Cereal harvest. Extraordinary year

Throughout the year we have been recalling the disastrous cereal harvest of 2023 in every single job we have undertaken during this campaign. Even the post we dedicated last year to the harvest was entitled "Harvesting 2023. Annus horribilis". It truly was a year of very poor yields, resulting in significant economic losses. This year, the situation has been the exact opposite, culminating in a record harvest. I don't remember a year as bad as 2023 and we don't remember a year with such high returns as we have experienced in 2024.

These days, with the cereal harvest practically finished, we are looking at the yields and we obtain a really high average for unirrigated fields: 5,800kg/ha of Medinaceli barley (all the barley we have sown is of this R2 variety). In our area, an average of 4,000kg/ha is considered very good, so this year is extraordinary  One mistake we made due to last year's poor results is that we have a lot of fallow fields and we did not sow as much cereal as we could have sown.

It is true that we have done some things differently this season, specifically in sowing (using lower seed doses), in fertilisation (different types of fertiliser thanks to the slight drop in prices) and in spring with the fungicide treatment (which is not very common in barley in our area). Howevre, the main factor has been the 325 mm of rain we have had since January, which has been very well distributed over all the months of the year. I don't think we have had any long period where you can say there has been a lack of water.

Now, we are left with pulse vegetables and triticale... we will see what yields we get.

Versión en español.

Vario Drive PRO Tour

On May 28th, we attended the 6th stop of the Vario Drive PRO tour in Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza), organized by Fendt throughout Spain. It was a very interesting day, and we will now share more details with you. This type of event is increasingly being promoted by manufacturers such as John Deere with its Roadshow, Valtra with its SmartTour, Deutz-Fahr with its Deutz-Fahrmer Festival in Albacete and many more manufacturers. All these events aim to bring together a "small" group of farmers (around 300) to have a more personalised contact with them and inform them about all the new products and technology.

The tour focuses on the tractor ranges using Vario Drive (Fendt 1000, 900 and 700 Gen7). In this respect, we were able to see the following tractors at work with Ovlac implements:

• Fendt 942 and 930 Vario.
• Fendt 728 and 726 Vario Gen7.
• Fendt  722 and 716 Gen 6.
• Fendt 312 Vario Gen4.

As for the Fendt Vario Drive PRO Tour, this is the schedule for its eight events:

1. Murcia, 11 April.
2. Seville, 25 April.
3. Guadalajara, 14 May.
4. Valladolid, 23 May.
5. Zaragoza, 28 May.
6. Girona, 30 May.
7. Navarra, 4 June.
8. Galicia, in autumn.

The event is divided into 5 stations where you can see the most important features that the German manufacturer wants to unveil:

• Vario Drive: the new version of the Vario gearbox, which could be called Vario 2.0. 
• Operator environment Fendt ONE: the new operator environment for the entire tractor line-up.
• Full line: Fendt is a global manufacturer of agricultural machinery, not just tractors.
• Rear lift system: double-acting rear linkage for greater depth control without loss of sensitivity.
• Automatic turns, ISOBUS and automation: technological features that make the Fendt ONE unique with its three in-cab displays.

In terms of our impressions, these would be the highlights:

• We were very surprised by the automation of the headlands system, automatic turns and ISOBUS connections. These are not new topics, but we were able to see how easy it is to set up and how helpful it is to have everything displayed on the three screens in the Fendt ONE operator environment.
• The new Fendt 700 Gen7 series is arguably a superior tractor to many of its rivals, thanks mainly to its Vario Drive transmission and 7.5-litre Agco Power engines. It has already eaten up the 800 series right from the start.
• The new Fendt ErgoSteer joystick is an interesting idea for tractors that do a lot of loader work, for example. 
• As far as the Full line is concerned, it is clear that Fendt is number one in tractors. However, when it comes to forage harvesters, it has serious rivals that in some cases may even surpass them.
• In the field, we saw that there were too few tractors for all the people. We were not able to try many of the tractors that were working.
• Finally, a nice lunch to talk with some friends we met and others we got to know... you always share experiences and learn interesting things.

Overall, the Vario Drive PRO tour provided a comprehensive insight into Fendt's latest technological advancements and product offerings. Despite some limitations in the number of tractors available for testing, the event effectively showcased the brand's strengths in automation, operator environment, and innovative features, reinforcing Fendt's leadership in the tractor market.

Versión en español.