A collaboration of South Taranaki businesses has produced Taranaki's first farm spraying truck designed to apply particle fertiliser products. The vehicle sprays material ground as fine as talcum powder, mixed on board with water to form a slurry. There's no waste, nothing is blown away by the wind, and the fertiliser is immediately available to the plant and soil reports the Taranaki Daily.The boom sprayer rig has been developed as the result of work by three key players in the South Taranaki agricultural contracting scene: Spray It, Spreading Sandfords and Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-op. The unit was designed and built entirely in Hawera on a MAN cab and chassis by Lintern Engineering; the electrical system and electronic controls were designed and installed by auto electrician Leo Bell; the specialised abrasion and corrosion- resistant coating system was applied by Blair Luscombe, of Blastways at Kapuni.The finished job has cost about 1 1/2 times as much as a conventional spreader. Spray It owner Toby Annabell, who was the initial brains behind the project, says turning granulated fertilisers into a sprayable slurry is a logical step and he believes there is major growth potential, particularly with the influence and knowledge of his business partners. "Going in with Toby is a very good fit for us, in terms of a business investment and to expand our on-farm contracting services," says Sandfords general manager Phil Sandford. "It's always been a passion of mine to build a truck that can spray on particle fertiliser," says Mr Annabell, who has been agricultural spray contracting for eight years. "Some years back we were doing trials for Eco-n and we used a fine ground lime as a trial substitute for it. I asked the farmer if I could use his paddocks and he came back a few weeks later and asked me how much nitrogen I'd put on. When I told him it was just pure lime, he said they were some of his best paddocks as a result."That convinced me there was more potential in this business than just spraying liquid fertiliser and herbicides." They are promoting it as Fine Fert 100, which reflects the finely ground material (under 100 microns particle size). "It's so fine you have to add water, otherwise it would all blow away," says Mr Sandford.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.