With its largest-ever showing at a Farm Progress Show at the end of August in Decatur, Ill., high-end equipment manufacturer Fendt is raising the profile of new row-crop-friendly additions to its traditionally niche lineup.

This year, the Agco-owned brand unveiled the sixth generation of Fendt 900 Series tractors. The five models are specifically designed for large-scale agriculture in the Midwest.

Fendt also recently released the Momentum planter, demonstrating it at Agrishow 2019, a show based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and owned by Farm Progress parent company, Informa Markets. Fendt released its Ideal combine in 2018, and in 2016, the company rolled out its first row crop tractor, the 1000 Vario — a larger and slightly less-maneuverable machine than the 900.

Fendt has added 100 new dealerships in the Midwest over the past year, and now has a dealership presence in 69% of all large ag markets in the U.S. and Canada. The company says it has 189 locations.

“We introduced Fendt to North America approximately 20 years ago. But at the time, it was more of a niche brand. We were in pockets of the Midwest, especially where there was a concentration of dairies, but in the true row crop country, we did not have a presence,” says Bob Crane, senior vice president and general manager for the Americas at Agco. “Now we do.”

Fendt premiered the world’s first horsepower tractor with continuously variable transmission in the mid-’90s. Farmers gravitated toward it for loader work and manure hauling — tasks where speed could be more precisely controlled by variable transmission. The brand carries a popular no-deductible, 3,000-hour warranty.

PREMIUM: Farmers interested in Fendt machines got the chance to sit inside a premium cab with three-point suspension, a Fendt ISOBUS-capable terminal, heated seats and an adjustable driving station.

Services through Fuse, such as AgCommand and the new Agco Connect, help producers make the most of their investment, allowing them to track stats for a whole fleet of machines and reduce downtime. They can share data directly with dealers and get near-real-time alerts to problems.

“Last week, I was in Jackson [Minn.] We’ve got a technology center where we’re actually looking at tractors all across North America. It’s almost like ground control in Houston,” Crane says, noting customers of premier brands Challenger and Fendt get three years of Agco Connect for free. “It’s considered a premium tractor, and you want to do everything you can to get a premium return on investment.”