AGCO and SDF join hands
Tractor and machinery manufacturer AGCO has signed a supply agreement with the European-based SDF Group, best known for its SAME, Deutz Fahr and Lamborghini tractor brands.
Tractor designs have come a long way: compare today's machines with the favourites of yesteryear like the MF 135 or the Ford 4000.
Nowadays these workhorses of the land have more exterior curves than Marilyn Monroe, and interior finishes that would make automobile makers cry.
One such 'modern' tractor, the Valtra T234 from AGCO, recently won a prestigious Red Dot Design Award for 2016, competing against 5200 entries from 57 countries judged by 41 independent design professionals from around the world.
The Valtra T4 series, resulting from seven years R&D, is the first of a new generation in which technical innovations and a whole new look are brought together.
The clean exterior lines look good, and underlying design work has focused on usability, ergonomics, safety, durability, serviceability and, ultimately, the productivity of the machine.
Incidentally, fourth-generation Valtra have also won international awards including Machine of The Year 2015.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).
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