Stihl Launches BT140, Its First Battery-Powered Auger
With battery tools becoming more widespread and more importantly, productive and reliable, it was only time before we saw augers or post-hole borers.
Pöttinger has expanded its range of Aerosem pneumatic seed drills, with the addition of 4 metre and 5 metre folding version units with a front hopper.
Austrian tillage and seed drill manufacturer Pöttinger has expanded its range of Aerosem pneumatic seed drills, with the addition of 4 metre and 5 metre folding versions units with a front hopper.
A key benefit of the layout is said to be convenient operation, making settings such as working depth, coulter pressure and seed rate calibration easy to perform, as there are no access issues, which can be a problem with conventionally mounted seed hoppers.
The front hopper, available in 1700 or 2300 litre capacities, is fitted with an airtight cover. It features a service platform to provide better visibility into the hopper during filling.
The hopper can be configured with a standard single metering unit, or the newly developed dual metering unit. This new, Single Shoot metering system, lets you apply not only seed but also fertiliser into the seed slot in one pass, so offers maximum flexibility during the planting season.
The coulter rail on the Aerosem FDD is mounted on the power harrow using a quick-fit locking system. It can be configured with an optional hydraulic lifting system for the coulter rail to increase ground clearance. The unit uses a short headstock to place the centre of gravity closer to the tractor, while the distributor head – mounted on the coulter rail – features a patented system to ensure it is always kept in a vertical position.
Seed distribution is controlled using the distributor head, which can be provided with individually controllable outlets (IDS) as an option. While using the fully-equipped version, the driver can easily adjust the tramline widths and tyre widths directly at the control terminal to set up a perfect tramline system.
At the same time, Pöttinger has also introduced its new LION 403 C and LION 503 C folding power harrows, with working widths of 4 or 5 metres and suitable for tractors up to 320hp.
The folding frame concept, with the headstock and entire folding frame mounted on the machine, results in a short and compact power harrow that is up to 30cm shorter than many others. This brings the centre of gravity is closer to the rear axle and better weight transfer to the front axle.
Both models fold to a transport width of 2.55 metres. An integrated levelling board, adjust automatically with depth control, retaining its set distance above the soil and distance from the rotor tines. A choice of rollers includes toothed, prism packer and rubber options, with a choice of diameters on the toothed and prism packer.
Farmgate lamb prices are down by 8%, beef cattle by 4.5% and farm expenditure up by 4.2%.
Kiwifruit growers are watchful but remain optimistic as concerns around the potential effects of the El Niño weather pattern this season.
Almond hulls sourced from Australian orchards may have the potential to help New Zealand cows reduce emissions, boost milk yield and lower input costs.
Striking a balance between meeting the needs of industry to speed up approval time for products but on the other hand ensuring that risks are properly assessed.
Surprised, humbled and quite thrilled. That’s the reaction of James Allen, one of the founding partners and now chief executive of AgFirst, on being made a life member of the Institute of Rural Professionals.

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