New System Plants Corn Under Plastic

New System Plants Corn Under Plastic PLANTERS Planters 34-2-10 You can plant corn weeks earlier, harvest a month sooner, and get higher yields with the Samco planting system. Developed in Ireland, the system applies herbicide, plants the corn and covers two row, 55-in. swaths under a specially designed, degradable plastic. "We have a patented pinhole design that allows the plants to grow up under and eventually push their way through the plastic," explains Samuel Shine, Samco Agricultural Manufacturing Ltd. The plastic warms the ground faster to encourage emergence up to three weeks early while protecting seedlings from adverse weather. The same heat that encourages the corn to emerge quickly also flushes all the weed seeds while the herbicide is most active for more complete control. "The pinholes allow enough air movement to prevent problems with fungus or molds, but still reduce evaporation," says Shine. "The plastic also has drainage holes in the middle of the sheet to allow rain water to move through and into the soil." Shine has sold 15 systems to farmers in Newfoundland, Canada, for corn silage production and others to sweet corn producers in Alberta and around the Great Lakes. He says farmers in Ireland couldn't produce corn for grain in that climate before he introduced his equipment. Farmers in northern Germany are using it to plant corn for biogas production. Meanwhile, farmers in France are planting corn for grain 6 weeks earlier than normal and harvesting an extra 36 bu. per acre. "By planting earlier, they take advantage of late winter rains and reduce their need for irrigation," says Shine. Samco offers 2, 4 and 6-row packages, priced at around $13,800, $45,700 and $61,000, not including shipping. The packages include the planter, herbicide tank, spray system and plastic laying system. The 16-ft. wide, 6-row planter folds to less than 10 ft. "All packages come with a two-year warranty and a selection of spare parts when delivered," says Shine. Samco sells the patented design, degradable plastic in 30-kilo rolls. Each roll is enough to cover a little more than an acre at a cost of about $1.70. The plastic comes in three colors and three different breakdown rates. "The earlier the planting and the darker the soils, the faster the plastic will degrade," says Shine. "We guarantee that no visual trace of plastic can be found in the soil after two years. In the first season, 90 percent will degrade, while plastic buried in the soil will take longer." North American sales of equipment and plastic are currently done by direct sales from Samco. Shine says he is looking for a distributor to sell into both the sweet corn and field corn markets. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Samco Agricultural Manufacturing, Adare, Co. Limerick, Ireland (ph + 011 353 61 396176; www.samco.ie).

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