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Claas recently rolled out its 300,000th machine.
Patent number 372140 won’t be very important to many, but to one of the world’s largest manufacturers of harvest equipment it was a building block to the future.
The patent for a knotter to bind straw was granted to Claas in 1921, and to this day it remains part of the company logo.
That knotter was used on stationary balers in the early years and became part of the company’s first pick-up baler in 1934. Claas recently its 300,000th machine, a Rollant 454 Uniwrap round baler.
In 1958, Rheinhold, son of founder August Claas, built a factory at Metz, SE France, as the home for Claas forage equipment, particularly balers.
Now 400 employees turn out 5000 balers a year, badged Rollant, Variant and Quadrant. The factory produces 21 different models, sold to 100 countries.
These harvest 25 different crop types: old standards such as wheat, barley and oat straws, cotton in South Africa, peanut haulm for cattle feed in America, flax in Eastern Europe and the likes of miscanthus and reed canary grass in France.
The 300,000th machine will be used for promotional purposes.
Last month's Agritechnica event led to a wide group of manufacturers celebrating successes when the 2026 Tractor of the Year Competition winners, selected by a panel of European journalists, were announced in Hanover Germany.
The recently released Claas Jaguar 1000 Series has seen its flagship 1200 set a new official Guiness World Record in forage harvesting, harvesting 4096 tonnes of whole crop silage in 12 hours, alongside an efficiency record of just 0.49 litres of fuel consumption per tonne of silage harvested.
Innovation awards at international agricultural events are always on the wishlist of manufacturers.
Claas has announced the arrival of its new Jaguar 1000 series forage harvesters, taking power delivery beyond 1100hp, aimed at achieving 20% more throughput, better chop quality, greater efficiency and more operator comfort.
With the biennial Agritechnica Event just a few months away, manufacturers are offering sneak peaks at new innovations, with Claas recently highlighting its new Cerex 700 RC round baler.
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