Lely order book 'slightly better'
Dairy automation company Lely reported a 3.4% decline in total turnover last year but notes that sales are picking up.
Renowned as market leaders in the self-propelled forage harvester sector, Claas has used its experience of chopping a wide range of crops on farms worldwide to improve the heart of the machine – the chopping cylinder.
The new cylinder, known as V-Flex, claims to mark a new milestone in chopping cylinder technology.
Initially available on 900 and 900 Terra Trac Series machines as an alternative option to the V-Classic and V-Max cylinders, it is said to offer greater versatility when it comes to knife configuration. In combination with the new knives that it comes equipped with, Claas maintains that it has set new standards for smooth running and knife service life and enhanced chopping quality.
The new design enables higher throughputs, reduces noise levels and ensures smoother running with more consistent crop flow, especially for chop lengths over 12mm. The V-FLEX chopping cylinder is available in four versions, using 20, 24, 28 or 36 knives and can be configured as a full set of knives, half or one third the number of knives, to extend the length of cut, from 3.5 to 53mm.
High knife stability and the triple bolt fastening offers high knife stability, while also allowing the clearance between the cylinder and the shear bar to be reduced to achieve better chopping quality.
Meanwhile, Claas has also reconfigured the knife sharpening operation to make it more user-friendly with the control options for sharpening and shear bar adjustment, able be combined, with the cycle reduced to around one minute. The improvements are said to deliver greater efficiency with further reductions in fuel consumption per tonne of throughput.
This International Women's Day, there are calls to address a reported gender disparity gap between men women New Zealand's horticulture industry leadership.
WorkSafe New Zealand is calling on farmers to consider how vehicles move inside their barns and sheds, following a sentencing for a death at one of South Canterbury’s biggest agribusinesses.
Now is not the time to stop incorporating plantain into dairy pasture systems to reduce nitrogen (N) loss, says Agricom Australasia brand manager Mark Brown.
Building on the success of last year's events, the opportunity to attend People Expos is back for 2025, offering farmers the chance to be inspired and gain more tips and insights for their toolkits to support their people on farm.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients fertiliser SustaiN – which contains a urease inhibitor that reduces the amount of ammonia released to the air – has now been registered by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). It is the first fertiliser in New Zealand to achieve this status.
Precision application of nitrogen can improve yields, but the costs of testing currently outweigh improved returns, according to new research from Plant and Food Research, MPI and Ravensdown.
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