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Now that farmers have had a taste of “attending” virtual machinery shows, will in-person machinery shows continue to attract the same crowds?
Equipment, Machinery Guide

Getting back to reality after COVID-19

Will farm shows and machinery events ever be the same again?

By
Reading Time: 6 minutes In my time as machinery editor, getting to publicity events held by equipment brands has meant spending a lot of time in hotels and on airplanes. My schedule saw me, on average, flying somewhere every six weeks, and you get to experience a lot of unusual things that way, like when a flight attendant on […] Read more
Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at John Deere, answers questions remotely from Deere’s world headquarters in Illinois during an online presentation at CES.
Equipment, Machinery

The green path forward in farm machinery

Deere’s autonomy manager talks strategy for a technology-driven future

By
Reading Time: 7 minutes A couple of years ago I was walking through the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois, when I noticed, parked on its own in its own corner, something I hadn’t seen in a good long time. It was the first autonomous concept tractor the green brand had ever shown to the public. Streamlined, roughly 60 […] Read more
The original 8R concept tractor built by Designworks remains on display at Deere’s Iowa assembly plant.
Equipment, Machinery

Now that’s a beauty of a tractor

The look of today’s John Deere tractor starts in its partnership with BMW Designworks

By
Reading Time: 5 minutes If you walk into a BMW-owned automotive design studio, you’d expect to see scale models and concept drawings of all sorts of sleek automobiles. Seeing a scale model John Deere bulldozer among them might be a bit of a shock. But if it’s the BMW Designworks studio in Newbury Park, California, that you walk into, […] Read more
Martin Richenhagen has been CEO of AGCO for 16 years.
Guide Business, Machinery

Career in ag machinery true to form

Assessing the legacy Martin Richenhagen leaves behind at AGCO

By
Reading Time: 7 minutes [UPDATED: Dec. 18, 2020] Having spent many years covering ag machinery, I recall all the times I found myself having a drink with other machinery writers at the end of a busy day, only to notice how often we’d all be agog at something we’d heard AGCO CEO Martin Richenhagen say. To be clear, we […] Read more
NH North America’s vice-president Bret Lieberman introduced New Holland’s autonomous T7 at the same time CaseIH introduced its autonomous tractor at the 2016 farm show.
Guide Business, Machinery

Awaiting the autonomous tractor

How soon will there be a self-driving, autonomous tractor in your shed?

By
Reading Time: 9 minutes Over the years, all the major machinery brands have shown autonomous concept tractors to the public at farm machinery shows. They clearly wanted to get the message out that they have the engineering ability to build them. For example, CaseIH displayed its concept autonomous Magnum tractor at the U.S. Farm Progress show in 2016 where […] Read more
The main atrium at John Deere’s new ISG R&D building in Des Moines, Iowa, is the hub of a unique work environment for engineers and scientists in tech and robotics.
Equipment, Machinery

John Deere builds a new home for rare talent

The green brand is on the lookout for 'unicorns' in high-technology fields, and with farm backgrounds

By
Reading Time: 6 minutes In today’s high-technology world, a new startup tech firm with the potential to go really big is often described as a unicorn. That term is also used to describe a software engineer or skilled programmer with exactly the right background and combination of skills to drive a company forward, simply because both of those are […] Read more
AGCO adds two new models with Dyna-4 “brake-to-clutch” transmissions to its MF 5700 Global Series tractor line.
Equipment, Machinery, Machinery Guide

AGCO adds to its Global Massey Ferguson tractor line

Two new 5700 Series models hit the market for 2020

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes In the last couple of years, major brands have been producing utility and mid-range tractors with powershift transmissions that don’t require clutching. In October AGCO announced it, too, is adding that type of transmission to its “Global” 5700 Series Massey Ferguson tractor family. Two new models, the 100-horsepower 5710D and 111-horsepower 5711D models will join […] Read more
Dustin Burns farms in Saskatchewan and has had an autonomous field robot working on his farm this spring.

Equipment, Guide Business, Machinery

Taking autonomy into the field

Finally, self-drive technology is moving onto real farms

By
Reading Time: 5 minutes If there was any doubt that how we farm is undergoing a foundational change, this should convince you that there is mammoth change on the horizon. In July the federal government pledged $49.5 million to the Alberta Innovates program to advance research and development in agricultural automation as part of the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN). “The program,” said […] Read more
John Deere has added two new completely redesigned tractors to the mid-spec 6M line, the 6110M and 6120M.
Machinery, Machinery Guide

John Deere revamps its 6M tractor family

New models and more options to appeal to different buyers

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes John Deere has been offering a pretty wide range of tractors designed to appeal to an equally wide group of buyers looking for power in the mid-horsepower class. In the 105- to 250-horsepower group, the green brand’s 6 Family of tractors already offers an impressive 20 models from the economy 6Es to the high-end 6Rs. […] Read more
Kubota’s new headquarters in Grapevine, Texas, was built as part of the brand’s efforts to grow its presence in the North American ag marketplace.
Guide Business, Machinery

Why Kubota thinks you’ll buy more of its farm equipment

The Texas-based manufacturer sees both end-users and retail dealers as its customers

By
Reading Time: 5 minutes As I walked through Kubota’s new headquarters in Grapevine, Texas, one particular observation stood out to me. In other companies’ offices and engineering centres that I’ve visited, there was never any shortage of images of the brand’s machines lining the hallway walls. The offices in the Kubota building were stylish and comfortable with plenty of […] Read more

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