Agromek, at Herning in Denmark, is the largest agricultural exhibition in Northern Europe.
A total of 237 new products were exhibited, and nine deemed to be of the greatest practical importance have won awards, adjudicated by an award committee of farmers and other professional users.
An award-winning new air purifier for pig and poultry production units (pictured, right) doesn’t have filters which can become blocked, and therefore require cleaning. Winning one of the two Agromek Awards for pig farming, exhibited by Danish firm Munters, the HTLV-A horizontal air purifier removes ammonia from the air when it comes in contact with a mist of water and sulphuric acid. The resulting liquid is collected and transported into the slurry.
It can be cleaned from the outside. The award committee said simple construction and low power consumption are obvious advantages. Others include easy cleaning, service and installation.
A hybrid vent concept from MT Hojgaard that provides power savings of 60% compared to traditional pig housing with diffuse ventilation, has won one of the two new product awards for pig farming at the Agromek Exhibition in Herning, Denmark.
It combines mechanical floor level extraction and natural ventilation, fully automatically controlled on a basis of measurements of carbon dioxide, humidity and temperature.
This provides an improved livestock housing climate and increased capacity of ventilation in fully-insulated pig houses. The award committee said that purification via floor-level suction during which at least 75% of the ammonia and 50% of odour particles are transported away below the slotted flooring, is a huge advantage.
The same principle that powers catamaran ferries is applied to slurry agitation, in an award-winning machine. The Harso Jetmixer (photo, above) exhibited by Harso Maskiner, Denmark, was one of the winning new products at the recent Agromek Exhibition in Denmark.
The Jetmixer is designed for tanks up to six metres deep, and tractors of 250 horse power and upwards.
Acidification equipment can be fitted at the end of the jet nozzle. Drawing slurry from the bottom of the tank, it works efficiently even if the tank is nearly empty. A good flushing effect in large capacity tanks is attributed to a high jet speed from the oil motor-powered propeller, propelling 50 to 100 cubic metres of slurry per minute.
DynamicFluid 4 system for field sprayers won one of four awards for arable farming at the Agromek show. Whereas many metres can pass from starting at a headland, until the sprayer has adjusted to the desired fluid volume, there is a fast reaction time with the new DynamicFluid 4 system.
Thus, it gives much better distribution of the spray, particularly at headlands. The system prepares a pre-calculation of dosage and drive speed, so it opens with a pressure and fluid amount that is very close to the desired requirement, and then only needs fine adjustment.
It has input from four sensors that supply the sprayer computer with data for the regulating valve, pump flow, flow in all tubes, pressure and speed. Spraying operations can continue even if one or more sensor signals should malfunction.
It calculates the optimum dosage 20 times per second.
A new terminal for tractors, the Ampad, has special software which controls all Amazone field implements.
Exhibited by Brons Maskinforretning, Denmark, it won an arable farming award at the Agromek show in Denmark. The Award Committee was impressed by the simplicity of having a single computer that can accommodate several applications for numerous implements.
It is controlled by "finger touch" — like an iPad — to manage all ISOBUS equipment, and can receive signals from all GPS applications on the market. Ampad will also soon be able to communicate with the office PC via the mobile network.
Exhibited at Agromek with Amazone’s new 11,200 litre sprayer, Ampad with GPS can tell the sprayed area and indicate how much of the spray chemical is required to complete the operation.
The AniMan Intelligent Scarecrow is effective against birds and animals, preventing pest damage, but can also be programmed to save game animals by emitting scare calls when fields are harvested.
It uses sounds such as an animal’s alarm call or the scream of a bird of prey.
Winner of one of the four Agromek Awards for arable farming, this electronic scarecrow exhibited by Wildlife Communication Technologies, is powered by solar cells, and can cover a large area.
The AniMan can distinguish between various species, and only frighten off undesirable species. It automatically sends a message to the farmer via Internet so the user is continuously aware of activities in the fields.
