Vogelsang acquires strip-till technology for precise liquid manure spreading

Hugo Vogelsang Maschinenbau GmbH, established specialist supplier of pump, macerator, distributor and spreading technology for the agricultural and biogas sector, industry and municipalities, exclusively acquired strip-till technology from Hirl Systems Agrartechnik GmbH on 01/08/2011. This process enables gentle tillage and precise liquid manure depot fertilisation in a single step. Vogelsang’s goal is to build on existing technology and to develop it further. The managing director of Vogelsang, Harald Vogelsang, envisages good opportunities for the development of a duplicate part in this area: “The liquid manure side-dressing market is young and dynamic. We are already planning to present the first model from our newly developed series at this year’s agritechnica.”

Reducing costs and conserving soil

The significant advantage of liquid manure strip-tillage is partial soil tillage: only a section of the ground is cut into rows, e. g. in preparation for the maize sowing a width of 25 centimetres; the other 50 centimetres remain untilled. This guarantees optimum protection against erosion and soil compaction. In addition to strip-tillage, the liquid manure is applied close to the root zone as a manure deposit which is optimally available for the plants, thus resulting in less liquid manure loss. The single-step tilling and liquid manure spreading process saves costs and time. Only the untilled rows are driven on, in which an intact pore system improves infiltration of water and drivability. The soil warming benefits and germination conditions in the tilled rows are comparably as good as conventional intensive tillage. Strip-till therefore, both from an economic and ecological point of view, combines the advantages of no-till and conventional tillage. Furthermore, liquid manure strip-tillage enables farmers to keep within the four hour time slot stipulated by the slurry regulation and to keep the impact of unpleasant odours for surrounding residential areas to a minimum.

Bringing a powerful product to market maturity

With strip-till, Vogelsang has gained an innovative liquid manure spreading technology which the company wants to turn into a product ready for series production for the first time. The creator Hirl Systems developed and has already tested the technology together with the university of Hohenheim and Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences. Some machines are already on the market as individual machines. For example, agricultural contractors tested the technology’s performance in spring 2011 while spreading maize with liquid manure and were able to convincingly confirm its performance. Vogelsang: “We know how to apply our innovative power and have in depth know how in spreading technology. We will use this experience and will present a market-mature product at the main agricultural trade fair, the agritechnica.”

Innovation in liquid manure spreading

Strip-tillage originates in the USA where it is used for row crops in particular. “There are machines in Germany for this process”, explains Vogelsang. “They were, up until now, only suitable for solid or liquid organic fertilisers, now it is possible to spread liquid manure and brewing residues.”

About Vogelsang:

Hugo Vogelsang Maschinenbau GmbH is an international active plant engineering company based in Essen/Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. The company founded in 1929, grew from being a manufacturer of agricultural machine into a specialist for pump, macerator, distribution and spreading technology for the agricultural and biogas sector, industry and municipalities. Today, Vogelsang’s main areas of business are biogas and wastewater technology as well as vacuum disposal technology. Vogelsang currently employs around 400 employees worldwide. 17 subsidiaries and branch offices form part of the Vogelsang group. Due to its global network of dealers the company is able to export its products to all European countries and important industrial nations worldwide. For more information:  www.vogelsang-gmbh.com