Mike Solari of Gore - LiveUpdater

Canterbury dairy farmers Peter and Arjen Schouten’s new
Vaderstad Rapid RDA600 drill has allowed them to take greater
control over their drilling operation. The Schoutens run a 680ha
irrigated dairy operation near Christchurch, and lease a further
485ha of irrigated land. They currently milk 2200 cows.
They previously owned a small drill for pasture drilling and used
contractors to help with the rest but they decided to purchase
a larger drill in order to do more of the work themselves. “We
looked at a lot of drill options before purchasing the Rapid RDA600
drill at the start of this season,” Peter says.
“We thought the Vaderstad was probably the way to go.
Norwood Farm Machinery Centre in Christchurch was the
dealer and we’ve had dealings with them in the past, they do
all our tractor servicing and we’ve had a very good working
relationship with them. That swayed us.”
The Schoutens sowed 600 ha with the drill this season,
starting with barley crops. “We also did a couple of pasture
products and we got a maize kit fitted to it and drilled 56 ha of
maize. The kit was fitted by Norwood Christchurch and allowed
us to drill maize at 60cm spacings.” Peter says the result was
the best crops he has ever had.
He and Arjen chose the RDA600 model because their tractor
could handle its size and they haven’t been disappointed with
the drill’s performance. “The drill is fitted with system discs for
additional cultivation and incorporation of crop residues such
as barley stubble.”
C U S T O M E R P R O F I L E
Rapid drill quickly makes a difference
to dairy operation
The Vaderstad Rapid’s specially hardened scalloped discs
(410mm diameter) cut powerfully down into the soil and
provide the Rapid with its ability to drill in the most variable
conditions. The discs and seed coulters efficiently clear straw
from the seed zone. No pan is created during cultivation and
the discs do not have to be adjusted to maintain drilling depth.
Peter says the drill has definitely lived up to his expectations.
“It’s fair to say it’s met our expectations and then some,
particularly in its sheer capacity and accuracy of the seed
placement.”
A pneumatic distribution system delivers seed to the
RDA600’s Rapid coulter system, which takes care of the
accurate seed placement that is characteristic of all Rapid
models. The unique depth control allows drilling to be carried
out at high speed, which gives an impressive capacity .The
seed hopper has a total volume of 6000 litres. For wheat, this
means about 25 ha of drilling per refill.
“There are many options on the drill that we don’t actually
use,” Peter says. “There are a lot of features that if you’re a
cropping farmer you could use. Next season we’ll drill the same
number of hectares with it. There’s been some inquiry from
our neighbour to see if we want to do some drilling for them
but we’re pretty happy just here.”