AGCO Equipment and Pellet Tech: Strategic Partnership = Total Solution

Pellet Technology USA spent years inventing and perfecting its patented processes for adding value to corn stover by converting it into pellets for feed and energy use. As work started on its new plant in York, Neb., PTUSA knew it would need help from harvesting experts to get massive amounts of quality stover baled and to the plant.

The Hesston by Massey Ferguson 2270XD baler is the best equipment for the job.

So, the company turned to the pros—a partnership of Caterpillar Job Site Solutions and AGCO Strategic Segment Solutions.

Caterpillar secured the five-year contract to provide 90,000-plus tons of corn stover annually, purchased all the equipment and manages the industrial handling equipment at the plant. The contract included bringing in the expertise of AGCO Strategic Segment Solutions not only to support and maintain the fleet of AGCO tractors and balers, but also to manage all aspects of corn stover harvesting and transport from the fields to the plant. Butler Ag Equipment, a major regional dealer for both Caterpillar and AGCO, provides in-field parts and service support for the project, while Osceola Implement, the local AGCO dealer for farmer retail needs in York and the eight surrounding counties, continues to offer customers excellent service and sales.

The newly formed AGCO Strategic Segment Solutions department, headed by director Glenn Farris, includes the existing AGCO Biomass Solutions. The biomass unit has been instrumental in handling operator training, equipment maintenance and supply-chain logistics for the “big three” commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants in Iowa and Kansas, belonging to Abengoa, DuPont and POET-DSM, in addition to demonstrating corn stover baling in Ontario, Canada, for the new Cellulosic Sugar Producers Co-operative.

Now with the PTUSA operation, AGCO Strategic Segment Solutions is providing a total solutions concept to America’s professional producers, Farris says, including financial, servicing and monitoring components, in addition to the top equipment for the task.

“For this particular job, we make some of the best equipment in the world,” says Farris. “We have more experience than any of our competitors” in this area of agricultural production, he explains. “We have paid a lot for that experience, because experience is what you get when you don’t get what you asked for,” he says with a smile.

Farris adds that the strategic partnership with Caterpillar was a perfect fit for all concerned, because “there is nothing that we make that they make, and vice versa. They have ag construction equipment, and AGCO has virtually everything else needed on a farm or in a farm enterprise.”

Producers close to the PTUSA operation who are interested in learning more about AGCO residue management solutions and AGCO products can contact the local AGCO dealer, Osceola Implement in Osceola, Nebraska, or visit agcocorp.com. To learn more about the PTUSA harvest program, visit the company’s website, webuystover.com.