Events

Event: Henty Machinery Field Days

The 2022 Henty Machinery Field Days in Australia attracted a record-breaking 70,000 people flocking to the show to check out an impressive array of machinery and equipment from 500 exhibitors

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70,000 people visited the Henty Machinery Field Days over the three days in September

With three above-average seasons and record commodity prices, visitors came from all over Australia, with hay, tillage, fencing, and grain handling equipment, tractors, headers, and stock handling equipment proving particularly popular.

HMFD chief executive Belinda Anderson says exhibitors have reported “enormous” sales of agricultural products and services from the event.

“This is a record attendance in the 59 years of field days history. It’s possibly a number we will never see again,” she says.

The show also saw a series of highlights with new machines and innovative technologies displayed.

Machine of the Year

Among the vast array of machinery on show at the HMFD was MacDon’s FD2 flex draper, which won the 2022 Henty Machine of the Year Award for the most outstanding new piece of agricultural machinery exhibited at the event.

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Kari Sattler, MacDon national sales manager, with the 2022 Henty Machine of the Year Award

The FD2 boasts an all-new frame that features a five-sided back tube that creates a durable platform to handle the toughest of conditions. MacDon’s ClearCut high-speed cutting system delivers clean cutting at up to 30% faster speeds. The improved knife drive has more power and new knife section geometry creates a 25% larger cutting surface.

“Farmers are taking on more country every year to keep in the game and in doing so, you need to able operate fast to beat the weather, get the quality grain in the headers as quickly as we can, and keep it moving,” MacDon national sales manager Kari Sattler says.

“We also understand it’s not always easy harvesting. Not all our crops are standing so, if it’s flat on the ground, we need to scoop that up.

“This machine is designed to cut at less than an inch off the ground to eliminate obstacles such as rocks or sticks from bouncing over, so as not to cause damage to the combine or make our samples dirty, reducing quality.

“This machine will flex over contour banks and will roll over a seven-foot
(2.1-metre) high contour bank. It was made deeper to take more material at higher speeds.”

The draper is available from 25 to 50 feet (7.6- to 15.2-metre) wide, including a 41-foot (12.5-metre) version for controlled traffic.

Highly commended

A total of 22 machines and pieces of equipment at the cutting edge of agricultural technology were showcased in the Henty Machine of the Year showcase.

Judging criteria include the machine’s purpose and suitability, scope of application, construction (durability and design), ease of maintenance and service, ease of operation and adjustment, availability of parts, and overall value for money. While MacDon took out the award, John Deere was highly commended for its See & Spray Select entered by distributor Hutcheon and Pearce.

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John Deere was highly commended for its See & Spray Select

A southern NSW-designed and manufactured multi-purpose feeder won the Greater Hume Council Award for the best new Australian-designed and built agricultural machine.

Steele Steel took out the award for its dual auger multi-purpose 70 bag Ezy Feeder, first launched in 2004 but having evolved into the 2022 winning model described as a “hamburger with the lot”.

“It has a rear additive box, resulting in a better mix of feed, lime, lupins, and nutrients if deploying out of the auger or, if trail feeding, it drops it straight out the rear end,” Steele Steel director Daniel Draper says.  

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