Three years ago, Kempston Agri paved the way for the new extension to the NAMPO site with a fresh CLAAS green exhibition, and since then the company’s footprint in agriculture increased dramatically.

Now another agricultural giant became part of the Kempston Agri group, namely Stara. This Brazilian manufacturer is renowned for its technologically advanced crop protection equipment.

Stara complements Kempston Agri’s existing range of equipment, namely the well-known Geringhof maize and wheat headers from Germany and Agrisem soil tillage equipment from France.

Etienne van Wyk, Product Manager of Kempston Agri, says they are now in a position to assist a crop farmer all the way through his mechanisation planning from soil tillage and tractor power to harvesting. Livestock farmers and contractors also enjoy the benefits of CLAAS’s outstanding range of feed equipment with the dedicated attention from Kempston Agri’s 36 traders all over the country.

Etienne says: “We remain a family business and we take care of our customers personally.”

The new Axion 870 greeted farmers at the entrance to CLAAS’s stand. The tractor has a 6 cylinder FPT engine that supplies 205 kW of power with continuous-variable CMATIC drive. It has a hydraulic capacity of 150 litres per minute and 10 000 kg lifting capacity on the three-point system. The versatility of the tractor is increased considerably by a fully integrated front linkage system with up to 5 800 kg of lifting capacity and optional position control. Like all CLAAS’s new tractors, the operator can sit back and control the tractor with just a few buttons on the CMOTION control panel conveniently placed under his right hand.

When the weather is fine and feed crop has to be mowed, farmers cannot afford to waste time. CLAAS DISCO mowers surely gives the best of two worlds to any farmer who wants to work quickly, but still cut cleanly and neatly. With a mower in front of the tractor and one on each side at the back, all that remains is just a 10,7 m track with neatly packed windrows. With CLAAS’s new MAX CUT cutting bed technology, mowing is sheer pleasure.

CLAAS was crowned king of the combine harvesters in South Africa and the 560 TUCANO with a Geringhof header form a formidable team. Last year we met the TUCANO 570/580 and the powerful yet compact 560 this year. The harvester has a 233 kW Mercedes Benz engine that drives the efficient and energy-saving APS HYBRID harvesting system. The system combines the APS threshing system with ROTO PLUS, which ensures a high harvesting capacity and careful handling of material. The grain auger is 50% bigger. This significantly increases the capacity of the harvester.

A prize product on the brand new Stara stand was the Imperador 3.0. It is a self-propelled combination sprayer/spreader developed from the previous Imperador spray model and the Hercules fertiliser spreader. The Topper 5500 control panel provides finger tip control and allows perfect precision control. The Imperador 3.0’s beam length and spreading width are both 27 metres so that the same tracks in the field can be followed for both processes. The boom is exactly in the centre of the sprayer, which is the most stable point when the sprayer must drive over uneven terrain. The spray tank holds 2 400 litres and the fertiliser tank, which is at the back, holds three tonnes.

Find out more about Kempston Agri’s products. Send an e-mail to michael.howell@kagri.co.za or Etienne.vanwyk@kagri.co.za or phone 043-703-3100. Also visit www.claas.co.za.