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Steyr concept tractor by CNH Industrial.
With Agritechnica 2019 behind us, Dairy News can report it was a case of high-tech, automation and an eye on the future.
Among the eye-catching exhibits for those into ‘heavy metal’ was the stunning Steyr concept tractor.
Steyr tractors, products of CNH Industrial, are sold, particularly in the northern hemisphere, as the group’s premium offering alongside better-known New Holland and Case IH machines.
The concept tractor has a diesel-electric hybrid drive train -- a 4-cylinder 150kW/204hp FPT engine mated to an electric generator. The generator powers four independent electric wheel motors and a fifth motor that drives the PTO system.
The tractor, said to deliver 250kW at peak, also has a battery system with a capacity of 30kWH or 60kWH.
With an eye on the future, the tractor is also set up to power the electrically driven implements starting to appear in the market, via 48V or 700V connections.
The tractor can also communicate in real time with a drone to gather and process field data.
As part of the driveline, regenerative energy recovery stores power in the battery during braking or when travelling downhill.
Neat design touches include doors that open and steps that swing out electrically, and the driver’s seat swings through 90 degrees to greet the operator as he climbs into the cabin.
Manufactured in Ireland, tested and launched at Agritechnica in Germany, AgriSpread’s new AS3000 bulk spreader takes much of the technology and features of the well-established AS2000 Series but adds a conveyor system to increase spreading widths up to 30m with lime/gypsum, up to 48m with urea and a whopping 52m with mineral and synthetic fertilisers.
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Creating a great deal of enthusiasm at Agritechnica, the T5.120 ‘Il Trattore’ styling concept tractor was celebrating the legacy of research and development, engineering, and design expertise, with the concept bearing a striking green and red colouring and styling inspired by the original first Fiat tractor, the Fiat 702 and the ‘Made in Italy’ logo.
Agritechnica was the launchpad for several “new” tractors, most reworks of existing models, but Deutz Fahr ‘s new 8 Series was the result of a clean sheet, with the manufacturer using multiple superlatives such as a ‘Step into the Future and Age of the Titans’.
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson says his party – NZ First - isn’t opposed to the “trade element” of a free trade deal with India.
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A huge reduction in ACC claims from on-farm accidents over the last five years is due to thousands of small, practical decisions being made in sheds, yards, paddocks and around kitchen tables across the country, says Safer Farms ambassador Lindy Nelson.
Wayne and Ange Moxham of Horowhenua have just been named as Fonterra's top organic performer for milksolids. As well as providing organic milk to Fonterra, the couple also sell Udderly Organic milk to more than 100 outlets in the region and are embarking on another exciting venture producing organic gelato. Reporter Peter Burke went along to see their farming operation.
Certainty and a clear understanding of the needs of rural communities is a critical outcome in the series of government reforms that are taking place at present.
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