Kuhn unveils 14.5m mower for high HP harvesters
With most forage harvester manufacturers offering machines touching 1000hp, the logistics puzzle has always been ‘dropping” grass and pulling into a swath big enough to feed the “beast”.
French farm machinery maker Kuhn has won an AE50 Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (Asabe) for its Axis 50.1 H EMC W fertiliser spreader.
Features cited were the machine’s ability to precisely regulate and spread a range of fertilisers.
The 50.1 uses patented technologies such as coaxial distribution adjustment (CDA) and electronic mass control (EMC) for regulating and weighing the product: CDA uses a pivoting hopper and contoured outlets to ensure constant flow and the drop point of the product onto the spreading discs; EMC measures load on the spreader discs, and adjusts their speed individually to remain constant.
The machine can hold 3000-4000L and spread from 18 to 50m width depending on material, and the unique feature of its hydraulically driven spreader discs – maintaining their target speed irrespective of tractor engine revs.
The unit has two weigh cells that display the amount of material spread and the weight of fertiliser remaining in the hopper.
Other features include on-the-move adjustment of application rates, and adjustment of spread patterns catering for borders or irregular field shapes.
The machine is extremely flexible with minimum spread rates as low as 3kg/ha and up to 500kg/minute at speeds of up to 16.5km/h.
Control is via an ISOBUS system that can perform variable rate applications when used with a GPS system. – Mark Daniel
Alliance has announced a series of capital raise roadshow event, starting on 29 September in Tuatapere, Southland.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced a new equity partnership in an effort to support pathways to farm ownership for livestock farm operators.
Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.