Be Aware

"The ability to precisely apply a variety of liquid products via furrow banding at seeding time is now possible, however caution must be taken in regard to how this can be achieved. Too often, individuals have received advice on system design from questionable sources. The extremely corrosive nature of some liquids and product compatibility problems can be a serious cause for concern. Correct choice of materials and the correct choice of components are essential, but merely the first step in good system design. It's the combination, the correct interaction and interfacing of all the parts of the system together with the correct choice of products to be applied that make for a good liquid banding experience." --- Peter Burgess CEO

Phosphoric Acid

First used on the grey calcareous soils of the West Coast of South Australia as a cheap and effective source of P. Phosphoric Acid is an extremely corrosive product and its use as a liquid fertilizer is not condoned by Liquid Systems (SA).Our products now carry this Warning Label:

The Western Australian Experience

Western Australia has far more experience in commercial broad acre liquid furrow banding than any other state in Australia. It has a proper liquid fertilizer industry and infrastructure. From research and development to manufacture, distribution, product education and sales backup, both CSBP and Summit are truly active in the field. Close customer liaison has provided these companies with a wealth of useful information. Be wise and learn from this experience.

Good Banding

Don't waste your time and money messing with inferior metering systems and devices. Unbroken terminal streams are absolutely essential for the efficient injection of product into the furrow/seedbed. A good metering system for instance, with say 250 millimetre tine spacings, should be capable of maintaining continuous streams at rates below 35 litres per hectare and ground speeds as low as 7 kilometres per hour.

New Fertilisers

The advantages of liquid furrow banding are fast becoming recognized. Premium liquids with associated compatible trace elements and fungicides remain the preferred products to band as there are very few handling or application problems experienced with their use. The popularity of liquid banding is now spawning an alternative category of budget products. Be cautious if contemplating their use as there can be serious handling and application problems associated with some of these products. The practice of liquid furrow banding is now rapidly gaining popularity in the Eastern States and some information given to farmers may well be sales driven in regard to product alone with little consideration as to how that product can actually be dispersed. Just be aware!

Product Compatibility

Always check compatibilities of products. For example, some zinc formulations have proven to be incompatible with UAN. WA sources are the most knowledgeable. Call us on (08) 8357 4437 and we'll direct you to the best information source.

Product Dosing

For the first time in the industry extremely low application rates are now possible by utilizing our 'Stacker' Manifold metering systems. If you are contemplating using mechanical, proportional dosing devices to introduce product to the carrier liquid, consider carefully, these devices can cause severe system surging at low carrier rates!

Tank Mixing

To date, tank mixing is the most popular method by which to introduce fungicides and trace elements to the carrier liquid. Efficient mixing can only be achieved in larger tanks by using more intense agitation. We refer to this as 'Level 2' agitation and it is provided by our A-i120 and G-22 systems.