FIMA 2020

FIMA is always a real party for farmers and especially for lovers of agricultural machinery. The 41st edition closed its doors last 29th of February beating records in its numbers: 237,466 visitors, 1,652 brands exhibited in its 163,500 square meters, 41 technical innovations awarded, more than 3,000 meetings and international gatherings among the exhibiting companies, more than 2,000 attendees to the conferences and parallel activities, nearly 80 nationalities gathered in FIMA 2020... It is without a doubt one of the most important agricultural fairs in Europe. All these numbers make that talking to the exhibitors it is confirmed that it has been one of the best editions.

We were lucky enough to visit the fair for two days and we were able to see most of the stands. The displayed machinery is always over-dimensioned and in many cases out of reach for many Spanish farmers. However, we understand that it is a good place for brands to show all their potential and display their best products. Our feeling was that the stands had fewer machines than in previous years, but were very well selected to have a perfect representation of the brand.

The trend of the use of new technologies is clear chance. Although, in many cases the farmer does not demand so much digitalization because in many cases it becomes complex. Besides, sometimes when the farmer is working with this kind of machines he does not know how to get 100% of its performance or configuration. It is also noted that woody crops are becoming increasingly important in Spain and therefore all related machinery is increasing. Then, there were many exhibitors with sprayers, mulchers, pruning machines and tools, almond and olive harvesters, etc.

As for the stands, we assume that one of the most visited could be John Deere although one of the most impressive, as usual, was the New Holland stand (perhaps this year it was not as spectacular as on other occasions). The stands of Durán Maquinaria Agrícola and Lemken should also be highlighted, as they have improved a lot with respect to previous editions. We also liked the Kubota stand, although they had too many tractors for the square metres occupied and it was crowded.

The sector of loaders and telescopic handlers is also in fashion and we could see a great variety of brands and models. Some of the things that caught our attention was that many manufacturers incorporated mega video screens. At least to us, these screens were almost unnoticed because it they are not focused you look at the machines and not at the screens. The Arbos stand was much more modest when compared to that of FIMA 2018... perhaps more in keeping with the brand's situation in Spain. On the other hand, we could see two virtualised stands... we were talking about the stand of Massey Ferguson and Hardi, who had virtual reality glasses where you could see their products... it is something very new that didn't convince us much but we'll see if the idea takes hold in the future.

In terms of notable developments that caught our attention, we mention the following issues:

• Fendt 314 Vario  and Fendt 942 Vario tractor models
• Gregoire grape harvesters' with the great renovation of their cabins
• New Holland's new high density big baler and New Holland T6 biomethane tractor,
• John Deere 8RX great tractor and the new electric transmission that is more efficient than traditional hydraulics
• TMC Cancela mulchers that have an extraordinary finish
• Gil's new harrowing discs
• iDavid's vine tools that look like they're from another planet
• General Agrícola products as: direct system of dosage, mixing and injection of the phytosanitary product in the atomizers
• Hardi atomizers and sprayers that look extraordinary
• CaseIH Magnum new multi-controller arm
• Claas Lexion combine that is really lovely
• Same Frutteto CVT ActiveSteer
• Cerea GPS evolution with a new steering wheel
• Bellota's projects to improve the durability of its wear parts
• Valley's app for complete pivot management
• ... all this novelties among many more that you can see in our pictures and videos.

Versión en español.

Videos:

• FIMA 2020. Kubota M6002
• FIMA 2020. JCB AgriPRO Telehandler
• FIMA 2020. General Agrícola
• FIMA 2020. Ovlac
• FIMA 2020. FendtONE New Cabin
• FIMA 2020. Fendt Slicer Mower
• FIMA 2020. Fendt 942 Vario
• FIMA 2020. AG GROUP - SIWI Hitch
• FIMA 2020. John Deere 8RX and S700
• FIMA 2020. New Holland Big Baler 1290 High Density
• FIMA 2020. New Holland T4 F
• FIMA 2020. CaseIH Axial-Flow Combine

Pictures:

For the maize stubble... the plough

The use of the plough is beneficial although nowadays many farms have very consolidated direct sowing and in addition many times it is the only way to be able to get to the right place at the right time. However, in some cases the ploughing of stubble is very necessary, especially in irrigated fields that have been sown with maize or sunflower. This is due to the fact that the soil becomes very hard with irrigation and the tracks of tractors, combines, pivots, etc. are very marked. We have been talking to our friend Fernando Martín (from Medina de Rioseco - Valladolid), who was ploughing the stubble of maize with his Pöttinger Servo 35 S plough and his John Deere 6190 R.

The plough is five-furrow with a distance between furrows of 1.10 m. It is a very long distance that certainly helps to have good relief, but the plough is much heavier when it is suspended. In fact, he had trouble lifting it until they adjusted the chassis of the third point of the plough to a higher position. The mouldboards are slatted mouldboards, so it relieves weight and also works very well on wet fields as it loosens the soil better and generates less traction. As for the non-stop system, it is a hydropneumatic system that can be configured from the tractor to vary the pressure and therefore the triggering aggressiveness (it normally works at around 100 bar). If you have fields without stones, a plough with fuse safety system is recommended, but if you have stones or work on very hard soil, the hydro-pneumatic system is highly recommended as it works much better than the leaf spring and is much more comfortable to adapt to soil conditions. One of the main advantages of fuse ploughs is that the first furrow is closer to the tractor, so it works much better and also that type of plough is lighter. One of the main advantages of ploughs with fuse safety system is that the first furrow is closer to the tractor, so it works much better and also that type of plough is lighter.

The plough has a memory system that allows, every time you change the headland the closing, turning and opening movements in a robotic way. The opening is done at the distance you have programmed. Normally, you would plough at a distance of 40 cm, which would mean a working width of 2 metres. You can fix it at a maximum of 2.5 meters working width but you need more power and if it is much closed you can have problems with disposal if you have a lot of waste, obviously. As it is five-furrow plough, the tractor is in a furrow, but with the mouldboards uses they make a quite big furrow and the tires don't suffer in spite of being wide tires. We think, the ideal today are the off-furrow ploughs to take advantage of, for example, the self-guiding systems but they are more recommended for ploughs of at least six-furrow.

As for the skimmers, they are not necessary because the plough flip a lot. In addition, when working with skimmers, the surface part of the soil is buried first and therefore remains largely buried. That's all very well when you want to remove of waste, grain that has been thrown away by the combine or weeds, but when you throw away manure, for example, it gets very clogged up and sometimes it's not your goal. For this last reason, Fernando has chosen to remove the skimmers.

Another feature to highlight is the depth control wheel. In this case it is a double wheel that is much better than the pendulum wheels. The double wheel doesn't suffer in the turning movements like the single pendulum wheel and it can also be put on the penultimate body and therefore doesn't hinder you to plough near a border or any obstacle you have in the field. If the wheel goes next to the last body, you have to leave distance to the obstacle and the whole plot is not used.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the following characteristics of the disc coulters. As you can see in the photos, it is equipped with two scalloped disc coulters that are fixed in front of the last furrow. This helps the last furrow has a correct working depth and therefore that the whole plough works equally. A clean disc coulter cut guarantees precise turning of the ridge and a clean furrow.

Versión en español.