Reading Time: 6 minutes One of the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturers is predicting a bright future in China, and it is putting its money behind that belief. AGCO, parent company of well-known brands Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Valtra, GSI, and Challenger, has opened a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Changzhou to serve both its international needs and what it […] Read more
AGCO bets big on China
While the war of words heats up between Beijing and Washington, AGCO is becoming a major player in the Chinese economy
Challenger tames the tiger
Two transmission outputs drive AGCO’s new 1000 Series
Reading Time: 4 minutes At this year’s U.S. Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, AGCO’s senior VP and general manager for the Americas Bob Crain was clearly enthusiastic about the new tractors he was there to introduce, particularly the 1000 Series very-high horsepower, rigid-frame models that were originally introduced under the Fendt brand last year. Now, they are also […] Read more
Deere challenges U.S. federal block on Precision Planting bid
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Deere and Co. said its proposal to buy Precision Planting, an agricultural equipment and technology company, will increase consumer choice and directly benefit growers, in a response filed on Wednesday to the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit to block the acquisition. Deere announced its planned acquisition of Precision Planting in November 2015, for […] Read more
What’s new in tractors
A roundup of the recent tractor introductions and updates making news this fall
There’s been no shortage of news this season when it comes to new tractor model unveilings and improvements to existing machines. Virtually every brand had something new to show off this year on that front. Many of those new machines debuted at the U.S. Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, in August. To help you[...]
Read more
Read more
Bad news for ag’s Big 3 farm equipment manufacturers
With three-quarters of machinery makers already planning lay-offs, Brexit’s damage to the EU is creating more worry
Reading Time: 4 minutes On the eve of Britain’s June 23 vote, I was in Hungary eating supper with a group of journalists including a freelancer who is also part of a family farm operation in England. She was the one to correctly predict the “leave” victory. That farmers would vote to leave the EU was astonishing to me.[...]
Read more
Read more
The four Ms get down to work
AGCO’s Robert Ciecko shares his strategy for winning with lean manufacturing in agriculture
Reading Time: 5 minutes While touring the assembly lines at AGCO’s huge combine and hay-tool plant at Hesston, Kansas, I admit I stopped counting how many workers were greeted by name by Robert Ciecko as he guided our group. But I didn’t stop being impressed by how, at virtually every station, waves came from the workers, or at least[...]
Read more
Read more
Farm tech investment drops off after record year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Investor backing for agriculture technology startups cooled in the first half of 2016 after record global investment last year, according to industry data released on Monday. Funding from venture capitalists and others totaled US$1.8 billion through the first six months of the year, down 20 per cent from a year earlier, while the number[...]
Read more
Read more
Farm tractors with global design in mind
AGCO’s new MF utility tractors are designed for worldwide appeal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Back in early 1970, International Harvester released two tractors that made up what it called its Worldwide Series. The idea was to use shared platforms to build tractors that could appeal to farmers in every market where the brand had a presence. They would meet a global need — or that was the hope. Standardized[...]
Read more
Read more
Manage your farm fleet
The trucking industry is adopting technology to ramp up its strategic fleet management. Is it time for farmers to get on board too?
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s standard now for truck companies to use GPS and sensors to track operations and vehicle maintenance from a central office. Driver performance gets recorded, efficiency gets analyzed and truck costs get scrutinized, not to mention all the stats that need to get pulled together for government paperwork in the transportation sector. On the farm,[...]
Read more
Read more
ElectricPOWER your farm implements?
These 700-volt systems may be the kickstart the industry needs
Reading Time: 3 minutes For a group of young boys standing around the Fendt display at the Agritechnica machinery expo in Hanover, Germany, earlier this winter, the prototype model Former 12555X electric hay rake on show was a little like a video game. By sliding a finger across a screen, they could use the touch pad computer on the[...]
Read more
Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
