The Champ
A farmer puts his new Massey Ferguson® 8680 to the test.
In a previous issue of FarmLife, we introduced you to Robert Dasher, one of the early promoters of Vidalia® onions. He’s a remarkable farmer, who offers a textbook-worthy story about how to grow a successful, diversified farming operation and a national agricultural brand.
We recently had the chance to catch up with the Glennville, Ga., farmer and to discuss his new MF8680, the use of which he received for being named the 2010 Swisher Sweets/ Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year. Come to find out, Dasher has not only incorporated the new row-crop tractor into his operation, but become a huge fan.
“It has more functions on it than our John Deere,” says Dasher, “so I thought it might take a while to get it working right. Well, my nephew hooked it up to a peanut combine and after about 15 minutes, he had it all figured out. He showed me the controls—how to set the speed and things like that. There ain’t nothing to it.”
Dasher also lauded the smooth operation of the continuously variable transmission (CVT) and the tractor’s fuel efficiency. “We had the MF8680 running in the same field with two John Deeres for the same amount of time, pulling the same load.” The Deeres, says Dasher, are less than a year old.
The result of these tests? The MF8680 “out-pulled these John Deeres and the Massey used less fuel.”
That, according to Dasher, makes the MF8680 a winner and a keeper.
Read the whole story of the Vidalia onion from FarmLife magazine. >>
