Grange Machinery of Holderness, East Yorkshire, is a manufacturer of mainly tillage implements which are designed with modern cultivation practices in mind rather than following the traditional path of plough and till.
The company has just appointed its first dealer in the Republic of Ireland, Kellys of Borris, which is based in Borris, Co. Carlow along with its sister branch Kellys of Laois, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois.
Reducing establishment costs
In addition to the reduced cultivation implements, Grange Machinery produces a range of affordable wearing parts to farmers across the UK, Europe and as far afield as New Zealand.
The company claims that its product range helps lower the cost of crop establishment while improving soil structure and overall efficiency in the field.
The machines are designed to enhance and add versatility to current farming systems rather than wholesale replacement of one system with another.
Its most recent development is the Strip-Till Preparator which is now in full production following three years of successful on-farm trials.
Grange Machinery for min-till
The main focus of the range is adaptable low disturbance toolbars and standalone looseners which are said to address the challenge of minimum tillage and direct drilling.
The machine is designed specifically for maize and prepares three rows for seeding via a combination of discs and low disturbance tines.
Low disturbance cultivation is becoming something of a hot topic in tillage circles where the effort of the tractor is directed at loosening the soil without expending effort in turning it over or mixing it vertically.
By doing so, disruption to soil biology is minimised, as is the mineralisation of nutrients when excess oxygen enters the soil.
Soil management as first concern
It is part of the broader movement of looking first to the soil to improve yields rather than focus on what is happening above ground, which, understandably, has been the traditional approach.
Being a young company, Grange Machinery is free from the legacy of considering the plough as the primary cultivation tool and can create machinery based on an alternative ethos.
It is this fresh look at tillage and cultivation which embraces the latest thinking on reducing the amount of energy expended in drilling that has attracted the attention of Kellys of Borris which believes its customers will be as equally interested in new ideas.