The Austrian Burning Hen Festival is promoted by its organisers as a focal point for everyone who wants to challenge the status quo in rural areas and promote the countryside and its young people, .

It is intended to bring together people from across the countryside with a programme to provide inspiration and motivation for all those who want to make progress on the land.

It is also claimed to be the worlds largest chicken barbeque.

Steyr decided that this year’s Burning Hen Festival, held in mid-October, was the ideal event at which to officially launch the new 80-117hp Plus tractor series in its home market.

Important segment for Steyr

Competing in a power bracket that is the largest by volume in Europe, Steyr notes that the Plus series has been styled to give it stand-out impact, but to do so with practical features prioritised.

Cab interior
The cab has been restyled and offers the latest driving aids and telematics

The company highlights a new integral high-performance lighting package to ease operator strain and ensure greater safety for the driver and others around the tractor.

The cab has been restyled and now includes a full suite of precision farming technology, including S-Guide steering automation and S-Fleet telematics, which CNH is making available available for the first time at this power level, across its three main brands.

Family unison

As with the revamped New Holland T5 series and the latest upgrade to the Case Farmall range, the new models are powered by FPT F5 3.6L four-cylinder engines that FPT’s Hi-eSCR2 compact emissions technology to meet Stage V emissions regulations.

Steyr Plus with rake
Steyr has a strong presence in Austria and central Europe, but not in the UK or Ireland at the present

The new tractors produce up to 506Nm of torque (on the largest model), and have a fuel/DEF capacity of 128.8/9.6L.

The Steyr Plus Transmission is a 40kph 24F/24R with two-speed powershift and electro-hydraulic powershuttle and is available with additional creep speeds.

Presently Steyr is not officially imported into Ireland, yet there is an unconfirmed rumour in the trade that CNH may reintroduce it as a premium brand to compete with Fendt, Valtra and John Deere.