New Holland CR11 combine harvester sets benchmark

The New Holland CR11 combine harvester that was unveiled to more than 700 people by McIntosh & Son at the Perth Convention Centre in August 2024.

ONE of New Holland’s completely new twin rotor combine harvesters, the CR11 was unveiled in front of more than 700 people at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in August 2024. Hosted by McIntosh & Son, the CR11 is one of two new next generation machines that have been built from the ground up, with the companion model being the CR10.

In a performance resembling a rock concert, with AC/DC’s Thunderstruck being belted out, the curtain dropped on the new yellow harvester that rolled, with a pyrotechnics show, towards the audience.

The high voltage launch was the culmination of 10 years of development, along with extensive testing in WA crops last harvest. A second model will be tested in WA at harvest later this year before limited production of the new machine is complete for the 2025 harvest.

New Holland said with new technology never seen before in harvesting, the CR combines would be “an absolute game-changer for large grain farmers, driving down their total cost of harvesting and increasing their bottom-line profitability”. Lars Sorenson, CNH global production manager for combines and headers, Denmark, along with Bart Van Damme, the company’s product performance expert, Belgium, who have led the development of this project over the past decade, attended the launch.

“This is a very important milestone for New Holland,” Mr Sorenson said.“It is the most expensive development project in terms of time – and investment in our complete history.”

With such a long lead-in time for development projects like this, he said when the company looked to the future, they wanted to understand “global mega trends”. Mr Sorsenson said bigger farms (the result of consolidation), higher yields and shorter harvest windows meant the industry was pushing for bigger combines with a higher capacity.

While this is a global farming challenge, he said it was “specifically true here in Australia and Western Australia” with local farmers being at the industry forefront. Issues around securing qualified labour were also factored in – so along with having bigger machines with a higher capacity, Mr Sorenson said as part of their design process, they wanted machines that were easier to use, easier to operate and easier to service.

Costs were the fifth pillar of development. Mr Sorenson said reducing costs per hectare and per tonne harvest were crucial, and the company used the previous 10S series, which they considered as the best combine harvester in the market, as the benchmark.

From there, designers aimed for 15 per cent lower operating costs, but when including that with the need for a bigger machine that was more productive with a 60 foot front, but also a machine that could spread up to 60 feet from the rotors as the rear “because having perfect residue management behind these machines is key for next year’s crop”, Mr Sorenson said they had an issue.

When adding in all the design parameters, he said New Holland realised there was “no way” they could update the current CR models by just adding a bigger engine and bigger rotors.

“We really had to start over and redevelop big combines and also think in completely new ways,” Mr Sorenson said.

He was in WA two years ago when they were putting the “finishing touches” to the project.

“Unfortunately I couldn’t talk too much about it, we were just gathering information at the time, so that’s why I am very excited to come back to be part of this launch and be able to share everything we have learned and everything we have done over the past 10 years,” he said.

Mr Sorenson said WA broadacre farmers were front of mind when they were in the information gathering process, “because in terms of big combines, you are one of the key markets here in Australia and certainly here in Western Australia”.

A CR11 test model was in WA last harvest, and they will have two machines operating locally for the next harvest, before there is a limited production of the new machines in place for the 2025 harvest.

A crowd of more than 700 people attended the New Holland CR11 launch which also featured New Holland tractors and a baler, along with a Miller Nitro self-propelled sprayer.

During the launch, CNH global product manager for combines and headers, Lars Sorenson, walked around the machine and explained its features which were projected onto big screens.

McIntosh Group Chief Executive Officer, David Capper, thanked everyone involved in the New Holland team for making the project possible. He also acknowledged that a lot of people travelled long distances to be part of the launch, as well as about 200 staff from the McIntosh & Son network also attending. Mr Capper said they didn’t want to just show off the CR11, they wanted to demonstrate why this was a major turning point in harvesting technology.

The convention centre also featured the latest from the New Holland tractor range, a Miller Nitro self-propelled sprayer, and a New Holland baler, with sales staff onhand to talk to farmers who were interested in those models.

For more information on the New Holland CR11 or to arrange a demonstration, contact your dealer below or browse the range here.

See more photos from the launch below, or browse the album our Facebook page here.