 to replace a TL model from Irelands Farm Machinery, the TLX features a high-capacity Centreflow dosing system to allows greater productivity at high application rates, with no loss of accuracy.

“We apply a blended base fertiliser with a small amount of nitrogen at a rate of 1,200kg/ha, directly onto seedbeds at 36m, which is incorporated during last cultivation pass,” explains Steve. “And the TLX has given us 40% more output compared to the TL, which improves our timings.”

Cropping includes cauliflower, calabrese, brussels sprouts, savoy and pointed cabbage, plus red and white cabbage, half the area produces three crops every two years, with the remaining class one silt soils yielding two crops/year.

“We’re travelling so much faster over the ground thanks to the TLX’s high flow capability,” he says. “And with section control and border spreading device, we’re confident that fertiliser goes where it should. It’s very easy to see the spread pattern on the seedbed, and this helps us to produce an even crop.”

With a hopper capable of carrying seven 600kg bags, and used on a Fendt 828 with ISOBUS, each load covers just 3.5ha. Fertiliser is taken to the fields, keeping downtime to a minimum, and output is up considerably when applying nitrogen to the growing crop at 150kg/ha.

“We’ve saved thousands by using GEOSPREAD,” he says. “Watching the auto section control adjust the throw is pretty good. But it’s more than that – the technical back-up and assistance we get from both Irelands and Kverneland is very, very good.”