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Trial Equipment

 

 

Motorized Sprayers

The pesticide trials at VKST Field Trials are sprayed by motorised sprayers which ensure the speed to be accurate and improve the driver safety from chemical exposure. The plot lines can be drawn up via two nozzles mounted behind the back wheels of the sprayer. The water for the spray mixtures is measured by an automatic water measuring unit. We have a special air assisted boom which we use for studies where air accompanied spraying is needed. We also perform screenings of pesticide efficacy and crop safety by a linear system mounted on one of our sprayers.

Sowing and fertilization

 

All variety trials (including grass seed trials) are seeded very accurate and with very evenly plot distances by a tractor-driven sowing machine following GPS signals (2 cm precision). The soil is well prepared by a soil packer at front of the tractor and a rotor harrow at front of the sowing machine. We carry out treatments in our fertilizer experiments with a motorized plot fertilizer spreader adapted to our 2 m wide plots.

 

Plot Harvest                                       Straw weight

VKST Field Trials has five harvesters with different equipment. Small parcels are harvested with small, high precision plot combiners. Weight of straw per plot is also possible. In our laboratory, we have equipment to perform grain cleaning, thousand grain weight, and most of the required quality parameters of grain and seed. We are equipped with a SuperMatic20 Grain Analyser and an Infratec� 1241 Grain Analyser (uploaded for official calibrations 24 hours a day) and weighing of grain and seeds for variety trials are conducted by an automat PBA330 balance with vibratory feeder.

Data Handling

When assessing the trials the data are entered into a hand terminal and afterwards transferred direct into the data file. Data from GEP trials are typically reported via the ARM program and National farmer trials are reported by NFTS (Nordic field trial system).

Soil Sampling

Soil sampling can be performed by our tractor mounted soil core sampler, if many samples are needed. We have various tractor tools for soil preparation and grain handling and have tested several different tools to supervise the Danish farmers over the years.