1MG FlippingBooks
Machinery and vehicles: safety inspiring innovation in the ATV/UTV market
Staff writers
The small vehicle market in Australian agriculture is changing as practical innovation, growing awareness of safety and government rebates are pushing farmers away from the traditional ATVs or quadbikes to UTVs or side-by-side vehicles.
The ATV market in Australia fell 12 per cent in 2017, while UTVs now account for 37 per cent of the total Australian off-road vehicle market. This is a far cry from just five years ago, when this figure was less than 10 percent.
One of the key reasons for this growth is the changing market for UTVs. For consumers, there is now a lot more choice in the market with several different brands offering competing models. This of course means more competitive pricing, and costs are further reduced by the incentive of government rebates of $1,200 in Victoria and $1,000 in NSW when purchasing vehicles with rollover protection.
Polaris , the largest off-road vehicle brand in Australia, recorded an industry record 6,583 sales in 2017, nearly a third of the market. A significant amount of those sales were of the company’s innovative line of Ranger UTV models, which saw growth of 30 per cent in 2017 alone as customers transferred from ATVs to models with rollover protection.
“We have seen vast amounts of substitution over the past year as ATV customers have transferred en masse to side-by-side and ACE products due to their capabilities and outstanding safety technology,” says Alan Collins, Polaris Australia Country Manager. “With an ever increasing number of corporate farming operations, the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude to workplace safety is changing.”
Innovation in smaller vehicles is not just limited to safety features, as both ATVs and UTVs are growing in sophistication and becoming more powerful, more comfortable and capable of carrying bigger loads. The Ranger has become so popular that Polaris recently built its one millionth Ranger model. The XP 1000 EPS model features more than 100-owner inspired innovations from redesigned under-hood air intakes that increase air flow to improved driveline geometry to increase efficiency.
“With a side-by-side, you get outstanding capabilities and utility to get hard work done quicker and easier than ever before,” says Polaris Australia and New Zealand Vice President & Managing Director, Peter Alexander. “When you combine this with the great safety technology now on offer, it’s no surprise customers are voting with their wallets and flocking to side-by-side products in droves.”
This is a view that is shared across the industry, with Michael Poynton, Director of Mojo Motorcycles (which sells UTVs and ATVs in Australia via its brands CFMoto, Landboss and Kymco), agreeing that the UTV is a more practical vehicle for Australian farmers.
“UTVs are, generally speaking, better suited for most farming applications,” says Michael. “I believe there is still a place on some Aussie farms for the ATV – if you need something that’s agile and easy to manoeuvre, a low capacity ATV is probably the vehicle of choice.
“But for most farming applications, when you need to tow a sprayer or trailer, or you are putting feed into the tray and loading the vehicle up, UTVs are a lot better suited. Some models even have a carrying capacity of more than one tonne.”
And as the market in Australia for UTVs continues to grow, it is only a matter of time until further technological innovations become commonplace in these smaller farm vehicles. With the advantages provided by automation and GPS technology in larger farm machinery such as sprayers and headers, it will surely only be a matter of time until these features are integrated into smaller vehicles.
NEWS
Prodoz, a Proudly Australian and family-owned agribusiness, based in Melbourne, is strengthening its positions as national/international leader in advanced crop – science solutions through a growing portfolio of global innovation partners and a distribution footprint supported by all major distributors - includes Nutrien Ag, Elders, Lindsay Rural and Independent Rural stores.
Australia’s climate is tougher than ever. Heat spikes, dry periods, salinity, waterlogging and sudden frost events are becoming an everyday part of farmers lives.
Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
Find out why the first summer drench can be so important in protecting your flock’s health, plus what to look for in your summer drench of choice.
A NSW-based innovator has developed a patent-pending, front-mounted firefighting and utility system for tractors, giving farmers instant, in-cab-controlled fire suppression, water and fuel on hand, and safer solo operations.
Barko Security is bringing drone technology to agriculture while building on a decade of security and a lifetime of agricultural know-how.
