Helmut Claas celebrates 90th birthday

Helmut Claas, for many years the managing partner of the CLAAS Group and chair of the Shareholders’ Committee has celebrated his 90th birthday. Source: AFDJ eNews He built the company, founded by his father and uncles, into one of the world’s leading agricultural machinery enterprises. Helmut Claas was born in 1926 in Harsewinkel, Germany, the […]

Agtract on track for app launch

Taranaki, New Zealand, rural job management software Agtract has closed a funding round with high-growth investor Punakaiki Fund. Source: AFDJ eNews The Agtract software drastically reduces the time it takes for rural contractors to do management tasks and create invoices, saving them up to a week’s work each month. The cloud-based software is integrated to […]

HARDI collaboration

A clever French collaboration that is expected to reap substantial results in future for HARDI Australia. Source: The Adelaide Advertiser HARDI is a crop spraying machinery manufacturer, based on a 10ha site at Cavan, and produces hundreds of specialised products annually with close to 25% of the national market. Chief executive Bill Franklin said a new sprayer, the […]

Deere a big exporter of Indian tractors

John Deere India has emerged as one of the largest tractor exporters from India. Source: The Financial Express The company, a subsidiary of Deere & Company, exported 24,000 tractors made in India during the last fiscal year. The company exports to 110 countries. Deere & Company is sourcing the lower HP tractors from India to address the demand for […]

UK tractor sales drop

The Agricultural Engineers Association in the UK has released its half year tractor statistics, which continue to show a drop in sales but a gradual increase in average power. Source: Farmers Weekly UK The first six months of 2016 saw 5382 agricultural tractors over 50hp registered for road use, which worked out as a 9.8% decrease compared with the 5970 […]

Methane tractor tests positive

Back from the positive field tests in Italy, Spain and in the United Kingdom, the innovative 100% methane powered New Holland prototype T6.180 tractor has been tested at the La Bellotta farm located near Turin by German customers as well as by the young farmers recently awarded in Brussels. Source: Stackyard The T6 Methane Power Tractor Prototype is New Holland’s second generation T6.180 Methane Power tractor, […]

Fastrac on track for 25 years

JCB is celebrating 25 years production of the Fastrac – a range of agricultural tractors that remain unique and continue to offer farmers and contractors a combination of features and performance advantages resulting in high levels of productivity and utilisation.  Source: AFDJ eNews It was JCB chairman Anthony Bamford who struck on the idea of manufacturing […]

Robots herd cattle and pick broccoli

Humans have been farming for thousands of years since the first crops were planted and animals began being domesticated during the Mesolithic era. But technology could soon be squeezing us out of our traditional roles as farmers, as robots take to the fields. Source: Daily Mail UK A robot that is capable of herding cattle and pulling trailers through […]

Russia in a rush for more tractors

In an attempt to shift the economy from raw materials, Russia is putting effort into the agriculture sector. Source: RT From January to June, the country produced 35% more tractors and harvesters than in 2015. “The growth of the industrial production of agricultural machinery could be estimated at double-digit figures. The increase in production of combine harvesters in the first half exceeded 35% year […]

NZ dairy downturn slows tractor sales

The dairy downturn may be dissuading some South Canterbury farmers from buying new tractors. Source: Stuff NZ Paul Wilkins, of Paul Wilkins Tractors, said he had sold only one tractor to a dairy farmer this year – the rest had gone to cattle and grain farmers, or contractors. Importers had even tried to slow the […]