British entrepreneur James Peck is not lacking in ambition. In addition to 3.400 hectares of grain and sugar beet, he started planting his own potatoes this spring. A 600 hp crawler tractor, in combination with an 8-row planter, got the job done. His philosophy from grain cultivation is now also applied to potatoes.
PX Farms from the English county of Cambridge farms more than 3.400 hectares every year and the main crops are wheat, barley and sugar beets. PX Farms mainly farms land for third parties, as is very common in the United Kingdom. Potato cultivation was started on a small scale in 2018. This year the company is investing heavily in this. The goal is to scale up to 400 hectares in the short term writes Farmer's Weekly.
Tramway cultivation
In grain cultivation, PX Farms applies a tramline system for the entire cultivation: Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF). The arable farming company reports that this produces an additional yield of 18%, compared to 'random' working. The company cultivates, sows and harvests a width of 12 metres. Spraying is done with machines of approximately 36 meters wide. There are also 2 Challenger crawler tractors of 600 hp and 2 Fendt tractors of 390 hp.
However, in order to be able to use tramlines in potato cultivation, a new working method was required. Instead of traditional cultivation on 90 centimeter beds, Peck opted for the '75 centimeter system' of mainland Europe. In the Netherlands, the newly used 8-row planting machine from Grimme, with implement control from Trimble, was purchased. In one pass, tuber treatment is carried out, granules are spread and the ridge structure is also done.
Heavy tillage
Paths of 6 meters are used for soil cultivation and planting the potatoes. The land here is free of stones, a rarity in the country. The soil cultivation is quite intensive. The stubble is first deeply worked with a heavy cultivator or deep subsoiler from Horsch Terrano. Next comes a hook cutter. At the same time as planting, the soil is also prepared by a power harrow.
Due to the fine seedbed, a ridge can be built up immediately, even on heavy soil, after various adjustments. The driving speed is 5 to 9 kilometers per hour, with 30 hectares being planted per day. For larger plots, a 6-ton bunker is on the small side. The company is still looking for a way to fill quickly, which will probably happen with a transfer truck. By installing different wheel mark eradicators, the current 36 meter field sprayers can be used on wide tires. The Horsch field sprayer has a fixed track width of 1,80 meters.
Harvesting on tramlines
Last year the company harvested with 2-row bunker harvesters from Grimme. This year, however, it will be a 4-row bunker harvester, so that we can work on the regular paths again. The potatoes are unloaded into the trucks via a special transfer truck. The company already employs 12 of them. This spring, the combination planted 120 hectares, which will be modified for next season.
However, Peck hopes to quickly grow to 400 hectares of potatoes. He therefore works with 2 companies for potato cultivation, 1 of which is also starting new cultivation. Both table and chip potatoes are grown for the British AKP Group.