Fendt held a global press conference early July 13, with a wide-ranging look at the brand's lineup for 2021 and beyond. The key message is that Fendt is aiming to be a full-line global provider of equipment for agriculture. In that vein, the company keeps expanding its offering with machines designed for a wider market.

A leading launch is the new Fendt Rogator 900. This machine, to be built in Jackson, Minn., targets the larger row crop segments of North America, South America, Eastern Europe, and South Africa. This is far more than a rebranded U.S. Rogator and has been undergoing validation testing in Nebraska.

During the global conference, Chris Iverson, product manager, Fendt Rogator 900, shared some initial details of the new machine. A more thorough look at the machine is ahead for U.S. farmers and dealers who attend the Farm Progress Show.

The machine features the hood found on the Fendt 900 tractor and uses the cab of a Fendt 700. And Iverson notes the machine will be available in five models with standard and high-clearance versions available for later season applications of pesticides, fungicides and cover crop seeding. The machines will have a reversible fan, which is a first for a self-propelled sprayer, and will help with those late-season applications. The machines also feature a wide walkway and more spacious cab.

The new sprayers will use the Liquid Logic system developed by Agco which includes a recirculating boom allowing priming while folded to get to work faster in the field. The one-touch boom with that charging means you're off and running as soon as you reach a field edge. "There are 36 sections for automatic shutoff to save product on every pass," Iverson says. "And with the boom design you can recover product back into the tank if plans change or unforeseen weather circumstances arise."

A key feature of the new sprayer is the availability of the first rear boom sprayer with a dual clearance design. The machine can go from a standard clearance height to high clearance - up to 75-inches tall - for late season spraying. "You can cover the same acres with the Rogator throughout the season," he says. 

Iverson adds that the new design has cut the conversion time to move from liquid to dry application by half. More information will become available about the sprayer after the official U.S. launch.

Beefing up the bigger tractors

The Fendt 900 and 1000 Series tractors have been well received in the global market, matching sales goals according to Fendt management. The machines are being put to use year round, and in light of that there's a new feature – a self-cleaning air filter system.

Roland Schmidt, vice president of marketing, Fendt, explains that in year-round use these machines are confronting more dusty conditions. "The self-cleaning air filter uses a compressed air tank, a magnetic valve, and a pulse valve to provide an air blast into the filter to clean from any dust," he notes. "This can be don’t automatically or manually."

The system pushed air inside the filter, forcing dust out which is then cleared from the engine by the cooling fan. The video shown during the event, has a Fendt 900 working in some significantly dusty conditions. This system also allows a filter to run up to 10 times longer than in the case of manual filter cleaning. Schmidt says the system can boost operation by up to an extra hour per day.

The Fendt 1000 Vario, built in Marktoberdorf, Germany, is an international tractor with more than half of the machines exported to North and South America (20% to South America, and 35% to North America).

The company also introduced a new tire from Trelleborg for the 1000, which is designed to run at a lower pressure and increase the contact area on the ground by more than 25%. Combined with the optional tire pressure regulating system – which works with duals too – Schmidt says the system allows a farmer to "exploit the full potential of the 500-horsepower machine."

Outlining a strategy

Eric Hansotia, who came in as president and CEO of Agco in 2020, made it to Germany to be part of the global media event, and he spoke of the focus for the company from sustainability to farmer first.

"Our purpose, which is the long- term statement, is to provide farmer-focused solutions to sustainability to feed our world," he says. "We are farmer focused. Our solutions are about delivering equipment and activities around our equipment that solve problems."

Hansotia notes that in the course of the pandemic, feeding the world, became important for employees. "Employees became passionate about their part of the continuity of the global food chain," he notes.

Part of that opportunity will be delivering innovations to farmers that boost productivity and efficiency. The Fendt brand will be a growing part of that mission. And the company is hard at work looking at new ways to farm from electric tractors charged by photovoltaic sells on a farm to experimental work with hydrogen either as a fuel source or for fuel cells.

Innovation has long been a hallmark of the Fendt brand, and it looks like Agco is doubling down. The entire Fendt equipment line available to the U.S. market will be on display at the Farm Progress Show.