Table of contents for Harvest 2025 in Profi

There was a lot of hype from New Holland when it unveiled the CR11 at Agritechnica 2023. We visit Peter Snell and the team at North Farm, Horton, to find out if it has delivered on its highoutput, low loss promises. Mervyn Bailey Editor There’s no doubt that British farmers are suffering at the moment with the double whammy of recent weather woes and mind-boggling government policy. But elsewhere around Europe, things are not looking too shabby, especially over here in Ireland, out on the westerly edge of Europe, where it has been an excellent grass growing year. And it’s far from over yet. You'd reckon the much talked about machine market downturn would have equipment makers battening down the hatches, though the recent flurry of press launches suggests otherwise.…

KRONE DEALERS IN WALES AND SCOTLAND Cowbridge-based KP Agri has taken on the Krone franchise in South Wales. Owned and operated by Paul and Kelly, the business has been active for 17 years as a dealership and four years as a Krone UK sub-dealer. The transition means greater access to the full Krone product line. Fife Tractors has also taken on the full range of Krone products. Operating mainly in Fife and Kinross, Fife Tractors was established in 1971. JCB DEALER CHANGES JCB is re-organising its agricultural machinery distribution in areas previously covered by Rea Valley Tractors. Sharmans Agricultural is extending its territory westwards to cover Derbyshire and Staffordshire up to the M6. Chandlers RFM’s expanded patch will include Shropshire and Staffordshire west of the M6, and the dealer is…

800 VARIO GEN 5 We have been anticipating the new 800 for some time now and as expected it is a very different beast to the previous S4, adopting the Agco Power engine and Fendt Drive driveline concept. There are three models, the 826, 829 and 832, with the last two figures giving you a clue to rated power outputs, with Dynamic Performance adding an extra 23hp when components such as the fan or air-conditioning start to sap power from the driveline. Like the Vario 600 through to the 1000 series, the radiator fan pushes the air through the cooling pack helping the Agco Power Core 80 engine keep its cool. The 8.0-litre motor has a variable geometry turbo with the 832 producing a max torque of 1,680Nm at 1,200-1,400rpm.…

ZG-TS 01 AUTOSPREAD Amazone has taken all of its bolt-on accuracy adding features and made them more integrated with the introduction of a new top end broadcaster, the ZG-TS 01 AutoSpread which it has been developing for the past six years. Additional technology and new software means it can self-adjust, which Amazone claims is an industry first. Features such as the WindControl crosswind measuring system, Border TS central border deflector and and the ArgusTwin radar that monitors the prills trajectory are joined by additional radar sensors at the rear which also monitor the distance the fertiliser is travelling behind the machine. All of this information is used to alter the drop point, rate and speed of each of the hydraulically powered disc to maintain coverage. Curve control is also part…

Take a close look at the Rotana, and those familiar with the Lely Welger pedigree will spot the breeding lines of the Wolfenbüttel factory. There have been a couple of notable tweaks to the reputable baler design since AGCO took over proceedings in 2017 and decided to add both the fixed and variable round balers (as well as the combi versions) to the Fendt and Massey Ferguson product ranges. Last season we operated the Fendt-branded version of what it calls the Rotana 160V, a variable chamber machine that can produce bales up to 1.60m in diameter. There is also a 180, which logically makes a max 1.80m bale. Our test example, which we used for packing away straw, hay and silage, came in XtraCut guise, meaning it was equipped with…

We took our first in-depth look at Agco Ideal combines back in November 2017, production Massey Ferguson and Fendt badged Ideal models reaching the UK in the 2019 model year. There are three Ideal combines available from Massey Ferguson, the single rotor Ideal 7 with a 451hp 9.8-litre Agco Power engine and the twin rotor Ideal 8 and Ideal 9 with 538hp 12.4-litre and 15.7-litre 647hp MAN power units respectively (at launch). The Fendt range is the same except for the range topping 790hp 16.2-litre MAN engine Ideal 10T with TrackRide tracks as standard. Ideal rated power outputs have changed slightly over the past five years but the nominal outputs listed above remain a decent guide. As a used combine buyer, it follows that you have the benefit of being…

White asparagus is a totally different ball game to the other two colours, green and purple, which are harvested above ground. White spears are harvested entirely underground just as the tips start to break through the surface of the bed. It is all about timing and the window of opportunity to harvest a spear at the right length and quality is narrow. The trick to ensuring that spears remain white is to cover with rows with a layer of plastic. Removed for a few seconds to expose the tops of the beds, spear cutting is traditionally done manually using an asparagus knife. Harvested from early-April to mid-June, the process requires a lot of seasonal labour and thousands of workers (mostly migrants) trawl through the asparagus fields for the hectic two-to-three-month…

Discreetly put together in the corner of a machinery shed, just six people were directly involved in this novel project to convert a wheeled Jaguar into a tracked machine capable of lightly travelling over sodden ground, chopping maize. Nobody was to find out about the forager project until the machine was ready for the field, so the work was carried out in the evening and at weekends. Two entrepreneurs, one idea Christian Logemann had put a lot of thought into exactly how he could do a better job of harvesting maize when ground conditions were less than ideal. But he knew this was a project he couldn’t tackle himself, so he approached Volker Röbenjohanns four years ago. Volker runs a repair shop for cars and farm machinery, so he had…

To the best of our knowledge around 28,000-30,000ha of lavender is grown globally. The biggest area is in France where a large chunk of the 20,000+ha can be found in Provence. With an average production of 1,000t+ of lavender oil a year, France accounts for the lion’s share of the world’s commercial lavender production. Bulgaria is in second place (5,000+ha), and the other top five spots are Australia (approx. 2,000ha), India (500+ha) and North America (500+ha). Hot dry summers, and mild wet winters on land 500–1,500m above sea level create the ideal conditions for the best-quality, high-oil-content lavender varieties. It might come of a surprise, therefore, to learn that 285ha (700 acres) of the fragrant plants are grown in the UK. Lower level There are several smaller operations, and the…

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(There have been numerous developments and model tweaks made that are not listed here. When ordering spare parts, it is important to include the tractor’s serial number and not just model year. New variant launch dates and availability vary. Always check a tractors actual specification. Date of registration may not reflect model year). Mid 2007: Puma 165/180/195/210 Full Powershift, Stage IIIA FTP engine Early 2009: Puma 195 CVX/210 CVX/225 CVX, Stage IIIA, new Multicontroller armrest Late 2009: Puma 165/180/195/210 new Multicontroller armrest. End 2010: Final production CVX 195 Early 2011: Stage IIIb Puma 170/185/200/215 & Puma CVX 170/CVX 185/CVX 200/CVX 215/CVX 230 Early 2012: AFS 372 receiver with GPS & GLONASS satellite connectivity Late 2012: AFS Pro 700 screen (available from Stage IIIb launch) factory fit Early 2013: Accuguide Ready…

Life has been nothing but hectic, what with sales and events which have kept me very busy. I travelled to the disposal sale of the Severnside Engineerium at Churcham, Gloucestershire on Wednesday 30 July. Here Mick Gould Commercials near Wadhurst purchased a well engineered Fordson E27N Major fitted with an Ursus Bison six-cylinder diesel and White winch on the back, selling for £11,000. No doubt he will be using it at some stage in his famous recovery company. By the time you read this I will be on my way back from the USA having taken a group party to the Caterpillar 100th Anniversary event at Rantoul, Illinois. If you have a story, or an event, please do get in touch: peterlove@madasafish.com, TEL: 01323 833125…

Malcolm Harrison staged the Walkers of Ashbourne, Derbyshire clearout sale which amounted to nearly 700 lots. After the lorries were sold we moved to the tractors, starting with the good looking 1995 Ford 3930 four-wheel drive needing tyres which soon raised a good £14,500, grade 3. As for the early highlight in this section the green Fordson N with Perkins P6 at £9,300 was followed by the blue N with similar power at £4,200. Next came the two single-cylinder tractors in the sale, we saw the 1948 Field Marshall Series 2 with lights grade 5 PRF413 sell for a thumping £15,000. It was followed by the star in the sale the genuine from all accounts circa 1939 Lanz HR9 55hp Eli Bulldog looking lovely grade 5 that went on to…

Claas has launched a new four-model range of 1,000hp+ Jaguar self-propelled forage harvesters. Called the 1000 series, the engine in all four models: the 1080 (850hp), 1090 (925hp), 1100 (1,020hp) and 1200 (1,110hp), is a 24-litre, MAN V12. Flagged up as the company’s quietest ever cab, inside the new structure is a swivelling seat, plus, the option of joystick steering. The crop flow has been widened by 20% and there is a new discharge chute concept. The largest possible tyre size for the front axle is 900/60 R42 (outer diameter of 2.15m). Rear axle sizes are up to 710/60 R30. With tyre pressure control systems on both axles, the hydraulically lowerable third axle is for legal road transport in certain operating regions. The 1000 series come standard with 4wd and…

The big news on the latest versions of the four-cylinder Valtra A105 (105hp) and A115 (115hp) is that the gear lever has been ousted with a push button setup for the four-speed HiTech 4 powershift, which is the only gearbox option on the two 100hp+ tractors. This provides 16f+16r or 32f+32r with creeper. Power continues to come from a 4.4l Agco Power Stage V engine, but there are numerous other updates to the two tractors. These include new and inclined aluminium cab access steps, and the steering wheel can be tilted with a foot pedal. LED work lights and 70% larger rear-view mirrors increase visibility, and the air conditioning and heating systems have been upgraded. Smaller refinements include a dust seal above the rear window. Fuel tank capacity has been…

Designed to work at depths of up to 60cm, the Onyx subsoiler is available in two rigid widths of 3.0m and 4.0m. The welded frame provides 90cm of clearance and the 84cm spacing of the two beams is said to provide good access for maintenance. Two shares are available: the OM (Onyx Mixing) or the OL (Onyx Loosening). Both are hard-faced as standard and are optionally available with carbide coating. Mounted on a curved leg with a guide plate, the OM is designed to move and intensively mix the soil to depths from 25 to 40cm. Mounted on a straight leg, the OL lifts the soil to break up compacted layers at depths from 40 to 60cm. Both shares can also be equipped with wings to increase soil loosening and…

ALENTIX SPREADER Aimed at users wanting to carry more fertiliser to the field, working width of the 4,700-litre capacity Alentix 8047 GI twin disc spreader is up to 54m. Main points include the RapidRate dosing system. Positioned centrally above the redesigned RotaFlow 100 spreading system, the patented square-shaped dosing system is said to guarantee a precise and even fertiliser flow even on slopes or hilly terrain. Equipped with four weigh cells and a dual reference sensor, the weighing system provides real-time automatic weighing on the go and the Alentix is believed to be the first TIM spreader with a system that automatically alters the top link to ensure the spreader remains level. It also automatically controls the speed of the pto. The rear cover folds down providing a platform to…

T7 SHORT WHEELBASE DynamicCommand is coming to the short wheelbase T7 which has been given a major overhaul as it moves to a new generation. Destined to get its public unveiling at Agritechnica in November, the max power outputs pretty much mirror the current model line up which will continue to be offered alongside with RangeCommand and PowerCommend transmissions. The T7.175 morphs into the T7.180 while gaining a few extra ponies and is joined by the T7.190, T7210 and T7.225, New Holland continuing with using its boosted power output for the model numbering. One thing that has changed on the engines is that the max power output is now achieved at a lower 1,500rpm for better efficiency. Fuel and DEF tank capacities have been upped to 350 and 48-litres. Initially,…

Filling a truck in one go takes a really big chaser bin, one like the tri-axle Bizon 36, the name giving more than a hint of its 36m³ capacity. Five spools required Unia’s big bin doesn’t have its own on-board hydraulics; instead it relies on the tractor having five spool valves — a single-acting valve for the parking stand and four double-acters for the steering axles, folding the unloading auger, auger clutch engagement and pivoting the spout. A diverter valve can redirect the oil flow to opening the doors for cleaning out the bin. Other bits attached to the tractor’s back-end include the La Magdalena pto shaft, the main lights and the plug for the optional Dinamica Generale sourced weighing system. Rather than use one long shaft between the tractor…

Back in August, The National Drought Group met to discuss the current dry spell, the worst on record since 1976. Group members, including Government, Water Companies, the NFU and the Met Office, considered ways to eke out depleted reserves through water-saving measures such as increased vigilance from Water Companies in detecting and mending leaks. This all makes perfect sense as we can’t control precipitation, the input to our water systems, but we can control the outputs. Should push come to shove, water flowing to houses will always trump the call to irrigate a wilting crop. Some of us have experienced a dismal harvest, with some secondary effects yet to be felt. Naturally, this got me thinking about the food security of these densely populated little isles of ours. There’s 70…

The straw walker combine has been the mainstay of the cereal harvest since the 19th century, but in recent years rotary separation technology has offered performance advantages which have seen wide adoption of this type of machine on farms requiring higher outputs. Such has been the impact of this trend that up to 78% of combine harvesters sold in the UK in 2025 were rotaries or hybrids, compared with 71% in 2024 and 60-65% in the previous five seasons, says New Holland product specialist Nigel Honeyman. “Ireland is going the same way, but it’s currently about where the UK was 15 years ago with still a good number of straw walker machines sold,” he comments. Nigel adds that walker combines have traditionally been easier machines to operate and maintain. “Although…

This can be a little confusing as the Stage V offering from late 2019 clearly got messed up by the pandemic, a second Stage V launch arriving for the 2021 model year. It is easy to spot the difference between these Stage V tractors as the first ones look the same as their Stage IV predecessors, 2021 tractors gaining the new bonnet carried over to the current generation. As before, there were three Multicontroller Stage V models, the 185, 200 and 220 CVX CVT transmission including the range topping Puma 240. To meet tougher emission regs, the engines were now fitted with Hi-eSCR2. Engine oil change intervals were extended to 750 hours or 18 months, the transmission oil change interval stretched to 1,500 hours. Revised features included a configurable quick-jump…

1-2 September Cambridge Machinery Sale. The Saleground, Sutton, Ely, Cambridge CB6 2QT. Cheffins, tel: 01353 777767. 1-4 September Online Machinery Collective Auction. Voyce Pullin, www.voycepullin.co.uk 2 September Online Tool Auction. Dromore, Northern Ireland. Euro Auctions, www.euroauctions.com 2-12 September Timed Online Auction of Agricultural Tractors, Combine Harvester, Implements & Machinery. Ipswich, Suffolk. Cheffins, www.cheffins.co.uk 3 September Collective Machinery Sale. Off A30, Newcott Farm, Yarcombe EX14 9ND. Greenslade Taylor Hunt, tel: 01278 410250. 3-4 September  Online Sale of Tractors, Machinery, Plant & Commercial Vehicles. Carlisle. Harrison & Hetherington, www.harrisonandhetherington.co.uk 3-5 September Auction – Online, telephone & commission bids only. Mathewsons, tel: 01751 474455 www.mathewsons.co.uk 4 September Auction of Modern Farm Machinery & Equipment. Westley Hall Farm, Westley Waterless, Newmarket, Cambridgeshire CB8 0RL. Brown & Co, www.brown-co.com Auction of Combine Harvester, Agricultural Tractors,…

JUNE 2024 COVER STORY South East Forestry INSIDE JD Richmond & Son JULY 2024 COVER STORY Fruit Focus preview INSIDE N P Seymour AUGUST 2024 COVER STORY FW Mansfield & Son INSIDE New Labour government. Fruit Focus review. Groundswell SEPTEMBER 2024 COVER STORY Incoming Government promises stability INSIDE Ploughing match fixtures OCTOBER 2024 COVER STORY Mousehall transforms into a sustainable distillery and winery  INSIDE National Fruit Show preview NOVEMBER 2024 COVER STORY Charlton’s new pack-house and distribution centre  INSIDE G J Elgar Construction DECEMBER 2024 COVER STORY Farmers flock to Westminster  INSIDE National Fruit Show review JANUARY 2025 COVER STORY Farm construction INSIDE Charles Palmer Vineyards FEBRUARY 2025 COVER STORY South of England Farming Conference INSIDE Farm Expo 2025 preview MARCH 2025 COVER STORY Now could be the perfect time…

Mother, or field bins, do not get any larger than the Nyrex Maximus 300T from Australian manufacturer GrainKing. Chaser bins are not a regular sight in the UK, and as far as we are aware there is not a single mother bin in Britain. However, they are an indispensable tool in the large arable areas in Western Australia where road trains truck grain many miles from the field to grain storage facilities. The Maximus is not built to follow the combine. Instead, it is parked on the headland. The sole role is as a moveable silo for chasers to quickly empty their contents without having to wait for a truck and return to the combines so that they never stop. The bin on the nearly 20m long Maximus 300T holds…

AVATAR LC The Avatar LC has a three-part 9,400-litre hopper, the largest tank capacity Horsch offers in Europe. This is split 50:15:35. But of greater interest will be the new closer 20cm coulter spacing, the existing 25cm row width remains as the other option. This has been achieved by shallowing the disc angle slightly and positioning the coulters closer to their neighbours on the 12m drill. VERSA SW Being 7.2m, this new addition to the Versa trailed power harrow drill range means it can marry up with 36m tramlines in five passes instead of six with the already available 6.0m machine. It has some suitably sized big wheels, all 1.20m in diameter, to help carry the drill in the typical wet, heavy soil condition. There are four 500mm tyres in…

SWADRO BALETRAIN TC880 PR AND COMPACK PRO Less labour, less compaction, less fuel, more time efficient – these are some of things Krone mentioned when unveiling its Swadro BaleTrain TC880 Pro which was pulling the new ComPack Pro baler-wrapper behind it. Complete with tractor, the raking, baling, wrapper outfit measures less than 18.75m and the two implements can be unhitched if you want to use them separately. The twin rotor rake gains a new double drive gearbox at the front with low/high speed for setting the rpm on the rake as the fixed 540 pto speed is needed for the baler, or the rake rotors can be disengaged when not needed. At the rear, there is a beefed-up frame with the hitch, hydraulics, pto and electrics needed to power the…

Obtaining accurate information on the global pea area and number of harvesters sold each year is nigh on impossible, and our best guess is approximately 2.5 million hectares of the crop are grown each year. Global production is estimated at around 20.5 million tonnes and the number of new harvesters sold each year is likely to run into tens of units, not hundreds. And here lies the problem. Over the years, Oxbo has acquired Bourgain, FMC, PMC and Ploeger, giving it four different brands of self-propelled pea harvester in what is let’s face it a niche market. Mash up Reason enough for the company to take a long hard look at the portfolio, pluck all the best technologies from all four brands, and mix them with a few new ones…

Replacing a damaged bearing can be relatively straightforward and not overly expensive, so it makes sense to detect wear before it becomes a costly problem. Everyone is familiar with the in-field hassle associated with a worn bearing, be it through excessive vibration through to overheating leading to a machine blaze. The German harvest repair specialist Quinte maintains, repairs and sells used combines, with workshop foreman, Markus Ernst, and company co-owner, Michael Katt, setting out some tips in spotting rogue bearings. Causes of damage and wear Some bearings can last the life of a machine. All they need is diligent care and regular lubrication, though it can be best to replace some bearings as a routine service job. “Based on past experience, we recommend replacing some rotor bearings every four years…

When New Holland launched its CR10.90 combine, it soon established itself as the benchmark in high-output harvesting. So much so, that Dorset farmer Peter Snell opted for two of them back in 2019 to handle a contract farming workload from his North Farm, Horton base, that was nudging 1,410 hectares (3,500 acres). Fast-forward to 2023, and a new CR prototype was cutting its teeth on the Dorset grower’s land, benchmarking itself against the farm’s existing CR10.90’s. “The prototype CR11 came with a much wider, MacDon FD2 header measuring 15.2m, and there’s no doubt it was a very impressive combination,” explains Peter Snell. “But we’ve spent the last eight years refining our controlled traffic farming system using 12.2m headers, so we couldn’t turn our backs on that progress, just to add…

It was an exacting decision-making process for Manor Farm Wilton in Wiltshire, but one that resulted in a pair of New Holland CR9.80s replaced with a single John Deere X9 1110 in 2023. Now, three harvests down the line, partner David Lemon reflects on how it is going. “I’m very glad we did it, and that the combine genuinely offers the outputs claimed,” he comments. “We’re going to need to farm more of the land to make a living in the future; without the safety net of SFP, we’d aimed to use the SFI so that the non-productive land could benefit the environment while we farmed the rest hard, but it looks like that’s not going to happen.” The business crops seven farms over 1,250ha, each of which runs its…

Case IH launched the Stage IV LWB Puma models in 2015, with the 6.7 litre, 24 valve FPT motor now having Hi-eSCR aftertreatment and the need for AdBlue. Enter the DOC Diesel Oxidation Catalyst and CUC Clean Up Catalyst but no diesel particulate filter or Exhaust Gas Recirculation EGR valve. The CVX CVT and Multicontroller powershift transmissions were pretty much carried over from the Stage III models but there are differences to the CVX unit. It retained the same four-range set up but power boost was now available in reverse, a point to note if you are after a rare reverse-drive tractor for power hungry duties such as working a triple mower. Case IH had also worked on the response of the CVX driving pedal to help make it easier…

It is with deep regret that I report these notes on an enthusiastic friend of the agricultural movement who has passed away before his time at the age of just 57. Philip Peter Broad was a contractor and Ford, Fordson and County owner based at his Mote Farm, Ivy Hatch, Sevenoaks premises. Each year the Broad’s organised a late spring road run that raised over £100,000 for charities who have greatly benefitted from these events. Phil’s funeral service took place at Plaxtol Parish Church on Thursday 19 June where over 600 people descended from all directions to this small village to pay their respects to Phil, Debbie his wife and their children Matt (25) and Bex (20) and their family. Many were ferried from Mote Farm in people carrying trailers…

A new suite of LANTRA accredited online training courses will help manufacturers, dealers, owners and operators comply with the recently introduced British Standard Code of Practice for the use of autonomous mobile machinery (AMM) in UK agriculture and horticulture. Developed by Ei OPERATOR, one of the UK’s leading agricultural online training providers, the courses have been welcomed by the industry and experts who developed the Standard. The Code of Practice was introduced to boost the growth of autonomous operations in the UK’s farming and horticulture sectors. Providing a standard to which everyone can work helps to end uncertainty and provides the confidence potential users need to invest. Ei OPERATOR AgriTech online training provides a significant step forward by helping those looking to adopt autonomous mobile machines to comply with the…