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Steiger & Magnum Rowtrac Tractors: More Traction, Less Compaction

Steiger & Magnum Rowtrac Tractors: More Traction, Less Compaction

For more than two decades tracked tractors have been providing agronomic, traction and performance advantages for producers. They have played an integral part in production agriculture. During this time Case IH has earned a position of leadership and innovation by focusing on customer needs, as well as developing industry leading products like the Quadtrac® and more recently the Steiger™ and Magnum™ Rowtrac™ tractors. No matter the region or season, Case IH has a full range of tractor options to maximize productivity, yield, and the bottom line − sometimes less can be more.

The efficiency model for most row crop producers demands a blend of high-speed planting and tillage, with proven agronomic practices.  Putting producers and their needs first, Case IH developed the Rowtrac series tractors. The result is a line of tractors that meets the diverse needs of row crop operations.

Available in Steiger articulated frame 420, 470 and 500 HP and AFS Connect Magnum fixed frame 340, 380 and 400 HP models. Depending on the model, most offer a choice of PowerDrive or CVXDrive™ transmissions.   From field prep to harvesting, Magnum and Steiger Rowtrac series tractors are designed from the ground up to fit your operation and provide value and performance.

Performance benefits integrated in every Steiger and Magnum Rowtrac tractor include:

  • Four points of contact to maintain constant power to the ground no matter the terrain or field condition
  • Tractive capability that is unmatched in all conditions but, especially in those less than optimal
  • Virtually no soil berming or disturbance in turns
  • Maneuverability and handling like a wheeled tractor
  • Unrivalled road and field operator ride quality
  • 25 mph (40 km/hr) unrestricted road travel speed


 

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Why Your Food Future Could be Trapped in a Seed Morgue

Video: Why Your Food Future Could be Trapped in a Seed Morgue

In a world of PowerPoint overload, Rex Bernardo stands out. No bullet points. No charts. No jargon. Just stories and photographs. At this year’s National Association for Plant Breeding conference on the Big Island of Hawaii, he stood before a room of peers — all experts in the science of seeds — and did something radical: he showed them images. He told them stories. And he asked them to remember not what they saw, but how they felt.

Bernardo, recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, has spent his career searching for the genetic treasures tucked inside what plant breeders call exotic germplasm — ancient, often wild genetic lines that hold secrets to resilience, taste, and traits we've forgotten to value.

But Bernardo didn’t always think this way.

“I worked in private industry for nearly a decade,” he recalls. “I remember one breeder saying, ‘We’re making new hybrids, but they’re basically the same genetics.’ That stuck with me. Where is the new diversity going to come from?”

For Bernardo, part of the answer lies in the world’s gene banks — vast vaults of seed samples collected from every corner of the globe. Yet, he says, many of these vaults have quietly become “seed morgues.” “Something goes in, but it never comes out,” he explains. “We need to start treating these collections like living investments, not museums of dead potential.”

That potential — and the barriers to unlocking it — are deeply personal for Bernardo. He’s wrestled with international policies that prevent access to valuable lines (like North Korean corn) and with the slow, painstaking science of transferring useful traits from wild relatives into elite lines that farmers can actually grow. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But he’s convinced that success starts not in the lab, but in the way we communicate.

“The fact sheet model isn’t cutting it anymore,” he says. “We hand out a paper about a new variety and think that’s enough. But stories? Plants you can see and touch? That’s what stays with people.”

Bernardo practices what he preaches. At the University of Minnesota, he helped launch a student-led breeding program that’s working to adapt leafy African vegetables for the Twin Cities’ African diaspora. The goal? Culturally relevant crops that mature in Minnesota’s shorter growing season — and can be regrown year after year.

“That’s real impact,” he says. “Helping people grow food that’s meaningful to them, not just what's commercially viable.”

He’s also brewed plant breeding into something more relatable — literally. Coffee and beer have become unexpected tools in his mission to make science accessible. His undergraduate course on coffee, for instance, connects the dots between genetics, geography, and culture. “Everyone drinks coffee,” he says. “It’s a conversation starter. It’s a gateway into plant science.”