“We had been using a four-bag capacity, 17-year old spreader on 24m tramlines, so there was an opportunity for us to improve accuracy and efficiency, and try to save money,” explains Henry Peasgood of Peasgood & Sons, Langtoft, Lincolnshire. “Adopting variable rate brought in SFI payments that have more than covered the cost of our new spreader. It’s been a no-brainer.”
From an investment viewpoint, Henry says the funding that was available outweighed the cost of buying the range-topping spreader, which he and his Dad Robert couldn’t ignore.
“SFI is paying out £15,000/year over three years for variable rate applications, while SOYL’s sampling costs us £3,000/year, so we’re getting a net gain of £12,000/year for investing in Kverneland’s spreader technology,” he says. “We couldn’t afford not to buy the spreader and it will be easily paid for in under three years.”
With the exception of a small area of land rented out to a local potato grower, the Peasgoods farm around 2,000 acres of combinable crops spread over a six-mile radius of its Langtoft base. Cropping includes winter and spring barley, winter wheat, beans and sugar beet.
Field sizes vary from two to 110 acres, and tramlines are now at 30m spacings. Equipped with three hopper extensions, the new spreader can carry up to 3.6 tonnes – the equivalent of six bags.
“The extra hopper capacity means fewer trips to the fields and we’re spreading 25% wider too, and one of the key innovations on this model is the lack of PTO shaft,” he says. “It’s a huge safety improvement, but it’s also delivering a big fuel saving for us too.”
Used on either the farm’s Fendt 724 or 728 tractors, Mr Peasgood says the hydraulic disc drive means the engine is running at a leisurely 1,300rpm.
“Where fuel consumption with a PTO shaft was from 18-20 litres/hour, it’s now down to around 8-12 litres/hour,” he says. “I’m also spreading at around 18km/hr.”
Supplied by Chandlers Farm Equipment for the 2025 season, the Exacta TL GEOSPREAD also features MULTIRATE in addition to auto start/stop and section control. ISOBUS connectivity means the spreader pops up on the tractor’s in-cab Vario terminal, avoiding the need to buy a terminal for the spreader.
“It is a very easy spreader to use, and everything you need to know is right in front of you, on the display,” he says. “It is plug and play. The only drawback is the older Fendt 724’s terminal hasn’t the computing power to run the sophisticated MULTIRATE system, but the Gen 7 Fendt 728 can.”
MULTIRATE has the ability to take a full width variable rate map and split the application rate across eight sections over the full spreading width, boosting application accuracy even further.
“With MULTIRATE and variable rate maps, we’re now getting far more accurate fertiliser placement rather than just varying the rate at 30m,” he says. “And RTK means we really are making the most of 1cm accuracy, and I use full auto-steering on permanent tramlines too.”
Initially sceptical of the spreader’s ability to deliver pin-point accuracy, Mr Peasgood over-ordered fertiliser for the farm.
“We’ve always bought two tonnes more than we should ever really need,” says Henry. “Nobody wants to be short, so having a bit extra was always safer than running out and in previous years’ we’ve always used it. But the accuracy of Kverneland’s spreader is mind-blowing.”
He says the application rate is always within 10kg of the target rate.
“I just didn’t expect the spreader to be this good,” he says. “So I’ve two tonnes extra sat in the shed, and that’s £1500 more than I needed to spend. Fortunately, it’ll be offset against next year’s fertiliser requirements.”
Want to speak to a specialist?
E-Mail Simon Wills, Kverneland crop care specialist: info-uksales@kvernelandgroup.com
