Industry predicts strong demand for more modern machines

The machines that will work in the Brazilian field in the years to come will be even greater, more comfortable and sophisticated and will pollute less, to meet new environmental standards that take effect in 2017. Even though it is a global trend of development, guided by large multinationals, this modernization tends to accelerate in the country over the next few years, because of good prospects for agribusiness and the promise of efficiency gains in crops and profits for industries.
Annual domestic sales of agricultural machinery have the potential to get out of the current $ 4.5 billion to $ 9 billion over the next 10 years, according to Milton, Director of the National Association of Automotive vehicle manufacturers (Anfavea). As Rego, take into account the need for renewal of the fleet of small and large farmers. Currently, the average age of the harvesters in activity in Brazil is ten years, while tractors reaches 14 years. According to the industries, it is recommended to update to the harvesters every six years and the tractors between eight and ten years. Most modern machines are found more easily in the States of Mato Grosso and Paraná, where the mechanization of farming is, on average, more advanced.
For Irrigation, slowdowns in the process of renewal of machinery is more stark between producers whose size does not fit in the program of strengthening family agriculture (Pronaf) and also the largest that don't have enough breath to access the available credit. And, in a country where labor is increasingly scarce and average mechanical losses in harvests reach 4%, according to Embrapa, any new equipment that promises to reduce this percentage to 0.5%, as many of today's releases, there will always be demand, including in the case of these customers.
Although new technologies usually come out of the ovens of the companies in the u.s. and Europe, investments on this front are high in Brazil. According to Anfavea, the total investments of the industries associated with the entity, including improvements in factory, innovation and new products, came out to $ 31 million in 1980 to $ 368 million in 2011 (the number of 2012 was not closed). American AGCO, for example, reports that invested in the country, an average of $ 40 million per year between 2009 and 2012, and that the amount should double this year.
The CNH, Fiat's Industrial machinery arm, created a new Research Department in Curitiba (PR) intended solely to activities in Latin America and with focus on developing equipment to crops such as coffee, Orange and eucalyptus, among others. New coffee harvesters, "selective", are at an advanced stage of development. In 2012, the company introduced a system to collect sugarcane waste in form of burden to carry to the mill, all in a single operation. Equipment for cutting of trees in small pieces, for further processing, is also being worked on, but this only will arrive on the market in at least three years. And other goodies are in research phase.
The John Deere, American also plans to inaugurate in Brazil its first Innovation Center in Latin America, which will absorb part of the investments that the company is in research and development, which generally arrive at $ 3 million per day. the goal is to generate more and more demands and technologies in the southern hemisphere. But, if there is market, the return is guaranteed.
A complete machine, of a high standard, exceeds $ 500,000, but their differences in relation to the older fleet are already enormous, especially for workers in fact trained to operate them. The current on-board computers will be incorporated into programs that will allow even greater integration between machines and implements in an "intelligence" single, accelerating technical assistance, even at a distance, and increasing the productivity, especially in precision agriculture.
According to Paul Snaweart, engineer responsible for research and development of agricultural products of CNH in Latin America in the last 20 years the maximum power of the harvesters tripled, from 200 to 600 horses. A tractors rose from 150 to 400 horses. "The power is a good indicator of productivity," says Snaweart. According to him, in the last ten years, the average annual increase of productivity of the New Holland brand products was 10%. "Today we launched products in Brazil are the same in the US and Europe," he says.
Not to mention the comfort offered by a tractor with cab with air conditioning and CD player, for example, which also has positive effects on the performance of operators, such as punctuation Jak Torretta, Director of AGCO products in South America. He said ten years ago only 20% of the tractors were equipped with this type of cabin. Currently, this slice already approaching 50%, and the trend is growing.
Another demand for the industry in Brazil will improve technology to reduce emissions, which raise the cost of production between 4% and 5%, according to Snaweart, CNH. This progress, however, will surely be passed on to the final consumer. The theme is being negotiated between the Brazilian Government and manufacturers, but the standard provides that from 2017 the appliances should be required to comply with a certain level of issue. But not only that. All other improvements tend to making agricultural machines.
Hence why the farmers ' income will be essential to sustain them, even with the federal Government's credit lines. In the past, about 95% of the domestic sales of these products were supported by Moderfrota, a line of credit with BNDES resources. The program was "deflated" by the advancement of PSI (also operated by banco de fomento) from 2009. The PSI has smaller interest-3% per year in the first half and 3.5% in the second-and comes to boost the thread.