Harvest tour brings combine to fields

HEYWORTH, Ill. — The Fendt IDEAL Harvest Tour visited 11 farms in 11 days across five states to let farmers use the combine for harvest in their own fields.

“We’re showing farmers how the IDEAL combine can improve their harvest capabilities,” said Bob Blakely, AGCO North America media relations manager, at Friedrich Farms stop near Heyworth.

“We’re out getting farmers’ stories, learning about their operation, trying to see what their challenges are, what their opportunities are and then, of course, we’re showing them the Fendt IDEAL combine, as well,” said Kevin Forth, Fendt’s North America senior tactical marketing manager.

“We let the farmers run the combine. We want to showcase the IDEAL combine and all of its features.”

During the stops in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Minnesota, the feature that farmers first notice when entering the combine is there’s no steering wheel.

With IDEALdrive, there is no need for a steering column. Instead of using a steering wheel, the harvest is controlled with a joystick on the left armrest.

The left hand steers while the right hand controls the speed. The joystick’s control and intuitive response are proportional to the driving speed.

“What we have seen at each of our stops is it only takes about 15 minutes until they are used to (not having a steering wheel) and then the benefits greatly outweigh the challenge,” Forth said.

“It takes a little bit to get used to, for sure, but then you realize that the visibility is unmatched. There’s no steering column in your way. You actually sit back in the seat, and so it’s much, much more comfortable to run.

“You don’t get that little lower back pain every day and you don’t wear out your shoulder turning that wheel. We’ve seen from university testing that you actually pick up a quite a bit of productivity with the joystick steering.”

Overall Efficiency

IDEAL’s features include a focus on efficiency.

“The standard features on the IDEAL are the longest rotors in the industry — 16 feet long — which give it a huge amount of capacity,” Forth said.

“It’s also the fastest unloading system in the world with a six-bushels per second average. It allows the machine to be very, very efficient both with fuel and time, and that’s obviously two of the most critical things when you’re farming.”

Tour Goals

The Ohio-to-Minnesota five-state tour featured stops at 11 farms where the equipment ranged from “green” to “red.”

“We’ve been to a Fendt customer, a New Holland, a Case, a John Deere. We’re going against all the competition and really showcasing what the Fendt IDEAL can do,” Forth said.

“We’ve partnered with our dealers to get some critical influencer-type customers in the area and really want to showcase it to guys that are interested in the Fendt IDEAL. The base of it is a demonstration and maybe one day they decide to buy an IDEAL combine and we want to show them what we have.”

The tour not only allows farmers to operate the combine, but also offer input.

“We’re the only one with a black combine and it’s the only one in the industry without a steering wheel. Then, there’s all the other features that go with it — the high capacity, the super efficiency, low grain loss, all the things that really matter to a customer,” Forth said.

“But, at the same time, we don’t assume to know what is important to them. That’s the other part of the Harvest Tour is that we want to go right out to the field, talk to the farmers, find out what’s important to them, what features they like, where maybe we can improve in the future.

“AGCO is a farmer-first company and we really mean that. We’re right out here in the field listening to what they say and take that back and improve our products with that.”

Frederick Farms

“We’re always up for new challenges. I think typically all farmers like to see what’s the latest and greatest and that’s what we’re doing here. We’re just trying new things, see what works and what doesn’t, and try to make our operation better for us and our landowners,” said Bill Frederick, of Friedrich Farms, who farms with his two brothers and their father, Paul.

Paul, who recently turned 90, was unable to be a the Harvest Tour stop on Oct. 18, but is still involved in the farming operation.

“He’s been in the combine this harvest and he loves it. There’s nothing better that he likes to do than run a combine,” Frederick said.

“It’s a cool machine. I’m grateful for Kuhns Equipment of Gibson City who helped us experience this. I wish my dad was out here, but we’ve got everybody else out here. We warned Fendt that they’re going to come out here to Randolph Township and we’re going to have some fun.”

Lunch was served at each of the stops where family members and other spectators gathered to watch the combine in action.

Frederick said harvest conditions have been ideal on his McLean County farm.

“It’s been a great fall. It’s been dry and we’re having fun. Everybody’s healthy and happy,” he said.

“The yields are better. We are 11 inches of rain behind, maybe even 12 inches behind. We’ve got semis out in the field driving up and down like it’s an interstate highway because it’s so dry, and that’s not typical, but it’s nice and it’s been great.”