CROPPING

Stopping liquid fertiliser drips

The research team have been out in the field looking at a range of air commodity carts

Ben White

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The prevalence of liquid application is notably increasing on air seeders with 16% using liquids.

But with the highly corrosive nature of some liquid products, keeping it at the boot level and not allowing it to dribble over the bar can be a challenge particularly if regularly folding the bar to transit between paddocks.

We have posted ideas from members about air-flushing the lines to purge the product before folding. Alternatively, check valves are commonly used and keep lines charged with product between applications.

Mounting the check valve as close to the discharge point as practical minimises the volume of liquid that could spill onto the bar.

But in the dusty environment encountered during seeding, some operators report these check valves clogging with dust and staying open, preventing them from working properly.

A simple check valve boot we spotted when inspecting a Morris air-commodity-cart in Brookton, WA works well according to operators.

Priced at around $5 including GST, the LQS check valve boots are available from Liquid Systems distributors around the country.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

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