This month’s edition of “Gizmos & Gadgets” features an anti-caking agent for immune function, a new handheld radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, self-propelled forage harvesters and a 30-foot (ft.) planter.

Anti-caking agent

Papillon Agricultural Co., developer of premium nutritional products for dairy and beef cattle, has launched a new anti-caking agent, DeTerra 365™, to support ruminant immune function with improved feed hygiene.

Designed for use in dairy and beef cow rations, DeTerra 365 is a consistently pure calcium montmorillonite clay used to bind moisture in feed, limiting the potential for mold growth and mycotoxin production.

“DeTerra 365 is a top-of-the-line anti-caking agent that supports immune function,” said Papillon President David Briggs. “Plus, we are able to price it competitively because we source it straight from a proven, pure deposit in Nevada through our sister company MIN-AD.”

DeTerra 365’s unique structure and small particle size provides a high surface area for cation exchange, making it an excellent feedstuff flow agent. Through this unique structure and consistent quality control, DeTerra 365 helps mitigate feed challenges and support healthy immune function.

The product is mined in the United States, processed in MIN-AD’s Safe Feed/Safe Food certified facility and priced economically.

For more information visit https://bit.ly/3ZsphaM.

Handheld electronic tag readers

Merck Animal Health has announced the wide availability of a new series of Allflex^® APR handheld RFID readers, designed to enhance efficiency and productivity for livestock producers.

The new family of handheld readers offers expanded storage in a compact, rugged format, which is useful for livestock producers to manage record collection with speed, convenience and accuracy.

The new APR650 (APR) scans electronic identification (eID) tag numbers and barcodes, opening new avenues for producers to link an animal to any information that has a barcode.

The APR has a useful keypad for entering information, stores up to 1 million records and can be connected remotely to a producer’s office.

Each APR product is ergonomically designed in rugged casing and verifies reads with flashing lights, vibrations and sounds. The free Allflex Connect smartphone application facilitates information transfer from APR to office.

For more information visit https://bit.ly/4l5GW0d.

Self-propelled forage harvesters

John Deere has announced the launch of its new F8 and F9 Series self-propelled forage harvesters (SPFHs), designed and built from the ground up with customer input to elevate forage performance, fuel efficiency, operator comfort and, ultimately, farm productivity. The new machines offer increased horsepower options and improved automation with a higher level of comprehensive technology offerings compared with previous models.

The new F9 Series is available in two engine options — John Deere 18X and Liebherr V12 24L — with five horsepower options ranging from 700 PS to 1020 PS; while the F8 Series comes with the JD14X engine, bringing six horsepower options ranging from 425 PS to 645 PS, offering farmers the option to choose the power they need to meet their production goals.

The JD18X engine features no DEF requirements, and John Deere’s HarvestMotion™ Plus technology allows for increased torque at lower rpms, driving up to 15% in fuel savings and up to a 10% gain in power.

Ground speed automation helps maintain ideal load and helps prevent operator stress by adjusting ground speed in real time based on crop conditions.

For more information visit https://bit.ly/4kD0rNV.

30-foot planter

Designed for smaller fields, with a groundbreaking 52-inch vertical range to tackle challenging terrain, making every single acre count, the Fendt Momentum 30-foot (ft.) planter is a testament to human innovation.

With the highest capacity tanks in the 30-ft. segment, 100 bushels (bu.) of seed and 800 gallons (gal.) of liquid fertilizer, operators will do more planting and less refilling.