Kuhn bags tech award
French company KUHN has won a EIMA Technical Innovation Award for its Baler Automation Technology.
Machinery giant Kuhn has developed a new power tiller (rotary hoe) -- the EL402 R – with a working width of 6m and a transmission driveline for tractors up to 400hp.
Said to be ideal for fine and regular tilth seedbed preparation, the machine uses a 550mm diameter rotor and 144 carbide coated blades to mix and turn large volumes of crop residues at high daily outputs.
Moving between jobs is easy with a transport width of only 3.0m and the inclusion of a transport support wheel assembly.
In outdoor market gardening, plot flood-irrigation is common, requiring paddocks that are perfectly flat and level. So the design of the EL402R includes rollers wider than the cultivation width to achieve a clean finish at the machine sides that eliminates ridges and creates a level finish between passes.
Likewise, at the centre of the machine there is an offset between the link of the two rotors and the two rollers, resulting in a flat, level finish after the machine’s passage.
Component reliability is seen in the machine’s cast iron gearboxes with built-in oil circulation, reinforced drive shafts, cut-out clutches, metal face seals and reinforced rotors.
The power tiller is also equipped with a monitoring unit installed in the cab, to inform the driver if a torque limiter or oil temperature device is activated in one of the machine’s three gearboxes.
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).