Thousands of farmers walked through the miles of aisles at the 2011 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. With commodity prices high, attendees were upbeat and in a serious buying mood.

Here are some of the new products that were featured at the show.

Pre-apply nitrogen applicator

The new Nutri-Pro nitrogen applicator from Great Plains allows a grower to apply liquid nitrogen while doing light tillage from two days to a week ahead of planting. RTK guidance will help place the fertilizer right where the planter will run so the corn will have nutrients available immediately. The liquid fertilizer option features three coulters with double row cleaners.

The 12-row, semi-mounted unit (shown on the home page) lists for $41,300. It is equipped with a ground-drive John Blue pump and a 600-gal. on-board fertilizer tank. The applicator bar may be equipped as a pull-type, semi-mounted or fully mounted toolbar. It also can be used as a side-dress bar. Contact Great Plains Mfg. at 785/823-3276 or visit www.greatplainsmfg.com.

Pull-type sprayer

A new pull-type sprayer with a 550-gal. tank, 45- or 60-ft. Eagle booms, and EVC three-section electric controls is available from Hardi North America. The Ranger 550 is easy to operate and simple to service, according to Hardi.

Price: $16,900. Contact Hardi North America, Dept. FIN, 1500 W. 76th St., Davenport, IA 52806, 563/386-1730, or visit www.hardi-us.com.

Cost-effective RTK system

Raven Industries introduces Cruizer II RTK that gives farmers an easy-to-use RTK solution for guidance. The Cruizer II includes RTK and SmarTrax RTK with sub-inch accuracy. Ryan Molitor with Raven says the new Cruizer addresses two concerns farmers often have with RTK: complexity and cost; the Cruizer II RTK model is easy to install and operate and costs less than $9,000.

For more information, contact Raven Industries, Dept. FIN, 205 E. 6th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 800/243-5435, or visit www.ravenprecision.com.

Precise field tiling

Trimble Navigation offers a new add-on product for the Trimble FMX display that allows a farmer to precisely tile and/or level a field for managing water. The FieldLevel II system uses GPS and GLONASS RTK to accurately determine tile lines and field leveling.

“Controlling a plow with a laser is well known in the industry. Now GPS has evolved to the point that it can give laser-like accuracy,” says John Downey, Trimble. Using the software on the FMX and a couple of components, farmers will be able to tile or level their fields without leaving their tractor cabs to reposition laser transmitters or set stakes.

The cost? “If you start from nothing and add on to get to the FieldLevel system, it costs $30,000 [including FMX, equipment components, software, installation and training],” Downey says. For more information, visit www.trimble.com/agriculture.

N applicator, sprayer

Fast Sprayers exhibited a new 16-row nitrogen applicator and a high-clearance pull-type sprayer, both new to the market. The 8313 liquid applicator features hydraulic wing kick to lessen crop damage when turning. It also features hydraulic down pressure on the wing for better nutrient placement and a compact tank for low center of gravity. Multiple coulter and row-spacing options are available. Price: $46,549.

The new 9600N high-capacity sprayer offers excellent crop clearance for late-season spraying. It is available with 60/80- or 60/90-ft. booms, 1,050- or 1,350-gal. compact tanks, and adjustable axles. The 10-ft. center section provides a narrow transport width. Price: $45,293.

For more information, contact Fast Sprayers, Dept. FIN, 54859 Cty. Rd. 44, Mountain Lake, MN 56159, 800/772-9279, or visit www.fastsprayers.com.

Steerable hitch for sprayers

Top Air now offers a steerable hitch option for two of its pull-type sprayer models. The TA 2400 and TA 1600 T-tank sprayers may be purchased with the new hitch that allows the sprayer to exactly follow the tractor on turns and headlands. This means that less crop is run over with tires. The hitch may be locked into a standard position for road travel.

Base list price of the hitch option is $6,225. For more information, contact Unverferth, Dept. FIN, Box 357, Kalida, OH 45853, 419/532-3121, or visit www.topairequip.com.

Parts cleaner

The new Vibra King 15 from Burr King will thoroughly clean machinery parts and other small items for a farm shop. The vibrating deburring machine uses a mixture of corncob and aluminum oxide to clean and polish parts, including metal, ceramic, plastic and wood. It even works on restoring silverware. The deburring machine comes complete with a stand and timer. It is 40 in. tall with a heavy polymer bowl that is 17½ in. in diameter and 9½ in. deep and holds 150 lbs.

Price: $2,200. For more information, contact Burr King Mfg. at 800/621-2748, or visit www.burrking.com.

Seed delivery cart

A new SeedWeigh seed delivery system is available from Par-Kan. The new SeedWeigh holds 300 units of seed in two compartments. A 390cc Honda engine unloads the cart at a rate of 11 bu./min. for filling seed boxes and 44 bu./min. for central fill systems. SeedWeigh is 11 ft. tall and about 8½ ft. wide and meets DOT specifications. A KSI 20-ft. conveyor features a balanced 12-in. belt in 8-in. tube with 2-in. cleats. A wireless remote with digital scale readout is available as an option.

List price for the base SeedWeigh cart is $25,700. For more information, contact Par-Kan Co., Dept. FIN, 2915 W. 900 S., Silver Lake, IN 46982, 800/291-5487, or visit www.par-kan.com.

Side-pull mower conditioner

A new side-pull disc mower conditioner is available from Massy Ferguson. The Hesston model 1363 conditioner features the RazorBar cutterbar with a spur-gear design. Each gear assembly and idler gear may be individually removed without taking apart the cutterbar. Cutting width of the mower conditioner is 9 ft. 9 in. The high-clearance mainframe design provides 20 in. of clearance over headland windrows.

Retail price: $25,812. For more information, contact AGCO/Massey Ferguson at www.masseyferguson.com. 

Hedgerow clearer

The HedgeHog from Hoelscher will help clear ditches, shelterbelts and CRP land of hedgerows and noxious shrubs, weeds and vines. It also will pull out wood fence posts up to 8 in. in diameter. The HedgeHog is constructed with heavy beveled tines of different width openings to help it lift any diameter of tree or post. It attaches to skid-steer or tractor loaders with quick-attach brackets.

Price: $1,695. For more information, contact Hoelscher at 620/562-3575, or visit www.hoelscherinc.com.