Author: Chris McCullough

A cow toilet developed by Dutch company Hanskamp AgroTech BV has been awarded the only Gold Medal for innovations at EuroTier (which returns for a virtual show in Feb 2021). The DLG Innovation Committee, an independent expert jury appointed by the DLG (German Agricultural Society), selected Hanskamp’s CowToilet from 80 nominees. The Dutch are renowned for inventing some real wacky equipment for livestock but the latest one really has left farmers feeling a little bit ‘flushed.’ A cow toilet that collects urine to reduce ammonia Designed primarily to ease the ever increasing regulations on the dairy industry, Hanskamp’s CowToilet is an…

A NEW map displaying soil fertility every 30m across Africa has been developed to help improve the production of food in all of the continent’s 54 nations. Armed with information regarding the capability of the soil, farmers can decide on which areas are most suitable for specific crops and know where more nutrients are required to sustain better plant life. Thanks to a group of international scientists that developed the map using a combination of soil spectral technology, satellite data and machine learning, Africa is the first continent to chart its soil fertility in every single field. The map has been…

The tiny island of Sark has become the first customer in Great Britain to purchase an all-electric tractor for use on La Seigneurie estate. Sark is the fourth smallest of the Channel Islands and nestles in the English Channel just off the Normandy coast. It is famous for having no cars on its roads and tractors are the preferred mode of transport. However, with the advances in technology, Major Christopher Beaumont, the 23rd Seigneur of Sark, has become the first customer in Great Britain to purchase an all-electric tractor. After trawling many websites researching electric tractors Beaumont found the Farmtrac…

Running the wrong pressures in a set of tyres can be damaging to soil, crops and the tyres themselves. New technology may be everywhere in agricultural machinery itself but it’s not often found in tyres. For the first time in the UK a self-propelled sprayer has been fitted with Continental’s VF Technology tyres. VF or ‘Very high Flexion’ tyres are highly durable and remain drivable at low air pressure. They can carry greater loads with less soil compaction due to a larger contact surface area. Furthermore a VF tyre can host the latest sensor technology to help monitor pressure and…

With continual focus on improving the environment, JCB has just launched its first ever electric Loadall, adding to the growing list of the UK manufacturer’s zero emissions machines. It’s been over 43 years since JCB first pioneered the concept of telescopic handlers, but now the new electric 525-60E has been unveiled marking another step in the history of this popular telehandler. Designed to deliver the same performance as the conventional diesel-powered machine, the 525-60E offers a zero-emissions load handling solution for use in agriculture and commercial horticulture, as well as for groundscare, landscaping, construction and industrial applications. The 525-60E uses…

An app has been on trial at CAFRE (College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise) in Northern Ireland to gage its potential in monitoring crops in real-time. The Skippy Scout app, developed by DroneAg based in Northumberland, uses a small drone which flies autonomously to pre-selected points in a field. How does Skippy Scout work? As a starting point a  field map image from any source is uploaded to the app. The number and location of monitoring points within the field (on that map) are then selected by the controller who simply taps on-screen to mark them. Once the drone is…

A NEW robot to clean the manure from solid floors in cattle sheds has been launched by Dutch company Joz. The latest innovation called the Barn-E is available in two sizes; 155cms as standard or an extra wide version of 185cms. They have been designed to clean all types of solid floors such as concrete and rubber. Using the latest technology to move around, the Barn-E actually picks up the manure, stores it via a rotating feeder and then drives to the discharge point, where it deposits the collected manure. The Barn-E has a storage capacity of 370 litres on…

WITH a main goal of forming direct food supply links with consumers, farmers strive to find the new technology that can make this happen. All too often farmers lose out to middle men in the food chain who take the lion’s share of the profits leaving them sometimes only breaking even or losing money. Consumers want food as fresh as they can get it and there is no place better to buy fresh produce than direct from the farmer. One company that is addressing this issue is Dutch based livestock equipment specialist Lely which has developed an on-farm milk processing…

For farmers dealing regularly with field drainage issues – often heavy clay soils which are easily compacted by heavy farm machinery, it can make sense to switch from tyres to tracks. Whilst tracks are more expensive to replace, the benefit to the soil and crops from the increased weight spread is obvious. Tracked machines are also reported to provide a smoother ride with increased stability on hillsides and less slipping. There are four tracked models in the new Fendt 1100 Vario MT range with power to the 511hp Fendt 1151 Vario MT, 564hp Fendt 1156 Vario MT and 618hp Fendt…

IRISH machinery manufacturer Keltec has launched what it believes to be the first front mounted mower with steering as a standard feature. With a 3m cutting width the new model can be steered from the cab to eliminate uncut strips of grass when turning or running alongside bends in the headland. This, the Limerick based company believes, is the first time that such a feature has been available on a standard mower rather than as a third party conversion. It was designed in response to feedback from the many contractor customers of the company’s present range. The angle of the mower…