New Holland was birthed out of the entrepreneurial spirit –
the spirit of innovation and leadership that generates new ideas, new products and new business processes. This month, we look back at the decade spanning 1976 to 1985.

In the 1980’s, Ford launched the 10 Series tractor, introducing a new industry standard of operator comfort and safety that New Holland would continue to raise the bar on in years to come.

In a decade that demanded efficiencies and capacity, New Holland continued to innovate and answer the needs of its loyal customers. With new introductions such as the largest pull-type forage harvesters to a full range of skid steers from compact to heavy duty, New Holland engineers took hold of the decade of capacity. In 1984, New Holland introduced one of the most favored pieces of farming equipment of all time - the Discbine® Mower Conditioner. That same year, Fiat Trattori became FiatAgri and acquired 75% of BRAUD.

Just as our Discbine® Mower Conditioners help farmers produce the highest quality hay, our New Holland BRAUD harvesting machines help to deliver the highest quality grape and olive yields. Our award winning Opti-Grape™ system has been specifically designed to maximize harvest cleanliness, offering the cleanest grapes available. Intended for wine growers who demand the highest possible harvest quality to achieve profitability, the Opti-Grape™ system offers a MOG (material other than grape) separation process with an air cushioned surface that enables a wide range of impurities to be removed, such as petioles, stalks, bits of leaves, wood, and stems, as well as dry and moldy fruit, which may be present during difficult harvest conditions. The delicate handling of the grapes ensures juice doesn’t leak out and the fruit doesn’t begin the fermentation process before it reaches the winery. As a result, the wine making process from the vineyard to the cellar is also enhanced.

In 2001, we began applying technology for the gentle harvesting of olives. Our unique NORIA basket employs a polyurethane basket on each side, offering a pliability that wraps around a tree or vine on contact. This prevents damage to the trunk or vine. Additionally, because there are no gaps or pinch points between the NORIA baskets, virtually no harvest is lost when product is delivered to the cleaning system.

In 2016 and beyond, we’ll launch New Holland BRAUD harvester models in North America that deliver the same harvesting quality to smaller vineyards, enabling them to produce the same high quality grapes as larger vineyards that use our products. Future innovations will focus on technologies that will enable our machines to reduce emissions and provide wineries with more pathways to increase profitability.