Thirty students from the DLG Academy (German Agricultural Society) have visited Claydon Drill’s headquarters in Suffolk to learn more about the agronomic and cost-saving advantages of the Claydon Strip-Till System, which is now used by farmers in 26 countries, including Germany, across the widest range of climatic conditions and soil types.
During this, the latest in a series of visits by student groups from all over the world, including the UK, Denmark and France, Jacob Darby, Claydon Exports Manager, introduced to them the benefits of the patented two-tine drilling technique, which was invented by Suffolk farmer and engineer Jeff Claydon in 2002. Following a tour of the Claydon factory, taking in the new Hybrid T6 trailed drill, the students toured the Claydon family’s 1000-acre farm to look at a range of combinable crops which were established using the Claydon System.
At a time when crop returns have fallen dramatically but production costs have continued to rise, placing profit margins under severe pressure, farmers are looking to a more advanced, economical and ecological approach to crop establishment.. The complete Claydon System, comprising the Claydon Straw Harrow, Claydon Hybrid Drill and Claydon Rolls, is up to five times faster, one-third the cost and more reliable than a plough-based approach and typically 50% less than the cost of a min-til system. It also significantly improves timeliness, enabling crops to be established at the optimum time, under the best conditions, resulting in significantly higher yields.