A new electric drive seeder for oilseed rape, grass seed and cover crops has been launched by Spaldings. Designed for mounting on cultivators, subsoilers, rollers and harrows, the Vento 8 pneumatic seeder is a new model from German manufacturer, Lehner, and as well as seed, it can also handle granular herbicides, such as Avadex, from up to eight ‘splash plate’ outlets across any width to 6m. “We currently sell a simpler seeding system but growers increasingly want something a bit more sophisticated that’s still easy to use,” said Alex Smith, Spaldings’ product development co-ordinator. “The new Vento design uses quality components throughout and Lehner spent three years developing and testing it to ensure it works accurately and reliably.” It comes with a frame for mounting on a subsoiler or cultivator for low-cost sowing of oilseed rape and cover crops, and on rolls or a flexible tine harrow to broadcast grass seed for rejuvenating pasture or to establish a new ley.

It has a 230-litre steel hopper with seed level sensor and full-width agitator, and the cartridge-type metering roller can be pulled out for cleaning or to reconfigure the cell rings for different seeds and granules.

Three cell sizes are available – for oilseed rape, grass and cover crops, and for granular herbicides, with blank segments easily be added or removed for different working widths.

A broad range of application rates is provided by the 12 volt electric motor, with consistent rates across varying ground speeds provided by automatic control using GPS or a speed signal from the tractor.

The seed rate can be adjusted on the move using a turn-and-click dial on the control box, while fan speed is adjusted in the same way to suit width and seed type.

Users can store up to 20 calibration settings for different seeds and granules, and the controller also displays working information.

It costs £4975, comes with mounting frame, control panel and cabling, 25m of flexible pipe and eight stainless steel broadcasting deflectors.