Versatile machines
By Bill Kerr
Versatile machines speed up spraying and fertilising
When the Hebbermann family moved to Maryborough 10 years ago from their grain, cotton and cattle property near Springsure, they soon realised that good weed control would be essential for profitable cane growing.
Their farm on Maryborough’s outskirts was the former cattle holding paddock for a meatworks and had been planted to improved pasture.
When Owen Hebbermann and his son David converted the property to cane growing, Rhodes grass quickly invaded the cane stools. Grass was such a problem they had to spray one area four times.
Although they expect to harvest about 10,000 tonnes of cane this season from the 200 ha they now have under sugarcane, grass is still a serious challenge to productivity.
Despite low sugar prices in recent years they intend to stick with cane growing. They are convinced that cane can still provide a reasonable living for someone with low debt levels and tight operating costs. Their aim is to reduce costs through more efficient farming methods including minimum tillage, wider row spacing, crop rotations, trash blanketing and recycling of wastewater for irrigation.
Owen Hebbermann believes it is easy for a grower to underestimate the cost impact of weeds. His aim is to maintain good weed control so that their cane makes full use of available fertiliser.
“The effect of grass and weeds on cane productivity is greater than we often realise and weeds just love fertiliser”, he says.
Late last year, in a bid to obtain precision control of weeds while minimising the cost of spraying, they took some ideas for a 3-row shielded spray unit to local cane grower engineer John Ferguson. They wanted a tough, versatile spray unit that would enable them to get on top of weeds in ratoons by spraying earlier with both glyphosate and Gramoxone.
John Ferguson produced a clever implement that is flexible enough to handle virtually any conditions. The shielded sprayers can be adjusted up and down to fit any row width arrangement. Adjustable wings assist turning and travelling. The machine is designed to follow the soil profile in uneven country hinges allow the spray hoods to kick back if they strike the ground.
Previously the Hebbermanns used conventional hang down droppers to apply pre-emergent herbicide. Glyphosate, apart from being much cheaper than Gramoxone, allows them to tackle weeds earlier without the risk of damaging young cane. Spraying glyphosate inside enclosed interrow hoods running on the ground restricts spray drift. Benefits of using shielded interrow spray units includes cost savings and less reliance on residual herbicides.
The Hebbermanns can apply Gramoxone from the front tank and glyphosate from the rear tank in a single pass, covering about 4.5 ha per tank. They conducted trials of glyphosate at 1.5 to 3 l/ha before deciding to apply it at 3 L/ha in addition to 1.5 – 2 L/ha of Gramoxone.
Precision application under various conditions is also a feature of a 3-row fertiliser applicator with adjustable angled coulters, also built by John Ferguson.
The 2.5 tonne capacity unit can be used to apply fertiliser through a green cane trash blanket, reducing potential loss of fertiliser. The stainless steel boxes are fitted with removable steel screens that prevent contaminants from reaching the peg tooth nylon rollers, which ensure accurate fertiliser distribution.
The rollers, from a 1978 Napier air seeder, ensure that fertiliser is distributed uniformly over the paddock without the patchy distribution and blockages that sometimes occur when using standard worm distributors. Adjustment is via an infinitely variable gearbox.
Owen says the rollers are “as good as the day they were put in” even though they have had eight years of hard work including 90 tonnes applied last year.
An adaptor plate was used to fit scalloped dish hubs on the implement to convert them to use 30-inch self-sharpening coulters angled to the ground. The coulters cut grooves through the trash blanket, enabling fertiliser to be placed close to the root zone. These are covered up by the following press wheels. Because the disc hub is located over the interspace it does not snap off cane as it passes.
The Hebbermanns use a 135 HP John Deere 6910 tractor to pull the applicator at speeds up to 14 km/h in sandy soil. They can apply 12-18 tonnes of fertiliser a day at 600 kg/ha in a one-man operation. Owen says the unit is “a pleasure to use” and is virtually maintenance free thanks to its rugged construction and smooth operation.
Owen and David Hebbermann use a Case Austoft billet planter to plant 30-35 ha of cane annually, with about the same area left fallow. Until now they have planted single rows at 1.7 m and 1.8 m widths because of difficulty in getting enough chemical between dual rows to obtain adequate grass control.
The new spray unit will allow them to move towards 1.8 m wide rows, helping them to reduce the time and cost involved in getting around the crop.
They have planted soybeans for three years and will continue growing them as a break crop to improve soil fertility and friability, using their own header to harvest the grain.
They harvest their cane green using their own harvester because they believe this ensures higher CCS and a better overall result.
For the past two years they have used grey water from the Maryborough wastewater-recycling project to irrigate cane. With an allocation of 600 ML they plenty of water to irrigate about 120 ha, using 8-inch gated aluminium pipes.
The Hebbermanns are conscious of being good neighbours to people living in a nearby housing estate.
Their responsible attitude has paid off – there have been no complaints even though the prevailing wind blows towards the houses.
