Sumo drill specialist Marcus Ainley sowing Maro marrowfat peas at 320kg/ha into sandy soil over clay near Braintree, Essex in the third week of April, as part of a customer demonstration of the Sumo DTS strip-till drill for dealer RC Boreham.
This season's pea acreage is likely to be the highest for some time, as farmers seek an in-demand spring option to go into still-undrilled ground or replace failed crops.
Interest in the strip-till drilling concept has been significant this spring, as farmers seek to improve the condition of compacted soils while at the same time limiting fuel consumption by not moving soil unnecessarily, and creating support for machinery via uncultivated soil bands between the seed rows.
Available in 3m mounted and 4-12m trailed versions, the DTS (Deep Tillage Seeder) features leading opener discs, tungsten-edged loosening legs which work down to 300mm, and tine coulters with seed boot options that can place oilseed rape and cereals in wide 150mm bands or pulses in 25mm rows.
These are followed by covering discs and pneumatic press wheels.
Sumo will be demonstrating a DTS at Cereals 2013 in June.
