Scott Samwell from Eastbrook Farms in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia recently hosted some of MagrowTec’s technical team who were in Australia to undertake Technical and Installation training with a number of MagrowTec’s distribution partners.
Scott and other members of the Samwell family, grow around 100Ha of Brussell Sprouts and Kalette’s for the domestic market. With a number of varieties spanning a production window of 10 months, Eastbrook farms is applying crop protection products every week of the year.
As any horticultural producer would know, coverage is everything and with a standard application rate of 1000L/Ha, the Samwell’s were looking for options that could deliver them productivity gains without sacrificing agronomic (yield and quality) outcomes.
Scott had read an article about MagrowTec’s patented Magnetic Assisted Spray Technology and contacted one of their local reps. As a result, a number of crop science trials were undertaken to identify the optimum application rate for their operations.
The result, a 25% water saving and subsequently, a 25% productivity increase. This ultimately meant that the sprayer could cover more crop, more effectively and in conditions that would have required them to stop with their conventional sprayer.
Scott maintains that this has changed their approach to scheduling work and their confidence in getting an efficacious result in deteriorating conditions. “We are able to make the most of our spray window using MagrowTec and that’s a game changer for us.” he said.
Whilst he is comfortable with the results that the reduced application rate is delivering for him, Scott is cautious in pushing the limits too quickly.
Trial work to further reduce the application rate is on the cards for Eastbrook Farms but this will be carefully monitored against yield and quality to ensure that production is not impacted.
