I spent quite a bit of time in the Case IH booth during AG CONNECT Expo last week – AgriTalk broadcast live one day and the next AgDay TV taped its show. However, my education didn’t end there. I spent a few minutes learning about Case IH’s dedication to helping farmers gain more efficiency from John Bohnker.
“A lot of farming is based upon efficiency. We’ve got to get more efficient operations. There are fewer farmers farming more acres. So we deal a lot with efficiency. If you look at our combines, we’re getting bigger and bigger combines. Bigger heads, wider operations, so we can do more operations with less manpower and get the process done faster,” said Bohnker.
Case IH is focusing strongly on its CDT technology where they are “doing a better job of finding the sweetspot” with energy efficiency. “We’re doing a better job of getting the energy to the ground, power to the ground where we need it,” said Bohnker.
I asked Bohnker about the growing concerns over sustainability and profitability and he stressed that they have to go together. “Farmers are really the truest green people on the earth. They have to earn a living on the land, and long-term they have to keep the farm economical but they understand the environment is the right place.”
The company is developing some new equipment that pares sustainability and profitability together, in particular, a prototype baler that is being designed to pick up corn cobs and stover for cellulosic ethanol production. By enabling the farmer to harvest this biomass, he can get more revenue off the same amount of land. The equipment is not quite ready for production yet, but it’s close; however, their other equipment is in the pipeline and ready to go for the upcoming planting season.
Listen to my interview with John here.