New Puma, Maxxum Series Tractors Increase Productivity Through Comfort Upgrades

Feb 17, 2022

Operators have long known that Maxxum® and Puma® series tractors offer unmatched in-field versatility. Now, upgrades to Model Year 2022 Maxxum tractors equipped with MultiControl armrests and Puma 150/165 tractors will put operator comfort and convenience front and center for even greater flexibility. Updates include a low-mount wiper, new steps, new monitor bars and rearview mirrors, enhanced safety lighting and more.

“When it comes to getting the most out of every moment in the field, operator comfort is second to none,” said J.E. Cadle, Case IH mid-range tractor marketing manager. “Maxxum and Puma series tractors are already known for their convenient designs and features that make in-cab comfort a priority. These new upgrades will further ensure that operators are able to work comfortably and productively regardless of field conditions.”

A suite of comfort- and productivity-boosting upgrades

Nothing slows productivity down like an uncomfortable operator experience. The new Maxxum and Puma series tractor comfort updates were designed with operators in mind. The updates include a host of convenient features that — taken together — lead to increased productivity out in the field. Features such as a premium leather-wrapped steering wheel and in-cab cool box keep operators comfortable during long days, while enhancements such as LED safety lighting, new sleek rearview mirror and low-mounted front wiper make for greater visibility for out in the field.

The full list of updates to Model Year 2022 Maxxum and Puma series tractors includes:

Low-mount front wiper for maximum visibility
In-cab cool box for increased operator comfort
New aluminum steps
New monitor bar with USB outlets for convenience
New rearview mirror for better field of view
New battery cutoff switch located outside the door
LED beacon lights for greater visibility in all field conditions
Elastic hood closing rope
New advanced loader joystick with reverser

Enhancements build on 2021 improvements

In 2021, select Maxxum and Puma series tractor models were equipped with additional safety, convenience and comfort updates to improve efficiency out in the field. These updates — which include a redesigned hood for Puma series tractor models 150 and 165, improved lighting to create a uniformly lit work area, and Hi-eSCR2 emissions technology for longer service intervals and enhanced fuel economy — were driven by customer input that has helped operators achieve greater in-field precision while remaining comfortable in the cab.

“Every enhancement we’ve made has been driven by what producers want and need from their equipment,” Cadle said. "We’re excited to build on these design upgrades in the years to come.”

Source : Case IH

Video: The 15-Year Bet Behind Every New Variety!

Canada is trying to decide how much agricultural research capacity it can afford to lose. Brian Rossnagel believes the better question is whether the country can afford to rebuild it.

The longtime barley and oat breeder makes the case with a simple fact about his profession: the consequences of today’s decisions may not become visible for 10 or 15 years.

“Pick the right parents. That’s the biggest thing,” Rossnagel says. “If you pick the wrong parents, you’re not going to get anywhere—and you don’t know that until 10 years, 15 years later.”

That warning carries particular weight as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada moves to reduce spending and streamline parts of its science operations. The department’s 2026–27 plan anticipates the loss of approximately 665 positions by 2028–29 and says some research will be reduced where capacity exists in academia or industry. AAFC says the changes will make its science operations more cost-effective over the long term.

For Canada’s seed industry, Rossnagel’s career illustrates what is at stake.

This fall, the retired University of Saskatchewan breeder will be inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. During his 35-year career at the Crop Development Centre, he helped develop more than 100 barley and oat varieties, including CDC Austenson—one of Western Canada’s most widely grown feed barleys. His induction recognizes not only those varieties, but the collaboration and research system that made them possible.

Rossnagel is quick to emphasize that none of it was the work of one person.

“The first thing I thought about was all the other people who contributed to whatever success I and my program had over the years,” he says. “We know that it’s not an individual who does this. It’s a group—a team.”

That team extends well beyond the breeder whose name appears beside a variety. It includes technicians, pathologists, quality specialists, statisticians, regional testing sites, seed growers and industry partners. It also includes the breeders who came before and those who will carry the germplasm forward.

CDC Fraser barley, for example, moved through three breeding careers. Its parents came from Brian Harvey’s program. Rossnagel advanced the material after Harvey retired, and Aaron Beattie later guided it through registration and release.

That kind of handoff is normal in plant breeding. The person who makes the original cross may never see the resulting variety reach farmers.

It also explains why lost research capacity cannot simply be switched back on when budgets improve.

“If you shut it off, it’s very, very difficult—and particularly costly—to start it up again,” Rossnagel says. “If you have to start from scratch, it’s going to be at least 10 years before anybody notices whether you’re getting anything done or not.”

The concern is not simply how many experimental lines Canada can process. Modern equipment, statistical tools and genetic technologies allow today’s breeding programs to evaluate tens of thousands of lines—far more than Rossnagel could handle when he entered the field in the early 1970s.

But efficiency and automation do not generate every idea.

“If you pare back down, and instead of having six or seven individual scientists concentrating on wheat breeding, you go down and say three people could handle all this, well, that’s half the ideas gone,” he says. “Particularly if you happen to lose the three people who had the really neat and innovative ideas, boy, that’s a problem.”

It is a timely distinction for Canadian agriculture. Consolidating programs may preserve the volume of material moving through a system, at least initially. It may not preserve the diversity of thinking, regional knowledge or willingness to pursue unconventional crosses.

That regional knowledge matters because Canadian agriculture is not one uniform production environment. A variety suited to southern Alberta may face different disease, moisture and maturity pressures than one grown in Manitoba, Ontario or Atlantic Canada.

“Agriculture is applied biology,” Rossnagel says. “Biology, all around the Earth, moves from the poles to the equator. It does not move from Newfoundland to B.C. like politics do.”