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The Claas Disco mower in action.
A Claas Disco 1100 RC, billed as the largest tractor-mounted mower-conditioner on the market, has shattered the world record for mowing, knocking over 141ha of lucerne in just eight hours.
Mounted on a Claas Axion 870 tractor (295hp) with a continuously variable transmission, the triple mower-roller conditioner unit achieved an average work rate of 17.6 ha/hour. This was an impressive result given the average yield of 5.24 t/ha DM and the fact the crop was spread across four different fields.
The new record eclipsed the previous benchmark by 40.5ha set in grass – without conditioners and therefore a much easier task.
The record, yet to be verified by Guinness World Records, was set by Tate Mesbergen from Mesbergen Farms, Greely, Colorado, helped by his support team and CLAAS staff.
The start was delayed several hours by 12.7mm of rain that had fallen the previous day; and there were two unplanned stops in the paddock, one when the rig hit a piece of concrete that luckily caused no damage.
The Disco 1100 RC has a conditioner with two V-shaped interlocking polyurethane rollers which compress the hard stems while simultaneously preserving the precious leaves. This helps reduce the wilting time and preserves maximum feed value, because the leaves are preserved. But it increases the mower’s power consumption.
The 1100 incorporates the maker’s Max Cut cutter-bar, which has a wave-shaped mower bed press-formed from a single piece of metal.
The machine is the flagship in a range that includes 28 new front-mounted, rear-mounted and trailed models with operating widths from 2.6m to 10.7m.
Well known for its dominance in the harvesting arena, Claas has channelled its engineering excellence and a deep knowledge of the ag industry with the Fieldays release of the 2025 facelift Claas Arion 600C Evolution and Claas Night Edition Arion 660 tractors.
Silage making is both a science and an art, but Claas says it offers onboard technology featured in its Claas Perfect Partners to help farmers make silage more efficiently and effectively.
Claas has recently celebrated the 250,000th CLAAS mower – a Disco 3200 FC – rolling off the production line in Bad Saulgau, south-west Germany.
Christchurch-headquartered Landpower and its Claas Harvest Centre dealerships has taken out the Global After Sales Excellence award in Germany, during the annual Claas after sales meeting at the end of January.
January to March is the heart of New Zealand’s ‘golden’ harvest, but also the time of the year when Landpower and Claas Harvest Centre welcomes two optimisation specialists from Germany to support Claas combine customers in the cab of their machine.
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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