The AGI booth at Ag in Motion is easy to find with it's large 16 foot mixed flow grain dryer on display.
On top of that dryer is AGI's new patent pending pre-cleaner for their NECO or AGI mixed flow grain dryers.
The pre-cleaner attaches to the grain dryer and removes any unwanted debris, such as beeswings, fines, and chaff from the grain before it enters the dryer.
Ron Kleuskens, a technical sales rep for AGI in Canada says the pre-cleaner system was in development last year and did some pretty extensive testing on farms.
"We're pretty excited to have this in our portfolio now with the dryers. That really sets us apart from any of the other mix flow dryers that are on the market."
He points out that if you can clean the grain prior to putting it into the dryer it makes the dryer more efficient because you're not drying material that eventually you're going to screen out or get rid of.
"It makes the grain going into the dryer cleaner, so it flows better, sheds it's moisture a little better because you don't have any interference from fines within the kernels. It also aids in aeration in the final storage sense because we don't end up with a lot of fines concentrated in the center of the bin that can deter aeration in that middle portion of the grain."
Kleuskens says they did a number of producer trials and demonstrated the pre-cleaner last year during Husker Harvest Days in Nebraska where they do some live grain drying during the show.
"The difference between having the pre-cleaner system on when they're drying their corn and off was night and day. We estimated that we were taking between 80 and 85 per cent of the fines out and it was very obvious in how much fines, foreign matter was blowing out of the dryer. It was essentially snowing what we call red dogs or beeswings off the corn when the pre cleaner wasn't on and virtually nothing coming out of the machine when the pre cleaner was on."
He says they've sold several new units already and have several retrofit units that are going on their existing dryers.
Also, on display at the AGI booth during Ag in Motion is their new vertical single wall fuel tank.
Brian Bateman, AGI's director of liquid sales says they've developed a new vertical single wall fuel tank with the medium to large farms in mind.
"For a farmer having fuel when you need it is very important. Smaller tanks equals more fills, and you never know when that fills going to be, and how it could result in some down time. So, we're seeing that trend in the market. Then on the equipment side, pumping side, the equipment that the farmers are taking into the fields is large and getting larger. The fuel tanks are big and these pieces of equipment are thirsty, So really farmers are looking at ways that they can reduce the fill time."
A new trend has farmers looking for bigger storage capacity and faster pumping ability. AGI's new vertical single wall fuel tanks are big, ranging from 50,000 to 125 thousand litres and ULC, which is the standard for fuel tanks in Canada.
Bateman says the standard is actually built into the national and provincial fire codes, but Saskatchewan and Alberta farms are largely exempt from those fire code regulations.
As a result, some farmers have been using other alternatives that are not built for diesel storage, which is an environmental concern.
Bateman says with that in mind, and with AGI's line of heavy duty tanks for commercial and industrial use, they looked at how they could modify it to fit producer needs.
This spring, they did a soft launch with the full market launch taking place at Ag in Motion.
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