Davud Davud: Innovative machines and technologies are key to a successful agribusiness!
"Stories of success - how farmers work with CASE IH" at the farm of BG AGRO AD
BG AGRO AD is among the leaders in the agricultural sector in Bulgaria. The Company manages a modern large-scale agricultural operation on an area of about 100,000 decares. We are visiting the Company farm situated in the town of Valchi Dol. We want to find out how the use of cutting-edge technology contributes to managing sustainable, environmentally friendly and efficient farming.
Our host is Davud Davud, head of the Agricultural Machinery department. He is convinced that the kind of quality agriculture developed by the Company, is a prerequisite for quality production, job creation and soil protection, while innovative machinery and technology, combined with a great team, are the key factors for its success.
The challenges brought forth by climate change require us to be flexible in terms of production and to use equipment that would serve efficiently in various conditions, Davud Davud states, adding: We work with leading manufacturers that set the standards in the industry. One of those is Case IH – a brand that we've had on our fleet for over 20 years now and we intend to keep it there because these machines offer so many advantages.
Over the past years BG AGRO focused on track machines for the needs of our farm. A couple of years ago the Company invested in a rubber track Case IH Magnum Rowtrac:
Initially we only wanted to test the tractor but eventually remained so impressed with the capabilities of this rubber track machine. It has so many advantages over its wheeled counterparts. The power is greater. Slippage is minimized and fuel consumption is lower too. We are delighted with it. Over the past 2 years we almost turned it into our main tractor – we use it in all sorts of applications, Davud says emphatically.
The company fleet includes all classes of Case IH tractors – from the lowest power range Case IH JX to the most powerful Case IH Quadtrac equipped with rubber track chassis.
Case IH Quadtrac 620 is our new tractor, Davud Davud explains. The previous one was a Case IH Steiger with all-rubber drive, but we had some slippage issues – especially on wet terrain and lighter soils slippage amounted to between 15 and 20%, which ultimately translated into fuel wastage. The load levels of other tractors equipped with the same attachments are higher, while Quadtrac's bigger power, higher by some 20%, decreases slippage levels to 3-4% or a maximum of 5% in certain areas.
The tractor is bulky but the weight is not an issue and the level of soil compaction is lower because of the better distribution of weight over the rubber tracks," says Davud. He is positive:
I am quite certain that in the future we'll be investing more in rubber track tractors!
We consider the fleet BG AGRO an extremely important factor for achieving maximum efficiency on the farm, so it is no accident that among the Company's latest investments you'll find some Case IH Axial-Flow 9250 rubber track combine harvesters.
We have used the Case IH 9010 – a previous series of this machine. The later Axial-Flow 9250 model provides the advantages of a more powerful engine. The combine is faster and is packed with modern technologies for machine set-up, which makes the operator's work much easier. The comfort in the cabin has improved, Davud explains.
The new Axial-Flow 9250 combines are equipped with an AFS automatic guidance system, using the AFS RTK+ signal of the Titan Machinery network, which undoubtedly makes the combine operation more efficient," the BG AGRO specialist says.
The automatic guidance system takes the stress off of operators. At the end of a day's work in the field they don't feel any of the exhaustion that comes with constantly following the line. Thus they can focus on the cleaning system settings and on the grain quality. The yield and moisture monitoring feature improves field analyses later performed by agronomists.
For a company like BG AGRO, cultivating large areas and growing various crops on its farm, it is extremely important for the machines to allow for quick switching from one crop to another," Davud Davud says.
Settings and change-over are performed swiftly. Within just an hour or an hour and a half, a combine can switch from harvesting wheat to harvesting beans. The quality of the grain in the threshing system is very good and no additional cleaning is required. This effect is made possible not only by the operator's input, but also with the capabilities of the combine. So far we have not had any problems in achieving the target parameters of grain harvesting and we've had no issues such as higher levels of broken kernels or impurities…
The efficient machinery operation at the BG AGRO farm is also ensured by the excellent servicing and supply of spare parts provided by Titan Machinery Bulgaria," David David points out.
The Case IH servicing and maintenance center in Bulgaria is among the best in the industry! Case IH machines are generally reliable, easy to maintain, very serviceable and, in the case of the Bulgarian market, operating such machines benefits from the excellent supply of spare parts, provided by the Dealer. So far we've had no trouble with spare parts delivery or with servicing."
