Giltrap Agrizone Hosts Kiwi Farmers On New Holland Factory Tour In Europe
18 August 2025, Australia: A group of New Holland customers from New Zealand have just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe to visit some of the brand’s key product development and manufacturing sites.
The group of eight customers travelled to Europe at the end of July with owner of New Holland dealer Giltrap Agrizone, Andrew Giltrap, and some of his staff.
The customers all own New Holland FR forage harvesters, and had the chance to visit St Valentin, Austria, for a factory tour to see New Holland tractors constructed, before moving onto Belgium and the New Holland manufacturing facility in Zedelgem where the brand’s forage harvesters, combines and large square balers are built. Here, the group enjoyed a tour, discussions with the technical, engineering and innovation teams, as well as technician training and local field visits.
The European visit was made possible by Giltrap Agrizone, with the support of New Holland, designed to give forage harvester customers a unique factory and training experience, highlighting the level of innovation and precision that goes into the development and manufacture of New Holland’s forage harvesters.
“I haven’t taken customers to these European factories before, but I have sent staff there for training and have seen how the experience has increased their understanding and confidence,” Andrew said.
“I could see the value in a visit like this for our forage harvester customers, because this is a machine that has so much potential, so to be able to take them over there for training and to talk to the technicians, it’s going to enable them to get the most out of their foragers and really fine-tune their performance.”
Customer John Clark said the trip had really opened his eyes to how much went into the manufacturing process and it had been valuable to see how the factory operated, and meet the people behind the process.
“It was a really brilliant trip, and something I can now tick off my bucket list. The factories were a great experience and it was so interesting to see them operating and see the manufacturing process from start to finish,” John said.
John and son Matthew have John Clark Contracting at Otorohanga, south of Hamilton, where they have a fleet of tractors, balers and a New Holland forage harvester they use for grass harvesting and maize silage, which they’ve had for eight years. A new FR780 is currently on its way though, and the Clarks were able to see the latest model at the factory in Europe and talk to technicians about its latest features.
“It’s got all the NIR features on it, which is a big part of the reason we decided to upgrade. It’s got a lot of benefits for our business and will make what we’re doing more efficient in terms of time and productivity,” John said.
New Holland NIR, referring to NutriSense™, is a near-infrared (NIR) sensor technology that’s now on the likes of combines and forage harvesters. This technology allows for real-time analysis of crop nutrients and moisture content during harvesting, providing valuable data for optimising yield and input management.
“NIR is something that is a big step forward in the New Holland FR model, and the visit gave our customers who’ve purchased one of these machines better insight into the capability of the technology and just how much it can assist them in maximising their business operations and returns,” Andrew said.
For more information on the New Holland forage harvester range, contact your local New Holland dealer.
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