ON THE steep slopes around Inverbervie, Angus Jacobsen and his self-propelled sprayer make an arresting sight on the coastal landscape.

“I wouldn’t be a typical customer for this type of sprayer,” he admits, “but the John Deere 5430i has proved an excellent choice for me. It is easy to use and its performance is outstanding. I can cover over 100 ha in an afternoon, which is crucial as the working days are so short and the conditions so changeable for spraying in this part of the world.”
With 472ha in hand at Grange of Kinneff and cropping ranging from cereals to roots, Mr Jacobsen has this past year traded up from a 20m sleeve-boom mounted sprayer, having signed the deal on the 5430i with its 4000-litre tank and 24m boom at Cereals 2009.
“The old sprayer was tying up the tractor all year round, so it made sense to switch to a self-propelled machine,” he explains. “I went for the JD model because it was a ‘one stop shop’ product, with every important component from the engine to the chassis and the spray pack manufactured by the company. This makes parts and service supply much more straightforward and gives me peace of mind.”
He says that compared to a mounted sprayer, an advanced self-propelled unit is a relatively complex machine, but his thorough training programme when it was delivered was a major benefit, including telephone support.
The harsh Scottish winter of 2009/10 meant that Mr Jacobsen had little chance to try the sprayer before this spring, but covered 1200ha in just a few months once conditions improved.
His first impression was how clean modern sprayers can be: “You could operate it in your dinner jacket. Filling and mixing is all from one position and is straightforward, while flushing and rinsing can be carried out from the cab using the GreenStar terminal. I’ve been spraying for 45 years and it is the best machine I have seen in that respect.”
The sprayer was been supplied with John Deere’s i-Solutions spraying package, which provides BoomTrac boom height control, SprayerPro section control and AutoTrac automatic steering, and Angus says that this is a very impressive set-up.