NDI Group and SEGES start new tire experiment

Two different wheel solutions will be compared in the new tire test. Here the solution with wide tires is seen driving on top of four rows per turn during sowing.

The two technical consultants, Henrik Møllvang and Uffe Hansen from the agricultural department of the NDI GRoup is here helping to change wheels from the wide twin wheel solution to the narrow wheel solution.

Henrik Møllvang adjusts the pressure in the narrow Alliance 354+ Agriflex tires, so the VF tires are driving with a lower pressure to further reduce soil compaction before the next phase of the tire experiment begins.

The experiment continues with the narrow VF tires in a customized wheel solution, making it possible to drive between the rows while sowing.

The field can be seen here after driving with the narrow VF tires with reduced tire pressure.

A comparison of the tracks after driving with wide tires on top of the sowing track - to the right in the picture - with the solution with narrow tires - to the left.

Martin Mikkelsen (to the left) and Henrik Sjørslev Lyngvig (to the right) from SEGES held the experiment in collaboration with the NDI Group and helped ensure that the experiment followed scientific standards.

APRIL 29TH

The farming research collaboration between the NDI Group and Danish Agricultural Research company SEGES continues its cooperation with a new scientific experiment, in which the efficiency of two different wheel solutions used during the sowing campaign will be compared.

Last year, the NDI Group initiated a farming research collaboration with SEGES and ran an experiment to measure the benefits of driving with a complete VF tire setup on a manure spreader and tractor while fertilizing a cornfield. As a result of the successful collaboration and tire test that showed how VF-tires could ensure an increase of 32 Euros per hectare, the two companies started a new tire experiment in April 2022.

- We have taken the next steps in our farming research collaboration with SEGES and started a new experiment. This time, we are investigating how significant an effect the combination of VF-tires and a special wheel solution used during the sowing seasons has on the yield and quality of corn. Now we are comparing a solution with double wheels in which wide tires are driving on top of four rows being sown with an alternative solution with narrow wheels and VF-tires from Alliance. Here, the wheels drive between the rows, and the VF-tires with decreased pressure, tells the sales manager in the agricultural division of the NDI Group, Jakob Nannberg Scheel.

Better customer guidance
The purpose of the tire experiment that is taking place at the Agerbæk Machinery Station is, according to Jakob Nannberg Scheel, to gain new, scientifically based knowledge about the effect different wheel solutions have on the yield and quality of corn, so the NDI Group can provide its customers with even better guidance:

- It is all about ensuring that we can offer the best possible guidance to our customers in the agricultural industry. Here SEGES is a perfect, independent collaboration partner as a bridge-builder between research and farming in practice, as they are experts in farming research. They ensure that the tire experiment will follow scientific standards. It gives us the scientific foundation of our customer consulting, he says.

The first of its kind
According to Henning Sjørslev Lyngvig, a consultant within the area of field technology at SEGES, the tire experiment follows a method similar to the one used in the previous tire experiment done by the two companies.

- The method is the same as last time. We are driving with two different wheel setups in four rows each while sowing the corn. During the year, we will follow up and assess the growth and quality of the crops. After the harvest in the autumn, we will analyze the data and compare the corn crops. Then we will conclude how significant an effect the wheel solution has on the yield and quality of the crops, he says and continues:

- An experiment in Germany has already shown that using a wheel solution that allows the tire to drive between the rows increases the yield – but this is the first time we have conducted such an experiment in Denmark. We look very much forward to seeing the results and how the results can give us new, valuable insights and practically implementable knowledge to the farmers.

Apart from Henning Sjørslev Lyngvig, Martin Mikkelsen, consultant in roughage at SEGES, participated in the trial that is expected to finish by the end of 2022.