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Different Types of Farm Equipment and Their Uses in the Field

Modern farmers have access to a wide range of farming equipment and technologies that have made farming more convenient and cost-effective. Let’s take a look at some basic and important farm equipment and learn about how they are used on the farm.

Updated on: 11 February, 2023 12:09 PM IST By: Aarushi Chadha
Sprayer

Farm equipment is a term used to describe machines and tools that are used by farmers to perform various agricultural practices more easily and with less labour. Farming activities that took the entire workforce days to complete were performed in a matter of hours by farming equipment.

Now, let’s take a look at some farm equipment and its uses.

Tractor- A tractor is a multi-purpose farm equipment that helps farmers achieve many goals. For instance, it is used to pull other farm equipment, it is used to harvest grains, prepare the field for sowing, and even carry and deliver the end product. Multiple different varieties of farming tractors are specially designed to accomplish one task.

Harrow- A harrow is a large piece of farming equipment that is usually attached to tractors and is used to break the earth into small pieces to prepare the field for sowing.

Combine or harvester- Combine, harvester, or combine harvesters is farm equipment specially designed to harvest a variety of grain croppers. A harvester is also known as a combine because it combines for separate harvesting operations, namely reaping, winnowing, threshing, and gathering. The modern-day combines and combine attachments even come with the ability to track yield data.

Plough- A plow is a tillage equipment that can be attached to a tractor to till the land efficiently. This machinery allows farmers to turn the soil into a nutrient-rich seedbed for better plant growth.

Sprayer- A sprayer is farm equipment that is used to spray insecticides, pesticides, and fertilizers on the crop. There are two major types of sprayers: agricultural aircraft sprayers and blowers sprayers. Sometimes farmers use this farm equipment to spray water and maintain humidity levels.

Rakes- A rake is an agricultural and horticultural tool that consists of toother bar fixed to a handle that is used to collect leaves, hay, and grass. It is an essential farm equipment used for making hay.

Leveler- Leveler is another tractor attachment that is used to make the surface of the sand more leveled and smoother to create a more environment for crops. It also helps reduce the consumption of fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, and fuels by doing so.

Fertilizer spreaders- As the name suggests, a fertilizer spreader is farm equipment used to spread fertilizer. There are multiple different types of fertilizer spreaders. These are-

Broadcast spreader- Broadcast spreader is a common fertilizer spreader used to disperse fertilizer using gravity.

Manure spreader-Manure spreader uses a harrow to spread solid manure from the livestock and spread it across the field evenly.

Slurry spreader- A slurry spreader spreads liquid manure across the field.

Seeders and planters- Seeders and planters are farm equipment that is used for sowing seeds and planting crops. Depending upon the area that needs to be covered, there are manual hand-held seeders and large tractor-pulled seeders that are used on large-scale farms. There are multiple types of seeders-

Box drill seeders- Box drill seeders are far equipment that drills into the soil and drops seeds at a specific depth.

Air seeders- Air seeders use compressed air to shoot seeds into the ground. However, they can only be used on a small scale.

Planters- Planters tend to be the most expensive type of seeders because they sow seeds by cutting into the ground and dropping individual seeds closing the ground behind them as they move along.

Irrigation equipment- Irrigation equipment refer to the variety of irrigation tools used by the farmer to irrigate their farm. For instance, a fire sprinkler system, drip irrigation, or center irrigation.

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