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Team members Henry Williams, left, Andrew Stewart and Tim Wilson with the fodder beet that has been used for machinery demonstrations in previous years, but has been dropped for 2021.
The machinery demonstrations are a major part of the biennial South Island Agricultural Field Days.
They are also a family tag-team affair for brothers Andrew and Nathan Stewart.
Andrew, who runs a family dairy farm at Waikuku, and Nathan, who has a contracting business, have been on the organising committee for SIAFD since 2013, Andrew has been running the machinery demonstrations since the 2017 event.
This year, Nathan will step up to help manage the demonstrations over the three days, while Andrew has been busy preparing for the event.
Andrew told Rural News he is pleased with the interest in demonstrations with about 17 different companies expected to take part and around 50 demonstrations happening daily.
Because of Covid, it had been a “bit of a struggle” for some machinery suppliers to get new machines into the country, but people were working hard to put on a good show, he says.
“We’ve got Norwood, who started back demoing last year – after a lengthy break. They’ve really decided they’re going to up the ante and bring a bit more gear.”
Andrew says a big change for this year is the crops planted for the demonstrations – a decision made after having “a bit of a yarn” with the 2019 exhibitors around what they wanted for this year.
“We decided that we weren’t going to put in the fodder beet or the maize, just because it was time for a bit of a change,” he explains.
With the uncertainties around Covid they didn’t want anything too unconventional but chose crops that should be pretty ‘user-friendly’ for everyone, he adds.
“There’s lucerne, grass, oats and barley stubble ... it can all be reasonably easily utilised and grown.”
Andrew says the crops chosen give exhibitors a chance to show off a wide range of machines from ploughs, grubbers, speed discs, rollers and drills through to mowers, rakes and balers.
Ashburton-based New Zealand Tractors are expected to show an intercrop cultivator for vegetable crops, which weeds between rows and is designed to replace hand weeding.
Andrew says they have transplanted broccoli on the site especially for the demonstration.
“They’ve seen a big market for that in New Zealand,” he says.
Also on site are some trial strips to show the results of various fertiliser regimes, while a helicopter is lined up to conduct some spraying demonstrations.
“We are always trying to do a little bit of something different.”
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With the biannual Italian EIMA machinery Expo less than a month away, Case IH has taken out a Technical Evolution award for the Advanced Vehicle Suspension system available on its Optum 360–440 series tractors.
The Advanced Vehicle Suspension system, available on Optum 360, 390, and 440 models, responds to changing conditions, automatically adjusting how the suspension reacts to absorbs shocks and controlling vehicle movement.
In operation, sensors monitor the vibrations transmitted from the tractor chassis to the operator cabin, allowing the system to adjust suspension damping in real time. The control system incorporates key priorities, such as comfort at lower speeds and stability as speed increases, while also reacting to factors such as lower tyre pressures, where the tyres absorb more of the initial shock.
Case IH said as suspension requirements change throughout the working day, as tractors move between the paddock and road transport, the system manages suspension response in the background as tasks, speeds and conditions change, leaving the operator without the need to make manual adjustments.
Richard Hollins, Optum series tractors global product manager, said: “Pioneering technology must earn its place in the working day. Farmers and contractors will judge an investment by what it delivers, including manageable ownership costs, dependable up-time and the versatility to tackle different jobs. With AVS, we are putting intelligent control to work for comfort and stability, without giving the operator another setting to manage.”
Organised by FederUnacoma, the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation, the contest has been part of EIMA since 1986, with the Technical Evolution distinction awarded to products that introduce original improvements to solutions already manufactured or patented.
www.caseih.com
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