The Fendt steering joystick as featured in Agriland has been acknowledged by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) in its latest round of awards.
Each year, the ASABE recognises products from the agricultural, food and biological industries for innovation, engineering advancement and market impact.
Five AGCO products featured among the 2025 awards, which include offerings from AGCO Parts, Fendt, Precision Planting, and PTx Trimble branded products, which, the corporation believes demonstrates that it is a leading innovator of agriculture products.
Being American awards the products many not automatically be of relevance in the Irish market, yet we may see a selection arrive over here eventually.
Fendt supplements the steering wheel
The ErgoSteer joystick was revealed to Agriland last November and although only presently available for Fendt models it is sold and distributed through AGCO Parts, rather than as a optional extra by Fendt itself.
Installed on the left-hand armrest, it offers a a less tiring alternative to the steering wheel and is claimed to be useful in shuttle operations such as loading a trailer, or even out in the field for headland turns.
However, the wheel remains as the primary steering control with the joystick only to be considered an auxiliary tool in situations where it provides an advantage.
Pipe blockage alert
A second item that impressed the judges was the ReconBlockage sensor, which is claimed to prevent skips and yield loss when seeding and fertilising by using acoustic sensors to detect flow variance by section.
The sensors work like stethoscopes, capturing and interpreting sounds and alerting operators via a wireless app to build-up issues within the pipes that would otherwise plague optical sensors.
Driverless chaser bins
OutRun by PTx Trimble is an autonomous system that allows tractors to pull grain carts in the field without drivers during harvest.
It is a self-contained kit that supports older tractor models and acting, as it does, as another driver, it helps maintain or improve productivity,
OutRun’s interface allows operators to position grain carts around fields, and autonomously match speed and distance with combines for on-the-go unloading and unloading in designated zones.
The two other products that were commended by the judges include a low cost drill that brings the benefits of large planters down to smaller farms and a frame that utilises the height control feature of the Fendt Rogator to help swap bodies.
