Farming smarter with technology
The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry professionals from across the country.
New Holland has released details of its T8 Series tractor with Raven Autonomy, dubbed the ‘next step’ in the development of its precision and autonomous technology.
The T8 with Raven Autonomy enables a farmer to monitor and operate the driverless T8 tractor from the cab of the combine harvester in grain carting situations.
The system enables a farmer to set a field plan, stage locations and adjust the tractor’s speeds and monitor location activity. They can also control the tractor pulling a grain cart alongside the combine harvester as it offloads on the go.
The automated synchronization of combine and cart saves grain spilling during offloading. After the grain bin is full, the tractor will return to a predetermined unloading area. The entire operation is completed without a second driver.
The intuitive system helps a farmer manage his or her fleet efficiently by tracking their combine harvesters’ coverage in real-time.
It also monitors tractor and combine performance analytics, fuel status and run time and real-time monitoring of all their machines’ locations. All the data is backed up and stored on a cloud-based platform.
The new T8 with Raven Autonomy integrates OMNiDRIVE, the first driverless agriculture technology for grain carting harvest operations. This was originated as an aftermarket solution and developed by Raven in 2019.
Given that the state of regulations on autonomy today is diverse around the globe, the manufacturer suggests that it cannot predict how regulations are going to evolve.
So, it is preparing for different scenarios – an approach that will allow it to be proactive as regulations allow for market introduction.
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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