A No-Till Farmer Staff Report

No-Till Farmer sent 11 staffers to the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, to cover the latest equipment innovation trends in the no-till market. What follows are the most noteworthy product launches, industry notes and trending news editors found impacting the North American ag market. For more on what our editors saw, heard and experienced on the show grounds, visit No-Till Farmer’s Facebook and Twitter pages (#FPS18). You can also find additional coverage and exclusive video interviews on www.No-TillFarmer.com. 

AGCO’s Ideal Combine Draws Crowds

Perhaps the biggest story line at the show was AGCO’s new Fendt Ideal combine. After AGCO first revealed the machine earlier this summer at the Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina, Sask., the company had three of them on display in Boone. This was a good thing, said company officials, given the constant crowd that the combines were attracting to the AGCO tent. 

AGCO says the company has spent 7 years developing the product up to this point. The development process included farmer and dealer feedback at every step. The design of the Ideal essentially started from scratch, the first such “clean sheet” axial combine in 30 years. 

In an interview with No-Till Farmer editors at the Farm Progress Show, Bob Crain, AGCO senior vice president and general manager, Americas, says the new combine will be rolled out slowly. Only 11 dealers will initially sell the Ideal, with more dealers added in the fourth quarter, with possibly around 100 dealers…