The Farm Machine of the Year award is voted by a jury from 16 agricultural magazines from all over Europe.
– This award is good evidence that TopDown and Opus with E-services can be essential for farmers looking to optimize their tillage operation even further. The award is also something to feel proud about for many people at Väderstad, who have been involved in the TopDown project in many roles during the years. As with everything we do here at Väderstad, this award is a team effort, says Wolfram Hastolz, Director Tillage Product Management at Väderstad.
The introduction of E-Services on TopDown 400-700 and Opus 400-700 allows the machines to use prescription maps, to control the machine setting automatically on the go. This means that the farmer, before going to the field, can program how the individual working elements - discs, tines, leveller and packer - should behave at specific spots on the field based on for example soil type, or field characteristics.
– The next step after the variable rate application of seed and fertiliser is to apply the same thinking to tillage. Here savings wait to be unleashed using the rule “as much as necessary, as little as possible”. Some of the benefits come as diesel savings and improved soil health, others by the possibility of increasing the working speed as well as reducing the wear. In addition, this enables an autonomous farming future, says Wolfram Hastolz.
TopDown and Opus with E-services is available from October 2023, with first machines delivered to farmers in the beginning of 2024.