Raft of new kit from Lemken

Achieving double-digit growth in 2021, things are looking good for cultivation equipment manufacturer Lemken, which builds 4,000 seed drills annually.

In addition to this, the company’s CEO, Anthony van der Ley, confirmed it has full order books for the first six month of 2022.

This news comes as Lemken put a halt to sprayer production at the beginning of this year, after a decade of building such machines.

Despite these positives, the German manufacturer isn’t immune to the worldwide supply chain issues.

Van der Ley explained that steel prices have risen by 95%, while the cost of electronic components has increased by 500% over the past 12 months.

He added that fuel and transport costs have also increased significantly.

Such factors have forced Lemken to increase its product prices by 10%, starting in January.

This was the update from a recent press event in Germany, where Lemken’s new range of equipment for 2022 was on show.

We feature some of the highlights here.

Minimal draught resistance, an integrated disc harrow and a large, split hopper – that’s how Lemken is summarising its new Solitair DT seed drill.

The new grain and fertiliser drill will be available in four- and six-metre working widths from autumn 2022. Previously, Lemken has never offered a four-metre folding trailed drill, but a rigid version only.

Depending on the system, the drill can be configured with large 465mm diameter concave discs (individually protected by leaf springs), or, smaller vertical corrugated discs for reduced soil disturbance.

At the heart of the Solitair’s seeding technology are individual electrically driven metering units, each of which supplies one distributor with seed.

The seed metering wheels are combined into seed wheel sets, eliminating the need to switch seed wheels on and off. These sets can be changed without tools.

The coulter bar fitted to the Solitair DT features the proven OptiDisc double-disc coulters with depth control wheel.

The 5,100l hopper is available in a dual hopper version. The dual hopper allows the Solitair DT to be used for seed and fertiliser, or for sowing different seeds.

Two variants are available – the single-shot version where the fertiliser and seed are placed in a shared seed furrow, or the double-shot version which places fertiliser in a line below the seed level via separate fertiliser double disc coulters.

With its new Karat 10 three-beam cultivator, Lemken has continued with the same characteristics of the Karat 9 such as the overload protection and the quick share changing.

However, the goal when designing the Karat 10 was to make it more efficient, in other words, to build a machine with a lower draught requirement while continuing to offer intensive mixing.

As a result, one leg has been removed and the tines have now been arranged symmetrically around the tensile axis.

Lemken noted that this also means the machine features less side draught compared to previous models.

The new cultivator is available in a mounted and semi-mounted version, with working widths between three and seven metres.

It is now available with more equipment variations and drawbar options, opening up more versatile applications.

The wing shares for shallow cultivation have been widened, while narrow shares can be used for deep cultivation.

New, specially shaped guide plates have been added to improve the mixing effect. Its quick-change system allows the shares (leg points) to be removed using a linchpin, without the need for tools. Working depths can be set between 5 and 30cm.

It is optionally available with a leading disc section for incorporating organic matter. Newly introduced star-shaped wheels are also optionally available (run ahead of the roller) for working with heavy soils. The first variants of the new model will be available next summer.

Claiming to introduce the first Isobus plough to the market in 2015, Lemken showcased its latest Juwel 8i Isobus plough at the event in Germany. The new mounted reversible plough features the improved iQ plough control system and a redesigned user interface. This can also be done via an Isobus-capable tractor terminal. In the Onland version, the preset front furrow width can be stored and displayed on the terminal. With mechanical depth adjustment on the depth wheel, the 8i is the entry-level Isobus plough.

Lemken says Isobus control is becoming increasingly popular, down to the adjustment of rotation, inclination, working width and working depth via the terminal, saving time and allowing more flexibility in changing conditions.

The new Juwel 8i with electro-hydraulic turnover device allows up to eight different scenarios to be programmed and activated as required. It sits on the uni wheel for transport, meaning there’s no need to decouple the top link. It will be available from March 2022.

“I can see more and more contractors buying Isobus ploughs. It’s far easier to train someone to plough using an Isobus version. Isobus ploughs are around 8% more expensive than a standard machine, and account for 10-15% of plough sales, but I can see this number growing,” said Derek Delahunty, Lemken area sales manager for Ireland.

Three years ago, Lemken purchased Steketee, a Dutch manufacturer of mechanical weeding options. Since exiting the sprayer market, Lemken has been keen to expand this portfolio, and has added a new SprayHub front-mounted tank, connected to the rear-mounted mechanical hoeing unit. Lemken says that combining the two elements ensures that concentrated spraying only takes place within rows and claims that farmers can save between 40% and 60% on spraying agent. This one-pass hoeing and spraying combination also benefits in terms of labour economy.

The front tank is equipped with its own controls, agitator and cleaning system. It is Isobus-controlled and can be operated via the MegaSpray software. It comes with a tank capacity of 1,100l or 1,500l, a clean water tank, hand wash canister and filling screen.

An additional induction nozzle for dissolving solid agents and a CTS connection for contactless induction are also available.

The SprayKit can also be used with other implements and features mechanical section control. Single row control is Lemken’s next target, allowing automatic section control via GPS.

The height-adjustable nozzle holder is equipped with a scale to adjust the spraying height and position, allowing the width of the spray band to be individually determined depending on row spacing etc. Different nozzles can be used. It will be launched in spring 2022.

A promising development on the Steketee side of the business is autonomous hoeing, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). The manufacturer is introducing an automatic intra-row hoeing machine, namely the IC-Weeder, in an AI-enhanced version which detects desirable plants.

Initially developed for sugar beet, plants were manually marked at various stages of development.

An algorithm used this data to autonomously create a method for identifying sugar beet plants based on their colour, texture, shape, size and leaf position.

Lemken claims this allows the machine to work in conditions that are too complex for conventional image recognition systems.

The cameras for the individual rows are located under the hood of the machine, and not affected by external light.

During a pass, the cameras transmit 30 images per second to the on-board computer, producing a plant recognition ratio of over 95%. Following sickle-shaped pneumatically controlled knives move into the rows and hoe as close as two centimetres from each plant.

The unit will be available from 2022 in a three-metre machine, initially for sugar beet, but the manufacturer is in the process of building up an inventory of crops.

A year on from the launch of the Solitair 9+ pneumatic drill, Lemken is introducing its new Duo version which comes with a divided seed hopper. This latest development means the drill has the ability to sow two adjacent rows of seed at different depths. The machine will offer a range of options for simultaneously spreading seeds, fertiliser and catch crops. The Duo seed hopper holds 1,850 litres. Its capacity can be split 50:50 or 60:40.

Two variants are available. In the single-shot version, the fertiliser and seed are placed in a shared seed furrow, allowing a starting dose of fertiliser to be added. With the double-shot system, fertiliser is placed in a line below the seed level via separate fertiliser double-disc coulters. Availability of the Duo model is scheduled for January 2022.