A New Holland CR9090 Elevation combine working near Leipzig in central Germany has just smashed the world wheat harvesting record. It combined 451t of wheat in just eight hours, giving a barn-bursting throughput of 78t/hour.

After 10 hours driver Rene Heidig had gobbled up 569t of wheat plus another 387t of straw. Fuel consumption was logged at 15.14 litres/ha and the CR9090’s big 1160-litre fuel tank meant it was able to manage 10 hours’ of harvesting without refuelling.

The combine was fitted with a 10.7m (35ft) header and grain moisture was just 10.9%. Grain loss and purity levels were apparently checked every 30 minutes by independent consultants to ensure that the quality of the harvested grain wasn’t compromised by the immense workrates involved

The previous record was 358t of wheat harvested in eight hours and was set in the UK back in 1990. That machine used a stripper header so had the advantage of not having to deal with the straw.

The £346,000 New Holland CR9090 has only just been launched for the 2009 harvest and claims to be the world’s biggest combine, thanks to a 12.8 litre 590hp Iveco engine.

* To find out more about the New Holland CR9090 go to www.fwi.co.uk/machinery

* To see our harvest highlights, go to www.fwi.co.uk/harvest2008