Billed as the world’s largest livestock production show, this year’s EuroTier expects visitor numbers to tip 160,000. Norman Dunn takes a look at what you can expect to see at the event at Hanover, Germany, on 13-16 November.

Manure processing

A contender for a DLG (German Agricultural Society) gold medal at EuroTier is the Big Dutchman Blue ‘MemFis’ solution.

It’s a membrane-based filtration system that processes manure through three stages to produce clear (distilled standard) water and liquid concentrated manure or biogas substrate. In fact, 50% of the input is recovered as clear water, which represents a valuable cost-saving. It should be an environmentally friendly option, too.

The system is deliverable to the farm in container-size turnkey form. Throughput is around 1.5m3 per hour.

Strautmann feeder wagon

German feed wagon manufacturer Strautmann & Sons has broken away from the more traditional feed wagon silage loader with its new series of Double-Cut self-propelled wagons (11 and 13cu m capacity), combining a shear loader with milling roller.

The hydraulic shears have been adopted, says Strautmann, because they leave an exceptionally clean and compacted surface on the silage pit, reducing the danger of reheating and mould/yeast development at the face. It should also keep the pit closed to wind and rain.

The new Verti-Mix SF Double-Cut features a 2m wide set of shears with the same width milling roller fitted close behind. This throws the forage back into the mixing area and, at the same time, separates and loosens the material.

When there’s loose feeds such as grain or beet pulp to be picked up, the shears on the Double-Cut can be swung to the side and the milling roller used alone.

The Double-Cut system means a lower power demand with a 140hp Deere engine found to be sufficient.

Strautmann claims that the same capacity of machine with just a conventional milling roller loader system would need at least 180hp on hand. Price of the vertical rotor Double-Cut self-propelled feed wagon is around €110,000 (about £87,000). Production begins in mid-2013.

JCB TM320

The successors to the popular JCB TM310 telescopic loader series are to be officially launched at EuroTier this November. The TM 320 and 320S machines feature the uprated Stage 3b compliant Ecomax engine.

The engines do not need a particle filter or AdBlue input. The TM320 uses the 4.4-litre Ecomax delivering 132hp and 550Nm torque with the “S” version bored out to 4.8 litres and delivering 145hp.

Transmission control has been simplified since the TM310, with a simple switch to select manual or automatic and torque converter lock-up is now available from fourth to sixth gear (two to six in the S version). This feature really suits silage clamp work, for example, offering rapid acceleration, and strong traction without power fade when climbing the clamp with heavy fork loads.

JCB will also be taking the opportunity to launch a new flagship of the JCB wheeled loader range. A replacement for the 456 loader, the 250hp JCB 457 offers buyers with 16% more power and 18% more torque over its predecessor.

Clever Claas Jaguars

At EuroTier Claas presents its Jaguar 970 and 980 MAN-engined self-propelled forage harvesters (775hp and 884hp) with “Dynamic Power” intelligent engine management system.

With fuel prices soaring across Europe, this automatically reduces power output when the load on the engine is reduced under field operations.

A load sensor on the engine detects that the crop is lighter and derates the power output, with 11 different power levels depending on the load.

Taking over the driver’s role with computer intelligence in this way offers a fuel saving potential of 12.3% per hour or 10.6% per tonne of fresh grass harvested, according to DLG tests. The smaller Mercedes-engined 940 and 960 Jaguar models are also to get the Dynamic Power treatment for next season.