From Woodseaves, Shropshire, HK & SB Bennett and Sons has embraced precision farming technology to improve all aspects of field work with a Kubota M7152 tractor.
“I want to be accurate and efficient with everything I do,” explains Gareth Bennett, who uses the M7152 Premium for contract spraying and contract fertiliser applications, in addition to meeting the family farm’s own machinery requirements.
“I’ve gradually increased the level of in-cab technology to improve pass-to-pass accuracy of every field job I do,” he says.
Linking into the tractor’s Premium specification, Gareth has added an IsoMatch Global GPS receiver, IsoMatch Inline lightbar and Tellus GO universal terminal to the cab of his tractor. In addition, an IsoMatch Grip joystick has been added, to increase functionality when spraying with a front tank and 24m mounted sprayer combination.
“The joystick has been mounted in a way that the Grip can be folded down beneath the armrest when not in use,” he says. “It’s a really neat and convenient solution which particularly suits any machine that’s ISOBUS compatible.”
He says that at the time of purchase, the tractor wasn’t auto-steer ready, and with contract work in his sights, he sought a cost-effective guidance system to improve operational efficiency, which was installed by Battlefield Machinery.
“The lightbar guidance gives me a very accurate positioning when I’m not working in tramlines,” he adds. “When mowing for example, with a 6m front and rear combination, I can keep my overlaps to a minimum. And when drilling, I don’t need to use bout markers.”
He says that the system is intuitive to follow, and has been straightforward to set-up, allowing presets to be stored for the different working widths of equipment in use.
“Linked to my GEOSPREAD fertiliser spreader, it allows automatic section control, variable rate capability and field recording,” he says. “When spreading on grassland without tramlines, the entire combination delivers a level of accuracy that is superb. It doesn’t matter how I drive, field coverage is thorough, without overlaps.”
“The next step is likely to be a move up to full auto-steering, to reduce operator fatigue on long days, and create more time to watch what’s going on,” he says.
