No room for mistakes

The eighth Field Day took place in the Kurgan region, just east of the Ural mountains. Despite an autumn “gift” – an incessant drizzle – presented during the trade fair by the summer month August, the event gathered a lot of visitors and participants.

The Kurgan farmers, unspoilt by either stable climate or consistent regional support, can put up with bad weather. Receiving farm machinery subsidies is no easy task in Trans-Urals area, although the region is considered to be a major agricultural producer.

According to Sergey Mitrofanov, Head of the Kurgan affiliate of AgroCentre, the region abounds in farming enterprises. The head of these farms oftentimes works the soil, and sows and reaps the harvest alongside with an ordinary machine operator. The financial potential is less than that of large agricultural enterprises.

‘When choosing agricultural machinery, our farmers have no room for mistakes’, Sergey Mitrofanov notes. ‘They need to buy exactly what meets the agri-technical requirements of a farm and can improve its efficiency. A great deal of attention in the course of deciding on the machines and implements to buy is paid to their efficiency, versatility and economy. Not only do we offer the equipment to precisely meet these requirements, but also, understanding the complicated financial situation in our agricomplex, we approach each customer individually, work on the financing schemes available, and provide a maximum discount. Promotional events take place on a regular basis so farmers can test drive a machine prior to closing a deal’.

The AgroCentre’s display area featured machinery for diverse field operations. The speedy drilling with the Rapid 600 C seed drill from Vaderstad aroused much interest among the farmers. Despite a small working width of 6 metres, the machine is equal in capacity to a 12-metre one due to its high operating speed – 20 km/h.

The guests regarded the JCB 531-70 loader with keen interest. They appreciated its comfort and ease of steering. Everybody willing could play JCB-ping-pong: from driver’s cab the participant would throw a tennis ball attached to the carriage into small-sized tray. The guests who accepted the challenge admitted that it was much more difficult for them to learn the basics of tennis than to drive a JCB loader.

With an eye to upcoming autumn tillage, the visitors of the event demonstrated an appeal of the Challenger disc harrow with a working width of 8.8 m. According to the company’s sales managers, this machine is a worldwide icon of reliability and simplicity among other implements in its class.

But the top attention of the Trans-Urals agricultural producers was captured by the Challenger tractors. Andrey Lushnikov, Deputy director of Department of Agriculture and Processing industry of Kurgan region, opened a test drive of Challenger MT 765C Caterpillar. After taking a ride he said that the high speed made him feel like a Schumacher, while the comfort inside the cab called up thoughts about home.

The machines on display included a new Challenger MT 685C wheel tractor (340 hp), which was also presented to agricultural producers. Among the guests of the AgroCentre site were those operating a tractor of this model at their farms and they sounded quite satisfied with its performance.

‘Last autumn we bought a Challenger MT 685C 340 hp tractor and another 310 hp tractor of a well known brand’, said Evgeny Cheremshantsev, Director of R&D Sad i Ogorod, LLC. ‘Both of them were used for an equal amount of time coupled to similar implements. As a result – Challenger saved 15% of fuel. This tractor is much more powerful, and what is more this machine costs several hundred thousand roubles less than the competitor. Plus – the maintenance service of Challenger is cheaper as well. It is a really good tractor! I would point out that it is a benchmark of “price-quality” ratio! It is really important to understand that the machine works off every penny spent!’