Challenger finds a job in the Urals

The AgroCentreZakharovo Company attended an annual session of Chelyabinsk Oblast's Ministry of Agriculture. The managers and experts of agricultural enterprises and leading suppliers of agricultural machines, seeds and crop protecting agents got together to discuss the plans for the forthcoming field work.

In the Chelyabinsk oblast, AgroCentreZakharovo was the first enterprise to start dealing in the world-renowned Challenger agricultural equipment. Its first sale was the MT 685C wheeled tractor. Despite its short period of operation in Chelyabinsk, less than a year, the company has supplied the farmers with 15 agricultural machines from famous foreign manufacturers. Ten of them are Challenger tractors. AgroCentreZakharovo is prepared to provide the farmers with various types of machines for the new season. There are 80 units of equipment in the storehouse. Some of them, e.g. fifth and sixth series Challenger tractors, Challenger SP115 self-propelled mower, JCB 541-70 telescopic loader and Vaderstad-built Rapid seeder were demonstrated to the farmers.

Sergey Chichai, head of the Chelyabinsk division of AgroCentreZakharovo noted the high demand for the Challenger tractors. “Both large agricultural holdings and small farms need such machines”, said Sergey Chichai. “These tractors offer a number of advantages. For instance, the modern TechStar CVT continuously variable transmission with the Power Management system reduces the fuel consumption while the reliable three-point rear suspension and the towing coupler handle high loads perfectly. The machines withstand wear and do not need frequent servicing. Starting this year, the fives and sixes are assembled in Russia.”

For the new season, AgroCentre prepared a unique proposal for the farmers, namely, each Challenger tractor bought in 2012 will be fitted with the Niva OnLine real time remote monitoring unit. This is a constituent part of the NivaControl precision agriculture system that optimises the agricultural machine operation and reduces the cost of fuel, seeds and fertilisers.

At the session, Ivan Fyoklin, the Chelyabinsk Oblast’s Minister of Agriculture, pointed out that the suppliers of farming machines must take care of servicing in the region. This year, the Chelyabinsk farmers are in for a pleasing event, the opening of a high-tech maintenance centre. On an area of one hectare, there will be servicing workshops (580 sq m), a spare parts and consumables depot (250 sq m), a demonstration zone and offices. The facility is conveniently located on the M5 federal motorway.

AgroCentreZakharovo was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for active participation in the event and promotion of products to the South Urals market.