August 2009 Archives

Since I had no internet connection - this was written on Friday - apologies!

From (Rheine) to Berlin...

So, I'm sitting in Berlin's Schoenfeld airport waiting for check-in and I have just seen Paula Radcliffe!

Bit annoyed as I panicked and got the earlier train in case it was delayed and missed visiting the Holocaust memorial - partly due to the World Athletics going on which hindered me getting from one side of the Brandenburg Gate to the other. Of course it's Germany so nothing's delayed - apart from my brain!

Saturday saw the Irish smash the world record for the number of working combines in one fiels, with a total of 175 combines all munching away on a field of 100 acres. Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, Farmers Weekly Contractor of the Year finalist Charlie Baker got five minutes of fame with his rotary ditcher on Countryfile too - click here to watch again

More from me later - just about to head to a Krone launch from the hotel...

Someone just mentioned that, having had a look at Carolina Marine and Tractor's website that they sell Mahindra tractors... in an area where John Deere has it's groundcare factory!

Anyway, enough of that, what do you think this is?

I'm off to Germany now for a Grimme, Krone and Amazone press launch. Then have to hop on a train and head to John Deere, but hope to be blogging on the way. 

Now don't get me wrong - I love my guns probably as much as I love tractors and other large pieces of machinery. But even for me, this offer is perhaps a step too far to get a farmers to buy a tractor.

Carolina Tractor and Marine in South Carolina (where else!) is offering a free AK-47 assault rifle (worth about $450) with every tractor purchase until Labor Day (September 7). Not even our dealers would go to this end to get rid of old stock!

According to Henry Jordan, partner at the dealers, the offer is a 'win-win' to boost sales while providing protection at the same time. 

"We thought, 'You know what? Every man ought to have a fishing boat, a pickup truck and a tractor and they certainly need a good gun to protect themselves and their family," Jordan told Fox Carolina News. "We believe in the 2nd Amendment. We believe, in fact, it's a man's responsibility to protect his family."

The offer is, it seems, is the beginning of a trend in the States, kicked off by Max Motors in Missouri, who's slogan is "God, guns, guts and American Pick-up Trucks."

According to the Times - Mark Muller of Max Motors has run out of pick-up trucks after buyers came from all over the US. "We've had the best month in 18 months and can't get any more from the factories." 

Today, Google's celebrating Danish scientist Hans Christian Orsted's birthday. For those who don't know (and I have to be honest I wasn't completely au fait myself) - he discovered the relationship between electrical currents and magnetism. Read about him here

To celebrate, here are some Danish harvesting shots. Not much to do with electromagnetism, although I'm sure there are some examples of it in the kit.

Here are some snaps taken while travelling 150kph...

They like their Masseys... (I was a bit gutted not to call in at the MF combine factory at Randers. 

AGCO selling NH?

Silaging on 1000-cow dairy.

Overkill?

Fiat Agri combine - don't see many of them over here.

Taking a break from the field at grain facility powered by biogas.

I firstly have to apologise for not posting for a few days. The end of last week involved a trip to Jutland in Denmark to have a look at what's going on in the world of biogas over there, then as my boss is away, things have been a little hectic in the office.

I've even been too busy for Twitter (but that's got more to do with the fact that my phone had a high speed collision with the wall the other day and I haven't been able to log in remotely ever since).

Now, however, I am back online and raring to go. Honest.

My trip to Denmark was with a company called Landia, who make all sorts of submersible and dry pumping units (and chopping machines, too). Not very glamorous you may think, but it's surprising how many Landia pumps there are right under our very noses!

Biogas, and in fact renewable energy, is a very hot subject with our relatives (as they took every opportunity to remind me) across  the North Sea, and Landia is one of the largest suppliers of the chopping pumps which form an integral part to any system.

Some communities have targets to produce all energy through renewable sources by 2015. We visited three biodigesters, one cooperative, one government research station and a clever contracting arrangement, the tenant producing the energy through the biogas station from the farmer's pig manure and the farmer then using the energy to run his grain store. A virtuous circle indeed.

(Digestion unit on right, scrubber (which takes out Sulphur) in the middle and storage tank on right)

(Gas storage tanks and secondary digester in foreground) 

Landia are based in Lem on the west coast of Jutland, nestled just behind the Ringkobing fjord. It's quite an industrial town, and used to be home to the Vesta wind turbine company (the very same which is to close it's Isle of Wight factory - despite occupation until last week). 

There's still a factory in Lem, though, and I got this snap of a part of a turbine leaving while I was there. Apparently, some of the roundabouts have had to have the middle cut out to allow them to go straight through (goodness knows what happens if the driver wants to turn right).

Anyway, it was an interesting visit. And here's what I had to eat...

Yummy...     

This week, I had the privilege of being schmoozed by Claas for the second time in two weeks. Even for me, that's good going.

Like most, I can't help but be indoctrinated when going into any manufacturers HQ and Claas's Saxham home (albeit their UK one - not the plush Germanic carpeted home of Helmut and Cathrina) is no different. I almost want to jump into a pair of grey and green overalls and don a cap in honour.

As I got nearer to Bury St Edmunds, every mile brought increased lime green sitings. An Arion here, a Lexion there, it's almost as if the boys from Claas have been out strategically positioning kit for anyone who happens to be passing.

I suppose you expect that. I've never been, but one day would love to go to Grand Detour, Illinois; birthplace of John Deere. Now there's bound not to be any Case IHs round there, having all been either painted green and yellow or never having been granted permission to sell in the area in the first place.

So, back to my visit to Claas. A couple of weeks ago, I travelled to Hungary (courtesy of Claas - obviously!) to have a preview of what new kit is due for launch later this year. It was 40 degrees, beautiful sunshine and we had a hotel overlooking the Danube. What a life I have, I hear you say.

Standing in a field when it's 40 degrees whilst a very knowledgeable German is telling you about the finer details of a particular mechanism can be hard work, I hasten to add. Particularly when you may have had a little too much Hungarian brandy the night before and got to bed at 2am. "These are networking events, you see," I explain to my boss. Becoming drinking partners with some big wigs is bound to bring long-term benefits. At least my head hopes so. 

Now, I would love to show you my pictures, but as is the way with all these large manufacturers, they have strict timelines that they work to - and wacking everything straight on the internet doesn't really fit in with their game plan. So, what they do is stick an embargo on anything we see.

No articles, no tweets, no photos, no videos on YouTube, nada. Until the date they say. Come August 14th though, we'll be flooding every available medium (www.fwi.co.uk; and Farmers Weekly) with pictures and info - so watch this space.

Sometimes, though, things do sneak out. It's inevitable. Look hard enough and you can find anything, someone said to me the other day.

But, us being us, and me not wanting to burn my bridges to a long and happy life and being able to play all day on big kit, we will stick to the embargo.

All I can say is that, on my visit to Saxham, and in between showers - I was lucky enough to get a drive of and have a look at the piece of kit they're so keen to keep secret. No, it's not the new Lexion, but I did have a drive of the Lexion 600 with 35ft cutter bar (see below) More about that in months to come....

(and no - I didn't just sit in it!)

There's been a lot of talk about Indian automotive and tractor manufacturer, Mahindra & Mahindra, in the business press recently, not least since they've decided to establish a production and export arm in China to reduce costs and increase sales.

Last year, the company produced nearly 120,000 tractors ranging from 25 - 80hp, of which just over 7000 were for the export market. The company aims to export as much as 30% of its tractor production in the next five years and moving some production to China will result in a 25% reduction in costs, so there's no question to why they've taken this route.

It could still be some time until Mahindra tractors ranks highly on UK tractor sales lists, but the fact that they're operating in an area where agricultural growth is highest means they're already ranked third in the world in terms of production levels. 

Their aggressive market growth and the fact that share prices have tripled already this year suggest that the Indian company is one to watch for the future, particularly as next year there will be an assault on the utility vehicle market in the US, too, with a diesel pick-up already causing a stir amongst other manufacturers.

In short - watch this space! 

I'm not one for marathons. Or 5k races. Or, in fact, anything else that involves putting one foot in front of the other at any speed other than walking.

But what I would sign up to is a ploughathon. Long Itchington Young Farmers, based in Warwickshire, are to plough 200 acres non-stop to raise money for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance and the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI).

A team of nine members will undertake the challenge by ploughing through the night land at Newfields Farm at the end of August.

Tractors and ploughs will be provided by CNH and Dowdeswell, but the club is looking for sponsors to provide fuel and a big breakfast when they complete the marathon, so any help would be gratefully received!

Fancy helping or donating? Email: longitchington_yfc@hotmail.com