New Holland wins two Agritechnica 2022 Silver medals

• The New Holland Baler Automation System, an industry first, is a significant step towards autonomous operation
• It combines automatic swath guidance with automatic steering and automatic bale weight setting, maximising productivity, fuel efficiency and comfort when baling with New Holland BigBaler Plus and BigBaler High Density large square balers and tractors
• The New Holland residue radars provide the combine operator with closed loop residue spreading automation to ensure even residue distribution, resulting in the best soil conditions for the next crop

New Holland Agriculture was awarded the Silver Medal for Innovation by the independent expert commission appointed by the DLG German Agricultural Society for its Baler Automation System. This unique innovation significantly improves the baling process, delivering multiple benefits in operator comfort and safety, fuel efficiency and bale quality – and takes a further step towards fully automated farming.

Laurent Libbrecht, Head of hay and forage and crop production stated: “We are very proud to receive this award, which recognises a unique innovation that delivers significant practical benefits to our customers. It is the first system in the industry that enables an operator to set a desired bale weight and then takes care of everything to produce perfect, consistent bales with maximum efficiency.”

The New Holland Baler Automation System is designed to maximise baling productivity and operator comfort based on swath volume, slice thickness, machine load and tractor engine load. It guides the tractor over the swath automatically: a reliable Lidar (light detection and ranging) sensor with IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) detects the position and cross section of the swath, and the system automatically adapts the forward speed accordingly. The tractor’s GPS system further improves the guidance accuracy.

The automatic guidance of the baler ensures equal bale chamber filling, always using the maximum capacity available without exceeding the limit. The result is increased productivity with more bales per day and greater durability for the baler. By maximising the throughput of the baler, the Baler Automation System also reduces the tractor’s fuel consumption, resulting in a lower production cost per bale.

An advanced feature enables the operator to set the desired bale weight and the system will predict the weight of the bales on the go, constantly adjusting according to an algorithm. The result is consistent bale weight, perfect bale shape and high quality even in changing crop and yield conditions – all without the operator’s intervention.

New Holland Agriculture also won the Silver Medal for Innovation for its new combine residue automation system, featuring the use of 2D radars and a patented closed loop algorithm.

Lars Skjoldager Sorensen, Head of Harvesting Product Management, stated: “We are very pleased that the commission has recognised this innovation, which takes spreading automation to a new level, making our customers’ life easier when combining and their efficiency and profitability. Our combine residue automation system takes away the need for the operator’s constant attention on the residue spreading, continuously fine tuning in changing conditions – they can remain entirely focused on harvesting, knowing that their following crop will thrive in the best conditions.”

New Holland’s new combine residue automation system uses 2D radars to obtain an accurate spreading pattern image of the residue particles behind the combine. They detect the position and speed of the flying residue particles just before they land on the ground to provide the true spreading pattern. This means that, unlike systems that predict a spreading pattern, it does not require any input about wind, moisture or particle characteristics to achieve high accuracy. Thesystem’s innovative solution also includes a patented closed loop algorithm that continuously changes the adjustments of the OptiSpread™ system to ensure even residue coverage behind the combine, consistently throughout the day – with no intervention from the operator.