Prototype farming machine first of its kind in Saskatchewan

WATCH: A prototype farming machine, which has the ability to seed, fertilize, and harvest crops, is the first of its kind in Saskatchewan. Jacob Carr explains.

Saskatchewan farm owner Rhett Chute is operating a prototype farming machine that’s the first of its kind in the province.

Early this summer, Chute Farms Joint Venture just outside of Caronport, Sask., was approached by German company NEXAT to collaborate and use one of its state-of-the-art prototype machines.

“They were wondering, since we have bigger fields here,” recalled Chute, a part owner at the farm.

“NEXAT had two of their machines down in Nebraska and one out in Manitoba, so they approached us wanting a little bit o

f flatter land, bigger fields type of thing.”

The NEXAT system has a main carrier vehicle and multiple attachments that can be switched out, allowing for seeding, fertilizing, and harvesting of a crop.

Chute said one of the main draws for him to agree to use the machinery was its uniqueness.

“It’s cool,” he said. “There’s nothing out there that looks like this thing, so when you can combine beside it all day, it’s definitely interesting. That’s pretty much the real reason we said yes. I said, ‘This is kind of neat, I want to see this thing work.’”

There are only 16 of the NEXAT machines in operation worldwide, and the three situated in North America all currently reside at Chute Farms Joint Venture.

Chute told CTV News he has been impressed with the performance of the NEXAT combine, saying he hasn’t really seen a downside to them and that they are performing the work of the farm’s normal combines, plus more.

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Jeremy Welter, vice-president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), said the NEXAT has piqued their interest, and it may have a role to play in the future of crop production in the province and all over the world.

“The NEXAT looks quite interesting and based on some of their initial data, it does seem to provide certain improvements to sustainability, certainly less compaction over the growing areas,” he said.

How much does it cost?

Despite the NEXAT’s impressive capabilities, APAS sees the price point as a potential issue for small to medium farmsteads in Saskatchewan.

The carrier vehicle for the NEXAT comes in a $1.3 million — and with all of the attachments, that price shoots up to over $2 million, which Welter said is probably unrealistic for the average-sized farm.

“Now, does that mean that the average farmer is going to be buying it today,” he said, “or is it something that most pieces of equipment start out on the larger operations, and some of the medium to smaller operations just sort of wait for those things to come down on price so that they’re realistically affordable?”

For Chute and his farm, he says the plan with the NEXAT is to continue using it until after the next harvest.

“We could very well be in this field in the spring seeding with that thing,” he said.