Winning products are recognized for their role in bringing advanced technology to the marketplace. These engineering developments help farmers, and food processors, increase efficiency, enhance quality, improve safety, and increase profitability. This year John Deere received the 2022 AE50 Awards for the following innovations:

• See & Spray Select
• MY22 9 Series Tractors
• Integrated ExactRate Liquid Fertilizer System
• 1775NT Planter
• Quick Change Blades for ProSeries Openers
• HDF Hinged Frame Flexible Cutterbar Draper
• W200 Series Self-Propelled Windrowers and Platforms
• C770 Cotton Harvesters

“AE50 Awards reaffirm the innovative spirit of John Deere employees around the world. Innovation is in our DNA and one of our most important core values. No other company in agriculture invests more time, money, and energy into research and development than John Deere. Our engineers take great pride in creating amazing new technology and products that benefit our customers and help them meet the world’s growing need for food, fuel, shelter, and infrastructure in the most productive and sustainable ways possible,”

said Joel Dawson, manager, production and precision ag for John Deere.

Last March, John Deere hosted one of its largest product launches. One of the award-winning innovations introduced was See & Spray Select, a factory-installed and machine-integrated solution that enables farmers to spot spray of weeds on fallow ground. See & Spray Select uses advanced camera and control technology to differentiate color on fallow ground, detects weeds, and spot sprays them.

“This targeted spray application has similar hit rates to broadcast spraying while applying 77% less herbicide on average, providing tremendous savings on inputs for farmers,”

Dawson said.

Also receiving a 2022 AE50 Award were MY22 John Deere 9 Series Tractors. The tractors help large-acre grain produces start earlier and run later to complete their spring seeding and planting work during tight, optimal seeding and planting windows. Powered by an all-new John Deere PowerTech 13.6L engine, 9 Series Tractors can pull wider implements faster and more precisely than ever before. When paired with integrated John Deere precision ag technology, farmers can drive important management changes to improve crop yields, lower input costs, and farm more acres in less time.

Last March, John Deere was the first agricultural company to bring to market a factory-installed, integrated liquid-fertilizer-delivery system on a tractor and planter together. The ExactRate liquid fertilizer system includes integrated ExactRate tanks on an 8RX four-track Tractor, integrated plumbing, and integrated factory-installed fluid tanks on the planter. When full, customers can use ExactRate to cover up to 80 acres per fill when applying at 20 gallons per acre. In addition, tracks on the tractor and planter reduce ground pressure and minimize soil compaction while seed and fertilizer are precisely placed.

John Deere also received an AE50 Award for its MY22 1775NT 24-Row Planter with features that increase onboard seed and fertilizer capacity and reduce soil compaction. New commodity tanks provide a 30-bushel increase in onboard seed capacity and a 150-gallon increase in liquid-fertilizer capacity compared to previous models, with a mainframe tracks option that reduces ground pressure under the center section by 70% compared to tires.

“The reduction in ground pressure helps increase crop yield by reducing soil compaction in rows under the center frame and increases the productivity of existing farmland. The additional onboard commodity capacity reduces the number of seed and fertilizer tender stops, saving customers time and fuel,”

Dawson said.

John Deere HDF Drapers were another AE50 award winner. These drapers provide the superior ground-following capability for on-and-off-ground harvesting, so customers can recover more crops while meeting the high-capacity needs of today’s combines. The HDF combines a flexible cutter bar with a hinged frame and hydraulic suspension and is the industry’s first combine header that merges a flexible cutter bar; hydraulic suspension between combine and head and between center frame and wings; a hinged frame with vertically articulating wings; and in-cab, on-the-fly float pressure and cut-height adjustment. This combination offers the best terrain-following performance in the industry.

Another AE50 award was presented to John Deere for its Quick Change Blades for its ProSeries Openers that help farmers save time and reduce labor costs required to change them on no-till air seeding tools. Using Quick Change Blades significantly reduces dealer maintenance costs and the time a customer may spend under the drill performing this routine maintenance.

John Deere W200 Series Self-Propelled Windrowers received an AE50 award and are available with optional new features that include TouchSet in-cab push-button controls operators can use to adjust swath flap and forming shields from the cab. This technology helps them maximize their windrowing efficiency with every pass through the field.

Last August, John Deere introduced the new CP770 Cotton Picker and new CS770 Cotton Striper. Each machine provides unmatched levels of productivity, technology, and efficiency for cotton growers. The CP770 Cotton Picker can harvest more than 10 acres per hour while reducing cotton losses. The CS770 Cotton Stripper can harvest up to an extra 100 acres per day in dryland cotton.

“Both machines feature a new cotton handling system that reduces wrap and hauling costs up to 8% on the picker and 12% on the stripper. Customers and the environment benefit through less wrap and fuel being used through the life of these harvesters,”

Dawson said.

The post John Deere Presented with Eight 2022 AE50 Awards for Innovative Product Engineering from ASABE appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

AGCO Corporation announced that its 9350 DynaFlex draper header with AutoDock header docking system for Fendt IDEAL combines has been awarded the prestigious 2021 Davidson Prize for agricultural engineering excellence.

“The Davidson is among agriculture’s highest engineering honors, and AGCO is immensely proud of this recognition from ASABE and AEM,”

said Kevin Forth, AGCO senior tactical marketing manager.

“The Dynaflex with AutoDock is a perfect example of AGCO’s intentional development of smart solutions that are designed from the ground up with farmers’ needs in mind.”

The 9350 DynaFlex draper header with AutoDock header docking system is a 50-foot flexible header with the industry’s first automatic system for efficiently attaching all mechanical, electrical and hydraulic connections of the header to the Fendt IDEAL combine. AutoDock allows operators to connect and disconnect the header without leaving the cab of the combine, a necessary first step on the way to future total automation of the harvesting process.

The Davidson Prize is awarded by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) to their three top-scoring AE50 winners that represents the best of each year’s new products. The DynaFlex, along with seven other AGCO products, was awarded an AE50 award in November 2020.

“AGCO’s DynaFlex Header with AutoDock represents the diversity of agricultural engineering that continues to bring advanced technology and exciting improvements to the marketplace. J.B. Davidson would be amazed at how advanced farm equipment has become,”

said Darrin Drollinger, executive director at ASABE.

“This is AGCO’s first Davidson Prize and we’re very proud of the honor,”

said Barry O’Shea, AGCO vice president, product line leader, upon accepting the award on behalf of AGCO.

“It’s the result of a tremendous amount of work by many dedicated people at AGCO, but it began with input from our farmer-customers and we’re very happy to provide them with a solution that makes their jobs easier and more productive.”

Consistent with AGCO’s deep focus on the farmer, the AutoDock was inspired by voice-of-customer surveys and interviews designed to uncover specific customer needs and develop solutions that address them. AutoDock was developed to reduce the time farmers spend hooking up and disconnecting their headers, which the new product now handles in five seconds. The system also recognizes the specifications of the header and can automatically configure combine settings, such as header dimensions and sensitivity settings for header height control. Safety features provided by the system’s autonomous capabilities mean that operators can configure the header without climbing in and out of the cab, docking and undocking may be performed without assistance, and driveline and hydraulic connections are accomplished automatically. These advantages reduce time-consuming chores, eliminate errors, and improve farming performance.

“We’re excited about the advancement of ag engineering and the positive impacts it has on farmers’ ability to work more efficiently,”

said Curt Blades, senior vice president of Agriculture for AEM.

The 9350 DynaFlex draper header with AutoDock header docking system is compatible with AGCO’s Fendt IDEAL combine.

The post AGCO’s 9350 DynaFlex Draper Header Receives 2021 Davidson Prize appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

The Head of Product Partnerships at the CLAAS-owned tech company 365FarmNet has been tapped for a new position within CLAAS’s North American operations. Patrick Honcoop has been hired as Head of Digital Business Development at CLAAS of America and will be responsible for the oversight and business development of all CLAAS and 365FarmNet digital solutions to help drive growth at the global ag equipment company. Patrick will report to the President and General Manager – Sales, Eric Raby.

“We’re excited to have Patrick join our operations here in North America,”

said Raby.

“He brings a tremendous amount of experience to this new position and has an excellent understanding of the latest technologies impacting ag professionals around the world.”

Patrick first joined the Berlin-based operations at 365FarmNet in 2014, as a trainee product manager. After completing his program in 2016, he assumed the role of Product Manager/Owner-Partner Integration, leading the partner-integration Scrum Team working to build and expand 365FarmNet.

In 2018, Patrick transitioned to the role of Head of Product Partnerships, leading a partnership team of product managers, owners and developers in building new partnerships and developing existing partners such as John Deere, Kubota, Horsch, Yara, BASF, Michelin, Topcon and Uniform Agri.

Patrick holds an MSc agricultural and bioresource engineering degree as well as a BSc in agricultural engineering from Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Source: CLAAS of America

The post CLAAS of America appoints Head of Digital Business Development appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.