New Disk Uses Ultra-Shallow Tillage

The CrossCutter Disc from Swedish-based Väderstad Industries offers ultra-shallow tillage. The new concept involves working intensively at depths of an inch or less. It could be a common sense solution to U.S. and Canadian farmers dealing with increasing herbicide resistance as well as terminating standing cover crops.

“The CrossCutter Disc performs outstanding in oilseed rape stubble, cover crops, and grain stubble, as well as plowed land,” says Mattias Hovnert, Väderstad Industries. “It has a low horsepower requirement and works at speeds up to 12 mph.”

The secret behind the tool and the concept is the extreme wave in the disc, giving it a 4 1/2-in. working width. Discs are produced from high-quality Swedish steel and hardened for longer life. Each disc is mounted to its own rubber-suspended disc arm. This allows it to effectively follow the ground contour.

The disc design offers what the company describes as full cut-out and an intensive mix at the shallow depth. The combination of intensity and shallow depth leaves crop residue (including from cover crops or weeds in stubble) at or near the surface. With less soil being moved, less fuel is used. The tillage method can be used to create a stale seedbed. Once weeds have emerged, a second pass eliminates them and creates an ideal seedbed.
The intensive cutting and mixing terminates a standing cover crop. A single pass turns it into mulch, mixing it with the soil for rapid breakdown.

“We introduced the CrossCutter Disc and ultra-shallow tillage in North America in 2018,” says Melissa MacLean, Väderstad Industries. “It has become very popular in Sweden and has been well adopted in canola stubble and similar crops in Canada. It works well in both organic and conventional farming.”

MacLean recommends mounting the CrossCutter Discs on the company’s Carrier disc cultivators. “They can be mounted on all our Carriers from 10 to 40-ft.,” she says. Contact company dealers for pricing, due to the range of options involved.

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Vaderstad North America, Box 123, Langbank, Sask. Canada S0G 2X0 (ph 306 538-2221; toll free 800 667-4295; information.vi@vaderstad.com; www.vaderstad.com/ca-en).