Claydon Drills – Reduce your costs and improve your yields

Drilling direct and eliminating unnecessary cultivations can save you thousands in establishment costs every year, and the Claydon Opti-Till® system does just that. Compared to conventional establishment it saves approximately 60% on costs with a time saving of around 80%.

What sort of savings have Claydon customers experienced in their first year?

“Fuel is one of the big areas for saving with Opti-Till®. With the plough-based system our 15,000-litre tank had to be filled five times a season, now the tanker visits twice, which is 60% less. With fuel prices where they are that represents a major saving.” S Middleton, East Yorkshire

“In the first year that drill saved us 30,000 litres of fuel compared with our previous system . . . but there were numerous other immediate benefits in terms of timeliness, time saving, better crops and much lower costs.” T Saunders, Northants

It’s not just diesel, there are other ways to save…

“Establishing crops now needs so little power that I sold one of my two 550-gallon fuel tanks because it was no longer needed.”

E LewisGloucestershire

“One of the key benefits of OptiTill® is that it allows us to farm more land with less labour and machinery. Recently, we cut costs even more by reducing the number of tractors from three to two.”

D CooperNorfolk

And there are no yield penalties with Claydon direct drilling

Whether farming heavy clays in Lincolnshire or dry, light erosion-prone soils of East Germany, customer experience shows that Claydon-drilled crops have no yield penalty – yields generally improve.

“Field trials have proven that the Claydon system had no detriment to establishment, providing a fantastic rooting zone required by the crop and yields were well above the pea groups set target yields.”

W TurnbullYorkshire

“Half of the spring cropped area was established using the previous approach and half with the Claydon. When both were harvested the Claydon-drilled area produced 0.5t/ha more yield. The largest yield increases have been in the spring crops due to the Opti-Till® System conserving moisture at planting, especially with the dry springs that we seem to get now.”
P Wilson, Wiltshire

P WilsonWiltshire

“The drill has transformed how we farm and even after a relatively short time of using it the headlands of all our fields look as good and perform as well as the main areas, which has significantly improved average yields and grain quality.”

L RomanItaly

And a little bit of science…

Skyway spring barley was direct drilled by 7 different drill manufacturers as part of the Agrii drill trials in Kent in 2023, comparing different drilling systems. The Claydon Evolution was the highest yielding drill with 7.46 t/ha compared to the site average of 7.06 t/ha, a substantial increased yield of 400 kg/ha over the average. The roots of the Claydon crop were the deepest and most well-developed across all the drills.

The Claydon drill’s leading tine technology is the key to maintaining, or in many cases, improving your yields. It drills direct into stubble and doesn’t turn over the soil, just aerating it in the rooting and seeding row. This means the seed gets the best start in life – friable, free draining soil and access to moisture. Meanwhile, worms thrive and process the surface organic matter, adding to the soil’s fertility. What’s not for a seed to love?

To hear more from our customers visit: https://claydondrill.com/our-customers/

Spring demo opportunity: Freshen up soil and remove tightness for your seeds this growing season. Contact your local dealer for a demo: https://claydondrill.com/dealers-distributors/

For more information about how Claydon drilling can help you establish your crops in a challenging climate, whilst maintaining yields and reducing costs, pls visit claydondrill.com or contact your nearest Claydon dealer.

See them in the Drill Arena for Direct Driller @Cereals 11th & 12th June, Bygrave Woods, Newnham Farm, Herts