Tractor, harvester IT comes of age
Over the last halfdecade, digital technology has appeared to be the “must-have” for tractor and machinery companies, who believe that bringing IT to tractors and farming will offer its customers huge benefits.
Cultivation and spraying specialist Amazone recently delivered its 75,000th sprayer unit.
It was a 36m-boomed, self-propelled Pantera 4502 that rolled off the production line at the company’s Bramsche factory site, situated just north of Osnabruck in northern Germany.
The machine didn’t have to travel too far to its new owner, just a hop over the English Channel to a 1,350ha property in the south-east of England. This is where sprayer will be put to work in a cropping programme that includes continuous winter wheat, marrowfat peas, rye and maize for both forage and grain.
Already a Pantera user since September 2015, the farm’s previous 40m-boomed 4502 clocked up 5,000 hours in seven years. Although the farm owners looked at other self-propelled sprayer units on the market, they choose Amazone again.
They said that its narrow road width, 50km/h road speed and improved suspension makes it ideal for work on contract farms further away from home base.
“All of this, alongside excellent service from Amazone and our local dealer.”
Entering the sprayer market in 1969, the first Amazone sprayers were the mounted S range. These machines were available with tank capacities of 400 litres and 600 litres.
Today, the complete range of Amazone sprayers are produced at a new, purpose-built assembly facility at 20ha site at Bramsche.
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Fonterra has appointed a new chief financial officer, seven months after its last CFO’s shock resignation.
A seminar on rural dispute resolution has been organised at Lincoln University, Christchurch this month.
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One of Fonterra’s global customers, Mars is launching an ambitious sustainable dairy plan to work with dairy farmers and cut emissions by 50%.