Farms and Farm Machinery Issue 407

Machinery giant Case IH has hinted at new products for 2022, revealing a new sprayer and several additions to its hay and harvest range will be introduced this year. Two further products launched by Case IH in late 2021 – the AFS Connect Optum tractor and Austoft 9000 series sugarcane harvester – will also have their first units arrive on Australian shores early this year. Case IH ANZ general manager Pete McCann hopes the industry will be able to return to some old routines in 2022 after the challenges associated with COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions during the past two years. “We’re hopeful 2022 will mean a return to ‘business as usual’ for Case IH in terms of resuming more face-to-face contact with our dealers and customers, particularly through the likes of field days…

Leading header manufacturer MacDon will develop co-branded combine draper headers for Case IH and New Holland harvesters, available to order Down Under in late 2022. The MacDon draper headers will start arriving in Australia in time for the 2023 harvest season, the companies say. MacDon will continue to use its MacDon brand as it manufactures and distributes its full line of combine draper headers for all major combine brands, and New Holland has confirmed it will continue production of its Varifeed grain headers and CornMaster corn headers. New Holland Australia product segment manager – broadacre Marc Smith says the partnership will offer immediate improvements to customers. “Using New Holland’s technical harvest expertise and customer needs insights as well as MacDon’s ability to craft best-in-class headers with increased flex and speed, we can significantly increase…

Farm machinery dealers expect turnover levels to remain consistent over the next six months, while most expect low inventory levels going forward. The Tractor and Machinery Association surveyed 46 dealers in its Quarterly Dealer Business Sentiment Survey in November last year, with 85 per cent of those surveyed saying their current turnover rates were either good or very good. When it came to predicting the next six months, the TMA said about 50 per cent expected it would remain unchanged. However, “there has been a marked change in sentiment with expectations that turnover will decrease, doubling since the August survey from 16 per cent then to 33 per cent now”. For new tractor sales, “whilst the majority of dealers still believe sales will remain unchanged, there has been a decline in the numbers who…

Lemken has announced upgrades to its VarioPack front-mounted furrow press. The German manufacturer has added what it describes as “hydraulically adjustable steering sensitivity”, which it says is ideal for GPS-controlled tractors or when working on hilly terrain. “This enables precise, reliable pass alignment,” Lemken says. “The true-tracking performance of this furrow press reduces driver strain, as there is no need to counter-steer in difficult conditions.” The changes have been made as more farmers are using front-mounted furrow presses for reconsolidation and for ballasting tractors when working with a raised seed drill combination, Lemken says. A rigid version of the furrow press will be available with working widths between 2.5m and 4m plus a ring diameter of 90cm. The folding version will feature working widths between 4m and 6m and a ring diameter of either 70cm or…

CFMoto will now offer two additional variants to its UForce 600 utility terrain vehicle – a no-frills model and one with an expanded range of options. The models will complement the existing UForce 600 model, which currently retails for $14,490 drive away. The no-frills UForce 600 Base model, which will retail for $12,990 drive away, will boast many of the features of the standard model, including its LCD Screen, ROPS-approved cage and newly designed bench seat. It will also have the standard model’s roof kit, multiple engine modes with electronic engine braking, 960kg of towing and carrying capacity and nearly 100 litres of storage. The 580cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, single overhead cam, single-cylinder engine also continues to operate at full mast: 41hp (31kW) at 6250rpm and 62Nm at 4750rpm. Where it will differ is that…

Two new agricultural drones and two remote sensing drones produced by Chinese manufacturer XAG will debut in Australia in the second half of 2022, the company’s local arm has confirmed. The company says the recent updates to its drone range not only expands XAG’s agriculture product lines, but also builds on previous models in terms of efficiency, precision and safety. XAG Australia sales manager Bryce Dimec confirmed that the newly launched P100 and V40 agricultural drones, along with the M500 and M2000 remote sensing drones, would both arrive around the third and fourth quarters of 2022. Agricultural drones The XAG P100 agricultural drone follows brand new principles from its structural design to task systems, inheriting the classical quadrotor structure with a 40kg effective payload. Unlike previous autonomous drones, which relied on the RTK signal of…