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World seeding record tumbles as MT865 rises
to the challenge! Powered by the top of the range 373 kW (500 hp) Challenger MT865 tracked tractor, the record breaking team drilled the seed and fertiliser for a spring barley crop in Ukraine at the average rate of 24.3 ha an hour – that’s 60 acres in the old language. The Challenger MT865, equipped with Auto-Guide satellite navigation system, powered a 18.35m wide Horsch min-till drill to break the record. And it was all done under normal commercial farm operating conditions.
According to AGCO Australia product manager, Rowan Bennett, the Challenger tractor was unmodified, and the Horsch drill, built by agribusiness firm Agro-Soyuz in Ukraine, was also completely standard, straight out of the company’s factory and without any major changes. Operating at speeds of up to 20 kmph, the Challenger delivered the goods at a fuel consumption rate of just 3.8 litre/ha. “While the record is an extraordinary achievement, it was actually a typical day for a Challenger,” says Bennett. “These tractors are designed and built specifically for this type of high-output operation. MT800 Series tractors consistently deliver work rates similar to those achieved in the record, providing unrivalled performance and economy.” Agro-Soyuz, Ukraine’s leading farming company, grows 7,500 ha of arable crops. And according to Bennett, the company’s farm on which the record was broken performed the operation with its usual efficiency and precision and using its normal procedures. The crop of ‘Prairie’ spring barley was sown at the seed rate of 130 kg/ha with 370 kg/ha of 16/16/16 prilled NPK fertiliser. The predominate soil type worked was a black, peaty clay loam typical of the Steppe region, where large fields are the norm. Yields in the record-breaking fields are expected to be about 3.5 to 4 tonnes/ha – with average rainfall of about 321 mm, moisture is the main limiting factor. The average yield in the Ukraine would be 2.3t/ha (1.00 t/acre) for the same crop. Not surprisingly, precision farming played an important role in achieving the record. Overall gains in output up to 20 pc are normally achieved using the optional DGPS Auto- Guide system, says Bennett. Developed in conjunction with Australian-based Beeline Technologies, Auto-Guide automatically steers the tractor in precisely straight lines down to a static accuracy of 2cm. At the headland the operator disengages the auto guidance by simply touching the steering wheel. Operators in the record breaking team maintained consistent forward speeds of around 17 kmph using the automatic steering system. The system also eliminated any over or underlapping, meaning that every cm of the drill’s working width was effectively used. Since 1996 Agro-Soyuz has been using no-till and minimum techniques to help raise yields by conserving the sparse moisture, reduce the risk on soil erosion and improve soil fertility and humus levels. To do this, the company uses Horsch band sowing technology, and now builds the 18.35m wide drill in a factory at its headquarters in Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine. As well as the environmental and agronomic benefits, the Horsch system greatly improves outputs. While achieving average performance of about 24.3 ha per hour in the record run, the drill regularly works at about 16 ha per hour in normal use. To put this in context, equipment more usually found on Ukrainian farms would struggle to achieve outputs of 20 ha a day! Adjudicator’s reports and evidence has been lodged with the Guinness Book of Records for official acknowledgement. The official time was recorded using precise information supplied by the GPS satellites.
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