THERE'S a whole new world of one-pass crop establishment emerging.
It concerns precision liquid and granular in-furrow, or near-furrow, management and involves a plethora of tank mixes of fungicides, insecticides, fertilisers and trace elements.
The idea is a one pass cocktail to cover most contingencies with growing a crop.
Early adoptees in the mid-2000s were usually plagued with problems associated with tank mix compatibilities and blocked delivery lines.
Enter Furrow Management Systems Australia (FMSA), with its custom-designed service to set up a liquid system and then overcome the problems of blocked lines.
The company's answer is two-fold - a new Furrow Injection Module (FIM) coupled with a Friction Flow delivery system.
It has been successfully used by a growing number of farmers for the past few years, with the company making tweaks in the new RatePod (FIM-RP and FIM-F modules).
The heart of the system is an American-made, high-flow, high-pressure HYPRO centrifugal pump delivering up to 556 litres per minute and 10 Bar (145 psi).
Agitation is adjustable to suit various tank mixes.
The RatePod modules boast HYPRO 9303 series pumps, with large capacity 140 millimetre closed impellers; an integrated 800 litre a minute filtering capacity; a high volume, low pressure agitation system for high volume tank turnover; a simple tap layout for all functions and multiple fail-safes in-built into the liquid circuits to prevent damage and to avoid cavitation (air bubbles) from improper operation.
The high-volume turnover design maintains an even suspension of products in a tank mix, with agitation designed specifically to match the tank shape, eliminating dead spots.
The FIM modules are designed to fit any liquid cart, or air-seeder, are ready to be optioned with induction hoppers and venturi upgrades and are built from ARAG componentry using high grade chemical-resistant precision plastics and tubing to ensure long life and reliability.
When matched with FMSA's Friction Flow-backend system, full system flushes can be done with as little as 30L.
According to FMSA, they will stand up to most chemical and fertilisers used and are compatible with most control systems on the market, including ISO controllers.
Precision accuracy is achieved through an electro-magnetic flow meter which reads correct liquid volume irrespective of viscosity, density (or specific gravity), temperature, or the presence of air in the liquid mix.
The Friction Flow Delivery manifolds are designed in modular banks across the bar, matching the existing air delivery kit for easy plumbing and upgrading to section control.
Delivery lines can be set in any configuration to suit with modular non-drip nozzle bodies.
The key to the injection system's precision accuracy is the WA-designed and Australian-made Friction Flow tubing, which easily meters a wider range of pre-defined and variable rate applications with lower pressures and greater flexibility, achieving the same flow rates at lower operating pressures.
The Friction Flow can handle a wide range of products and rates while reducing system failure due to filter and metering blockages.
Low-pressure liquid rate control allows the user not-before-seen rate ranges made possible by starting minimum rates at the lowest possible pressure, leaving all the pressure headroom achieved by the pump, to be effectively used according to the application programme.
A dual-line kit can be optioned, delivering multiple liquids into different zones as required using soil wetters, fungicides, insecticides and trace elements.
FMSA also has a FIM-I injection unit for in-line injection of a secondary liquid mix into a primary liquid delivery line, affectively delivering two different liquids into a single delivery stream.
