Forty five years on from its establishment OPICO maintains its policy of innovation but has expanded from a purely niche market supplier to a significant player in a number of mainstream sectors

OPICO has newly appointed Neil Robinson as northern territory manager and grassland product manager. 

A recent conference held by OPICO took an in depth look at an oilseed rape establishment system which is gaining in popularity with UK growers.

When grazing rights on an estate near St Albans, Hertfordshire, went out to competitive tender just under two years ago, it was for a block of land in need of attention.

OPICO will hold the first working demonstrations of three new pieces of grassland maintenance equipment at Grassland and Muck 2011: The HE-VA Grass Roller, a front-mounted slitter and a hydraulic folding slitter.

Mike Simpson overseeds up to 160ha (400 acres) of pasture land each year for his customers.

Using a subsoiler and seeder unit to establish oilseed rape is a system increasingly used by growers.

Rejuvenating tired. low-performing pastures by topping them up with fresh, productive grass species is a key way to boost yields, but you have to do it right.

Further extending its range of grassland maintenance machines, OPICO has launched two new wider Sward Slitters - with 5m and 6m working widths – which will speed up work rates.

Improved OSR Yields, Reduced Fertiliser Costs, Ensured Establishment - These are three key elements which are very worthwhile looking at with Rape prices around £400 a ton.

For a joint venture farming group NDR Arable,  the quest to reduce its fertiliser bill has resulted in some out-of-the-box thinking. One of the adopted approaches has been to use a liquid fertiliser applicator when establishing oilseed rape with a subsoiler.

After significantly improving grass growth by easing soil compaction in 2010, Cumbrian producer Jim Maudsley intends to aerate more fields across his 142-hectare all grassland farm this spring.

Sales team expands with new territory manager for the south west

OPICO has appointed Jon Tyrrell as Operations Manager ahead of the imminent retirement of Jim Leeson who has worked for the company for the past 36 years.

Maize is a deep rooting plant and so it is essential to remove any soil compaction in the ground to prevent stunted plants from depressing crop yields.

OPICO has updated its range of grassland kit with the introduction of a front-mounted sward slitter model. The machine’s design features a bridge linkage, meaning it is effectively pulled from the front. This will allow the slitter to follow the tractor as its wheels turn, says Opico.

OPICO will be displaying the new recirculating batch dryer - the Magna 3810 - at LAMMA this week. The 3810 and the even larger Magna 4610 are believed to be capable of higher throughput than any other grain dryer of this type on the market, thanks to their extra large drying zones.