In marked contrast to a number of other tractor manufacturers, Fendt will be giving visitors to LAMMA 2019 the opportunity to see much of its range of machines. The new Fendt Ideal combine will make its first appearance at a UK agricultural show, alongside another debutant – the Fendt Rotana Combi Baler/wrapper. In addition, a Fendt Squadra ultra-high density baler will be on the stand and is expected to attract interest from the biomass sector in particular.

Fresh from receiving its ‘Tractor of the Year’ award at the recent EIMA Show in Italy the Fendt Vario 300 series will take its place in the wheeled tractor line-up, alongside the range-topping 1000 Series and the MT900 tracked machine. A Fendt Rogator sprayer will also be there.

  • Hall 9, Stand 9.210.

Machinery – Machinery news

Weed zapper gets a bronze SIMA Innovation award

A novel system which uses electrical current to control weeds is the winner of a bronze medal in the Innovation Awards given by the SIMA organisers in advance of the 2019 show in Paris.

Developed by Swiss firm Zasso Group and part of a suite of new Case IH precision farming technologies, the XPower ‘electroherbicide’ technology converts mechanical energy into electrical energy, passing high-energy electrons, applied through the weed leaves and working down through to the roots.

“Digital herbicide technology is at least as efficient as chemical herbicides in terms of controlling weeds,” says Case IH’s Maxime Rocaboy. “It’s more efficient, economic, practical and crop-safe than mechanical weeding, in addition to which it doesn’t disturb the soil nor encourage further weed growth. It’s also more practical, safer and cheaper than scorching or burning systems used for total weed or haulm control.”

Mounted on a tractor or its implement at a working width of 1.2-3.0m, the weed contact unit creates a high voltage. Guided by a sensor and/or camera-based system, XPower transfers this voltage via one element on contact with the weed leaves which stand proud of the crop or ground, whereupon it travels down to the roots. Another element touching another weed closes the electrical circuit and the weed chlorophyll is damaged immediately, claims Maxime.

“The system is as effective on larger weeds as smaller ones. Provided the system can treat weeds growing above the crop, they will be controlled.”

Units can be adapted for different row crop systems and can be controlled via ISOBUS Class 3 compatible tractors. It can control weeds such as tall grass species in field crops and those with complex root systems such as couch, where soil disturbance can make problems worse, he says. It’s also compatible with organic farming principles, although it can be used with other systems.

  • The SIMA Agricultural Business Show takes place in Paris, 24-28 Feb 2019.

Schmotzer transfers hoeing technology to Amazone

Amazone is acquiring the product range of hoeing technology from Maschinenfabrik Schmotzer. The purchase, that takes place on 1 Jan, 2019, will see a new company Schmotzer Hacktechnik become part of the Amazone Group.

The move by the German agricultural machinery manufacturer follows a similar purchase made earlier this year by Lemken, that acquired the hoeing technology specialist Steketee, based in the Netherlands.

“The hoe is experiencing a renaissance especially in the large farming countries,” comments Amazone director Christian Dreyer, who sees the takeover of the Schmotzer hoeing technology as part of the development of Amazone’s core competence in plant care.

“It rather lived in the shadows beyond organic agriculture but is now being viewed as an important tool in farming today once again. The combination of hoe technology with liquid fertiliser and targeted or even selective application of plant protection in the same working step opens further possibilities.”

Schmotzer has been building hoes for almost 100 years. But the labour and cost-related disadvantages of hoeing restricted its use mainly to organic farming, says Schmotzer managing partner Ferdinand Wahl.

“Thanks to technical advances that have only become practical in recent years, such as the combination of the hoe with camera and steering systems, it’s now possible to achieve a better coverage at a significantly more competitive cost per ha.”

New Holland rolls out new data platform

CNH Industrial has entered into a strategic digital agriculture agreement with Farmers Edge, a Canadian-based agri-tech company. The deal is set to bring to New Holland Agriculture customers a number of data-driven agricultural decision-support systems. This includes access to Farmers Edge’s FarmCommand, a data platform that interfaces with NH’s PLM Connect.

At its entry level, FarmCommand is a cloud-based farm data management platform which provides daily satellite imagery from Planet Labs and analyses data in real time. This is progressively enriched with field-originated weather data – gathered from farm-based weather stations– vehicle data, and agronomic support, and tops out with variable rate prescriptions with either generic or zoned soil-sampling services. Farmers selecting the premium packages will also have access to on-farm, in-person agronomist support, to develop and monitor tailored agronomic plans.

The tie-up also allows NH customers to connect their current and legacy machinery fleets with CAN BUS functionality to the Farmers Edge platform. This, claims the manufacturer, will deliver “tangible gains” in collection, planning and execution of data, offering a better solution than the standard API data-sharing connection.

NH dealers will start to offer the Farmers Edge suite of services, providing customer support, as the platform will also enable sharing of real-time machine information with their local NH dealer.

A phased roll-out of the new service starts in North America in the first quarter of 2019, and will subsequently become available in other regions and countries, including Latin America and Europe and certain markets in the Asia Pacific region.