Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 383 i Farms and Farm Machinery

To be marketed under the new Atrac brand, the range comprises the M4, based on the Goldacres G4 self-propelled sprayer, and the M8, based on the G8 sprayer. With the M4 able to handle a 6.5 tonne load and the M8 having a 10 tonne carrying capacity, Goldacres sales and marketing operations manager Stephen Richards says both tractors will be able to carry a wide range of accessories. “We essentially made it for the spreader market, though we think there are other markets it will get into – the sky is the limit!” The M4 offers a high clearance of 1,400mm and an optional four wheel drive that can be disengaged at the flick of a switch, and a rear axle differential with an internal lock feature if the going…

A new large square baler and disc cultivator were among a series of highlights for dealers at Kuhn’s second ever Australian Demonstration Day, held outside Naracoorte, South Australia. Over 400 dealers and contractors attended the Kuhn Farm Machinery Expo, exceeding the attendance at the company’s 2017 event, travelling to see over 30 of Kuhn’s cutting-edge hay, silage, tillage, spraying, spreading and feed mixing machines. Speaking at the event, Kuhn Australia managing director Bruno Fetiveau said the expo gave customers and dealers a chance to learn from the company’s technical product specialists, and to see the machines work in real world conditions. “Kuhn remains committed to delivering exclusive knowledge, information and insight about how our products can make a real difference to our customers farming operation,” he said. While there were…

The first of three models in Kubota’s new M6002 tractor series were released recently at FIMA 2020, the International Fair of Agricultural Machinery in Zaragoza, Spain. The M6122, M6132 and M6142 are designed with a focus on sustainability and the needs of modern farmers in livestock and mixed farming, Kubota says. A spokeswoman for Kubota Australia says the models are a successor to Kubota’s MGX series of tractors, a mid-range option sitting below Kubota’s larger M7 Series range. “Australia is maintaining the MGX series and currently do not have plans in the foreseeable future to introduce the M6002 series,” she says. Kubota Holdings Europe vice president of tractor sales German Martínez says the range helps customers looking for “power, efficiency, low cost of operation, manoeuvrability, ease of use and comfort”.…

Both the Varitron 470 model with wheel chassis and the Varitron 470 Platinum Terra Trac version will be equipped with various new innovations. First up, both versions have more power, with a six-cylinder Mercedes Benz diesel engine with 10.7 litre cubic capacity and 460 horsepower (343kW), instead of the previous 435hp (324kW), and including exhaust emission stage V. A new premium comfort cab has been developed to offer a better operating environment for the driver, with optimised noise insulation now optionally available. Two assistance systems based on Grimme Speedtronic ensure that the harvester can always be driven in the optimum range between performance and crop protection. Speedtronic-Web increases throughput by an automatic adjustment of the main web speed in relation to working speed and thus improves crop protection. To avoid…

Gary Northover is executive director of the Tractor & Machinery Association of Australia (TMA). He can be contacted on (03) 9813 8011 or at gary@tma.asn.au Tractor sales in February just failed to meet last year’s level, falling short by 2 per cent compared to last February – with 2020’s year to date tractor sales now sitting 8.5 per cent below where they were this time in 2019. While there was some (very welcome) widespread rainfall throughout February, it will take some time to translate to improved sales; and judging by the level of optimism being seen in the market, an overall improvement is hoped for. The story in February was a little more positive due mainly to the lift in sales in Victoria, which was up 13 per cent on…

The Sports Turf Association (STA) event will take place on Thursday, May 14, 2020 and is free for local government staff. Sessions start at 9.00am on the conference level at Panthers Penrith, 123 Mulgoa Road, Penrith, New South Wales. Coffee and lunch will be provided free of charge. Representatives of all local government areas within Australia have been invited to attend the sessions, which will be conducted concurrently in two rooms. A broad range of topics of interest to local government will be presented across areas of turf management, equipment and technology. Presentations will cover areas of interest such as: sports field construction and renovation, a world first sports field monitoring system, avoiding chemical resistance, use of pigments in sports turf management, integrated sustainable weed management, treads for avoiding damage…

Changing plant and animal DNA to improve their resilience is becoming increasingly possible as the industry moves to cope with new demands. To find out more about this process, we spoke with Diane Wray-Cahen, senior science advisor for agricultural biotechnologies at the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. In her role, Wray-Cahen looks at scientific and regulatory changes associated with new agricultural biotechnologies and how they affect US innovation, trade and policy. What do you feel are the real benefits of gene editing? While genome editing is certainly not a silver bullet for solving all agricultural challenges, in my opinion, it is the most promising and innovative technology for agricultural breeding that I have seen during the last 30 years. It has the potential to reshape how we…

New in Australia, Antonio Carraro’s new supercompact TRX 5800 tractor brings high-end options from orchards and vineyards to small farms across the country. Equipped with a 50 horsepower (37kW) engine and a mechanical transmission with 16 forward and 16 reverse gears, the tractor is agile in confined spaces, thanks to a short wheelbase and a very tight turning radius. The TRX 5800 also features a reversible pneumatic driving seat to help the operator get around difficult spots, a factor which company sales and marketing manager Marco Corra says fills a gap in the company’s product range. “We are expecting it to be our workhorse in terms of sales in the year ahead,” he says. The tractor has a 2,200kg lifting capacity, with more robust lifting bars available for heavier loads…

As the import arm of Greg Allan Farm Machinery, Colac Ag has continued to expand its range, and the latest company to join its lineup is Finnish manufacturer Elho, chosen for its hay rakes and rock pickers. The largest hay rake in the Elho line-up is the V-Twin 950 Super Rake – designed to be heavy duty in every way. Colac Ag sales and operations director Jon Allan says tests done by MTT Agricultural Research Ruuki Testing in Finland show the twin basket rakes cause 40 per cent less contamination than a rotary rake. A lot of crop can be collected with its working width from 4.5 to 9.5 metres – a width that can be controlled from the cab. The machine also has hydraulic flotation to ensure the raking…

To find out more about how the new Kuhn VBP 3165 performed, we headed to King Country, just out of Taumauranui in New Zealand, to see the baler unit on the job. Before the baling season got underway, Harrison Contracting decided that its old Lely baler was due for replacement, and although the wrapper was still going strong, the efficiency offered by a combi machine looked like the logical next step for the business. So far the new Kuhn baler is proving to be a winner: pumping out solid, quality bales for clients around King Country and Waikato. TEST Having owned a McHale baler in the past and also having tried out another brand that “didn’t cut the mustard”, Porky Harrison did his research before purchasing the Kuhn for his…

Rovic Australia has launched a new range of 10 trailed spreaders with new features it says could represent a 30 per cent saving in fertiliser use. The company formerly produced spreaders under the Connor-Shea and later Grasslands brands in the 1990s, but is making a return to Australian agriculture with the new models. The four largest models in Rovic’s GSR spreader range, able to carry between 12.5 tonnes and 20 tonnes of fertiliser, come equipped with Rovic’s Twin Chain Technology, which Rovic’s director of Australian operations Peter Piddington says works with GPS positioning to give the farmer full control over the machine. “The majority of trailed spreaders on the market have a large wide belt, or a large wide chain, whereas we have a split chain, so a chain on…

A linkage machine that can turn straw, hay or Lucerne into pellets in the field has been launched in Australia after being available in Europe for many years, and fodder experts say it could be a gamechanger. The Krone Premos 5000 collects cut fodder with less than 16 per cent moisture, gathering the crop with a 2.35m Camless pick-up before feeding it through an 800mm rotor to a feed conveyor. From there, the fodder is conveyed through the rotor to a feed conveyor and then through two matrix rollers. The rollers compress the material and force it through 16mm diameter holes together with water or vegetable oil, producing pellets of between 15mm and 40mm in length. The finished pellets are then loaded into a five-tonne bin, where they are cooled…

Powered by a three-cylinder 24.8hp (18.5kW) diesel Kubota engine, the Landboss 1100D Kubota is built with the Australian market in mind. “Now available in right-hand drive, plus the addition of downhill descent control, the Landboss 1100D Kubota ticks even more boxes for Aussie farmers,” Landboss Australia director Michael Poynton says. Featuring a brand-new orange colour scheme, Kubota’s 1100D off-road features include selectable 2WD/4WD, electronic power steering, high and low range, downhill descent control, push-button front and rear differential locks and turf mode. The standard features on the 1100D Kubota are impressive. You get both front and rear tow hitches as standard (with an 800kg tow capacity), a ‘genuine’ roof kit, a 4,500lb (2,041kg) electric winch, full lighting package, horn and mirrors, which Kubota says is the most optioned model in…

Concerns about competition and fair trading rules have led the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to open up an online survey for farmers to share their experiences. Because much agricultural equipment is not used for “domestic or personal” purposes, and costs more than $40,000, it is often not covered by Australian consumer laws, the ACCC says. Instead, a purchaser must rely on the manufacturer’s warranty or paying for the repairs themselves through third parties – but these can be limited or even place restrictions on purchasers’ access to independent repairers. “Manufacturers have significant discretion as to what warranty protections are offered and how they apply, and we’re concerned that farmers may not be aware of these limitations,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh says. “A number of barriers, including warranty…

Northern Australia Food Futures Conference, Darwin The Northern Australia Food Futures Conference is Australia’s leading conference on agricultural development in the North. Held in Darwin, Northern Territory, the program features over 50 national and international speakers, workshops, farm visits and technical sessions on cotton, grains, horticulture, fodder, forestry and niche crops. WHEN: April 27-30, 2020 MORE INFO: www.foodfuturesntfarmers.org.au Tocal Field Days, Tocal Highly regarded for its educational aspects, Tocal Field Days provides an opportunity each year for landholders and the community to see first-hand a range of livestock and animal handling and husbandry skills. The site also features a large land management area that provides great information on caring for our environment, looking after our native animals and managing feral pests that threaten our landscape. WHEN: May 1-3, 2020 MORE…

The robots being developed by Queensland-based SwarmFarm Robotics aren’t coming to take the jobs of apple and pear growers or agronomists any time soon, Angus Hogan, the company’s horticulture project lead, says. “It is actually about supplementing the information they already have… and then they can make better management decisions,” he says. Currently, orchard upkeep relies strongly on pruning and spraying – first limiting the number of bud clusters, before a chemical and mechanical thinning process begins when the trees flower. By managing crop load earlier there are significant benefits to regulating natural flower load fluctuation in sequential years, a negative pattern called biennial bearing, and there are improvements to fruit quality due to reducing nutrients wasted on excess fruit that will ultimately be hand thinned. This challenge has led…

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, America’s General Motors is closing down Holden in Australia. That means no more Colorado ute, currently Holden’s best-selling model. In what is a very strong ute market, where the Colorado is the fourth best-selling ute, its demise will no doubt help others. Mercedes-Benz has also announced that it’s withdrawing its X-Class ute, but the small number of sales involved here isn’t going to have a wider effect on the market. The two best-selling new ‘cars’ in Australia are actually both utes, namely Toyota’s Hilux and Ford’s Ranger, and while they fight it out for top spot, Mitsubishi’s Triton sits in at third spot off the back of sharp pricing. The only way to buy a less-expensive ute than the Triton is to buy Korean,…

An agricultural machinery manufacturer and wholesaler, Farm Implements is a second-generation Australian-owned and operated business. With its headquarters in Pakenham, Victoria, the company has a national dealer network that covers all of Australia. Being a tractor implement specialist, Farm Implements offers a wide range of agricultural equipment including slashers and rotary cutters, flail mulchers, rotary hoes, power harrows, fertiliser spreaders, grader blades, cultivators and harrows, post-hole diggers, bale spikes, rakes and mixers. The business offers products from some of the world’s leading and trusted brands including Kanga, Cosmo and Cosmo Bully. “We offer some of the best products in the market today for our customers. Our focus is on all things that are suited to the three-point linkage of a tractor,” Farm Implements general manager Tim Alcott says. KANGA The…

In an industry filled with brand loyalty, many Asian countries have gallantly tried but ultimately failed to break the global tractor market. Except one – Kubota. Kubota has long been the pin-up you could say for the Asian tractor market. Thanks to Jack Russell-like tenacity, Kubota has successfully become a thorn in the side of both the Europeans and the Americans. This has a lot to do with its ever-improving high horsepower range. Building on long-running success in its small equipment options, the latest M7-2 range of tractors is starting to make some serious inroads here in Australia and New Zealand. SWEET (ORANGE) TRACTOR This issue’s Kubota M7-2 test took us to the glorious Sunshine Coast in Queensland. It was a strawberry farm that was ironically filled with oranges (tractors).…

John Deere will make automated steering posible for a range of older equipment with the release of its new AutoTrac Controller 300 after-market guidance system. John Deere precision ag marketing manager John Mishler says the AutoTrac system can help reduce skips and overlaps in spreading, seeding and spraying. “Now almost any producer can add guidance to their machines without having to trade vehicles, or more easily add it to non-Deere or smaller tractors to reap the productivity, accuracy and efficiency benefits precision guidance provides,” he says. “More importantly, customers can customise automated steering to the level of precision they choose based on their specific requirements, resulting in a package that best fits their operation without having to learn multiple user interfaces.” The AutoTrac Controller 300 system is customisable to different…

Hay bales have been a hot commodity in Australia over the past year, with the prices getting higher and the bales getting bigger over the course of 2019. But transporting hay from the bale to the mouths of hungry livestock, on everything from feedlots to family farms, is not always an easy process – and more and more farmers are turning to hay grinders to make fodder more appealing to cattle. Valton Feeding Solutions sales and service manager Leigh Byron says with the change in approach, the need for hay grinders is rising, and the higher the capacity the better. For that reason, Byron and the team at Valton have taken on the distribution of the Mighty Giant model 2015 – a power take-off (PTO)-driven tub grinder, which its…

With a redesigned front-mounted hopper and a wider choice of rollers, Amazone’s new Avant 02 6002-2 seed drill system offers customers a variety of new options. The new FTender hopper features a 2.2m by 1.1m opening for easy filling, and is available with capacities of either 1,600L or 2,200L. Claas Harvest Centre head of product for Australia Paul Birbeck says the hopper uses its electric metering unit to transfer seed or fertiliser to the seed drill’s segmented distribution head via dual pipes. “The steep walls ensure optimal flow of seed or fertiliser, while the emptying device rapidly and completely empties any residual seed or fertiliser,” Birbeck says. “Alternatively the electric metering system can be set to ‘empty’, whereby any remaining seed or fertiliser is cleared via the metering system.” From…

For the fourth year in a row, O’Connors has taken out the Dealer of the Year award (three branches or more) at Case IH’s annual dealer conference in Hobart. Fellow Case IH dealer TTMI also made the winners’ list, taking home the award for one or two branches (Trafalgar in Victoria and Longford in Tasmania), its first Dealer of the Year award, along with Dealer of the Year – Parts and Dealer of the Year – Most Improved. Case IH ANZ general manager Pete McCann praised the two winners’ level of commitment and results. “To win this title four years in a row says a great deal about this business and the team they’ve assembled across all their dealership locations,” McCann says. “To win this award a dealership has to…

Now in its 58th year, the 2020 Wimmera Machinery Field Days brought farmers from all across Victoria and South Australia together to see some of the newest agricultural equipment and machinery to hit the local market. This year’s event also saw its first ever evening Ag Machinery and Equipment auction take place, with more than 75 per cent of items cleared and all vendors happy. The WMFD Committee recognised Melbourne-based start-up outfit Alterratech and its Yass optical sprayer technology with the 2020 Ag Business Innovation of the Year award. The Yass sprayer combines the latest in artificial intelligence processor technology and compact sensing to build an optical sprayer that get smarter over time – with the potential for upgrades to detect plant diseases and conduct crop health analysis and weed…

As the managing director and chief executive officer as one of Australia’s largest agribusinesses, Mark Allison has attended a lot of conferences and seen a number of new ideas come and go. And, as he told the 1,400-strong audience at the second annual EvokeAg conference in Melbourne last month, today farmers are expected to produce more food in more difficult conditions and, in many cases, without the additional profits one might hope for, due to rising production costs. So what really matters, he says, is how any future advances will help make farming more productive, more profitable and more sustainable. “What farmers need right now are technological and digital developments that will contribute to the bottom line and the sustainability of their farming operations in the broader agricultural, rural and…

It was an extremely competitive field for the 2019 Tranzmile Truck of the Year award and while it really could have gone to any of the 12 entrants, it was the Yates family with their T909 Kenworth that secured the votes from Owner//Driver readers. The ‘Kyecon’ Kenworth was December’s Truck of the Month so it still fresh in everyone’s mind. The beautiful black T909 belongs to Peter and Sheridan ‘Shez’ Yates. Together they run Yatcon, a civil construction company in Kiama, NSW. However, tragedy had struck the Yates family in June last year when their 10-year-old son Kye was killed in an ATV accident on the family farm. It was a devastating accident that no family should ever have to endure. Kye was described as “an old man in a…

Australian manufacturer Tow ‘n’ Mow Slashers has introduced a new mid-range model to tackle tough mowing situations. The 18 horsepower (13kW) TNM-18K electric-start mower is designed to attach to any ute, all-terrain vehicle, utility terrain vehicle, quad bike or similar. Powered by a Kawasaki FR600V engine, the mower can slash through one acre of grass in only 40 minutes, Tow ‘n’ Mow says, making it suitable for dense grass and weeds on vineyards, orchard and small acreage properties. The mowers are designed with a robust 5mm powdercoated steel deck, an 11-litre steel fuel tank, machined billet steel and zinc plated components and a spark arrestor and heat shield for added fire safety fitted as standard. The TNM-18K slasher is also available with an upgraded canister air filter kit to blow…

The four-cylinder Valtra N series has long been a core offering for the brand. With six models from 105 horsepower (78kW) up to 165hp (123kW), or 200hp (149kW) with boost, this makes it one of the largest four-cylinders on the market. We had the opportunity to spend some time on a new N134 Versu TwinTrac owned by the Carter family who run a beef farm in Coromandel, New Zealand. Currently undertaking a lot of development work on the property, the new Valtra has already clocked up a decent number of hours on a wide range of tasks. On the day we caught up with it, Logan Carter was clearing land with a grapple on the loader and a Berti mulcher on the rear. Being a Twin Trac reverse steer model,…