Sustainable management helps increase productivity

Brazil finds itself facing a new challenge: overcoming the 2021 soybean harvest. It is not a simple task, as we have recorded record productivity for the oilseed, with 135,9 million tons, an increase of 8,9% in relation to 2019/20 harvest, according to data from the National Supply Company (Conab), keeping the country as the largest global producer and exporter of the grain.

Rural producers have been doing brilliant work, combined with existing technologies on the market that favor increased productivity. But to acquire all this expertise and ensure that Brazil continues to be one of the largest soybean producers in the world and that its farmers obtain good profitability, sustainable soil management is a preponderant factor.

Crop rotation has several benefits for agriculture, as has been reported by Embrapa and Brazilian universities in recent decades. Just as an example, soybeans are largely and positively influenced by direct planting with good crop rotation, with productivity increases of more than 30 bags/hectares.

Given the benefits brought by the system, there are also challenges in implementing and managing it over time. The straw layer left on the soil recycles nutrients, reduces thermal amplitude, erosion, compaction and increases the soil's capacity to retain water and nutrients, making it resilient and productive. However, it is challenging to ensure that planting is carried out with quality, which often makes it difficult to adhere to this practice on a large scale.

Understanding this difficulty, Massey Ferguson developed machines, such as the Momentum planter, and technological solutions, such as Farm Solutions, so that farmers in Brazil can carry out good direct planting, maintaining high quality in all operations throughout the cycle.

Designed to have a good straw flow, combined with the Precision Planting technological package and the Smart Frame chassis, the Momentum combines excellent straw cutting and opening of the planting furrow with accuracy in the number, location and depth of seed deposit, even at speed higher. Farm Solutions, with its partnerships, helps the producer to make even more use of the machine, as it offers the agronomic knowledge necessary to manage all stages of cultivation, identifying existing variability, which can be treated with the Momentum planter or even with other technologies from Massey Ferguson, such as the MF 500, MF 700 series planters and the MF 9350 Dry solids distributor.

We are constantly in contact with rural producers, experiencing their daily lives to understand how to develop machines compatible with their demands. Our objective is not just to deliver the machine but to monitor the cultivation and offer information that helps the rural producer to control and use the machine in order to carry out more intelligent and profitable agriculture.

Vinícius Cunha, Agronomy and Farm Solutions Manager at AGCO Latin America