Happy Harvests

One of the largest machines on display last year was the Case IH Axial 7120 valued at around $500,000. It's the

Sumo wrestler of the grain paddock and if sales of these behemoths are an indication of the state of farming in New Zealand, several of these combine harvesters were sold even before the start of the Fieldays last year.

The company was so pleased with sales progress like this, even in the relatively tight market that was the tractor and harvester segment, they took the customers to Grand Island, Nebraska, to see the 7120 being built for themselves and at 8.7 litres developing 360 horsepower from a six-cylinder it's impressive. But, in fact, it's not the biggest machine the company produces. In the USA there are two models with greater horsepower than this one.

And of course it's totally computer-chipped and controlled as are most high-end tractors and other pieces of farm equipment. Guesswork doesn't rate a mention. The satellite technology available is so precise it can track crop planting from the year before and navigate its own way down the same row the following year but leaving a growth gap so as not to plant over the top of the previous row.

Even so-called 'standard' tractors come in varying shapes and sizes to suit individual needs. There's your standard compact utility tractors, your row-crop tractor, utility tractor, specialty tractor and your all-round four-wheel drive tractor. And they have so many TLAs (three-letter-acronyms) they sound like the latest top-of-the-line cars. Consider, for instance, the John Deere IMS, the APS, the HID lighting options and the Green Star AutoTrac system, GSAT which is four letters but who's counting?

Added to that specification list and for 'pure driver comfort' let's not forget the air cushion suspension and a patented 'active' seat.

Tractors available in New Zealand are from all over the world with names so exotic they could be on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show as road-going prototypes-Fendt, Maschi, Schuitemaker-and from countries as diverse as Italy or Japan or Scandanavia. It's the global village down on the farm.

And in Northland we do things a little differently when it comes to field days. At the Northland Field Days earlier this year some tractors were on display for selling and, for other than selling. The Northland Fire Service set fire to tractors twice a day during the show-both for crowd entertainment and as an educational tool.

There was a 13% increase in tractor fires over the past two years and around 20 of those were in Northland. Birds' nests are the biggest problem and the fact farmers don't always clean them out.