Replicated field trials using ultra-shallow tillage techniques in harvested wheat stubble found volunteer cereals and blackgrass increased by 105% and 174%, respectively.
The trial, conducted by Väderstad in south-east Germany on 28 July 2026, compared passes with a Carrier XL disc cultivator equipped with conventional 610 TrueCut discs, with the same machine fitted with CrossCutter Discs.
Plots were cultivated using the same machine but with either two rows of Väderstad 610 TrueCut discs or CrossCutter Disc for ultra-shallow cultivation on two or three axles.
In the first test, the machine was used with the most common equipment, settings and speed: 610mm TrueCut discs set to a shallow working depth of approximately 5cm, providing full-width cutting. The speed was set at 15km/h. Different speeds and numbers of disc rows were then tested, along with CrossCutter Discs, which provide full-width cutting at an ultra-shallow depth of 3cm.
Results
Changing the TrueCut discs to CrossCutter Discs improved the performance and adding a third disc axle improved the results further. The best results were achieved by using CrossCutter Discs on three axles and increasing the speed to 20km/h.
“By operating a standard Carrier XL with two rows of TrueCut discs at 15kmph, it resulted in the emergence of 88 volunteer cereal plants/m² and 96 blackgrass plants/m²,” explains Väderstad UK marketing co-ordinator, Tom Wyles. “Adding a third row of CrossCutter Discs at 20kmph increased the number of volunteer cereal plants to 179/m² and the number of blackgrass plants to 263/m².
“These results means we can now change the standard approach to controlling blackgrass – instead of two rows of discs at 15kmph, we should use three rows of discs at 20kmph,” he concludes.
