Spring Farm

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A Publication Of

April 11, 2012

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ANDERSON A NDERSON IMPLEMENT IMPLEMENT 3043 M A .•F D • 515-547-2370 ADISON

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All Your New & Used Equipment • Parts • Sales & Service

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spring s pring Farm Farm 2012 2012

machine, looking like a small airplane fuselage without the wings, Ushering In The Era Of Modern Agriculture odd-looking with the operator comfortable in the cockpitlike cab with dedicated controls.

NAPS)– Two North Dakota farmers tinkering in a shed assembled the prototype of the first self-propelled sprayer of its kind – a high-speed, lowclearance, self-propelled sprayer for agricultural use – more than half a century ago.

Little did they realize their invention would revolutionize agriculture and become a mainstay on more North American farms than any other sprayer in its class.

It took about three years of tinkering for brothers John and Jake Kirschmann to put together the first “SpraCoupe.” It was, granted, an

The original prototype still exists and is on display at the AGCO assembly plant in Jackson, Minn.

Once it was perfected, they sold the newfangled sprayer to farmers on a small scale. Recognizing a good thing, it wasnít long before the agricultural equipment industry caught up with these innovative brothers. The rights and design of this new machine were purchased by several influential equipment companies.

Today, the SpraCoupe continues to be manufactured and sold by a leading manufacturer and marketer of advanced farming equipment, including tractors, dry and liquid application floaters and sprayers, combines and other essential farming equipment.

A clever couple of brothers created a new kind of farm machine that revolutionized agriculture.

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spring s pring Farm Farm 2 2012 012 “The SpraCoupe was a first in many ways – it was the world’s first low-clearance, high-speed, selfpropelled applicator of its kind for fertilizer and chemicals and it was much easier to use and more efficient than tractor-mounted spray booms,” says David Webster, AGCO Application Equipment director of sales. “It burned considerably less fuel, yet covered acres so much faster, allowing farmers to manage more acres and different types of crops.”

Webster says the SpraCoupe was a bellwether for what was coming in American agriculture – fewer producers farming larger tracts. “Today in the United States, farmers comprise less than 2 percent of the overall population and that percentage continues to shrink,” Webster explains. “Yet this small percentage of farmers is able to feed and clothe the remaining 98 percent of the population. It is because of equipment like the SpraCoupe that this is possible.”

The resulting evolutionary chain in farm application equipment led to the much larger, even higher-volume monster application rigs, such as the TerraGator and RoGator, that evolved to meet the demands of today’s high-intensity agriculture.

There are SpraCoupes still running today that are 20 to 30 years old, though farmers and professional applicators continue to purchase new ones. Besides being popular in the U.S. and Canada, the machine can be seen working farmland in South America, Europe, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

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The SpraCoupe has continued to evolve to meet the special demands of today’s agriculture but the basic design in many ways has stayed the same. You could say that the Kirschmann brothers got it right the first time.

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New Tires Gain Traction With Farmers And Drivers NAPS)– New kinds of tires are putting farmers and drivers on the road to increased safety, better performance and opportunities for bigger markets as well.

The tires, which are made using some surprising ingredients such as sunflower oil and sugar, can also mean good news for the environment.

For example, Michelin North America now uses sunflower oil produced by American farmers to help make one of its luxury tires stop faster in wet weather and deliver safer handling and great ride quality in all weather.

Tires and the Environment “One of Michelin’s core values is respect for the environment,” said Michael Vandel, marketing segment manager. He believes that the environment is everything to farmers and to their equipment supplier and that the choice of a tire can make a difference to the environment as well as their bottom line.

Environmental considerations are particularly important in agriculture. Tire companies invest heavily in research to improve fuel economy and traction and reduce soil compaction, which combine to reduce soil erosion and runoff into waterways.

Ag tires, for instance, are designed to run at lo pressures so they spread out to create a wider f spreads the weight of the tractor or combine, im and reducing compaction.

While the tires may look flat when properly inf actually help seeds take root. It can also help to and runoff, while letting the tractor grip the grou more efficiently and getting better fuel economy carbon emissions.

Said Vandel, “Little engineering details can ma difference in tire performance and in field and en health.”

Sunflower Oil and Sugar The performance advantages the sunflower o tire aside, it also provides North American sunflo additional market for their product, closing a circ benefits both the environment and the farmers’ incorporating what they grow into what they use crop.

And this is just the first of many technical adv

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research-driven company is making. It is now including sugar in compounds for tires that could be on the road in three to five years, according to Chemical & Engineering News.

To learn more, visit the redesigned website at www.MichelinAg.com.

Experts say little engineering details can make a big difference in tire performance and in environmental health.

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