But this initial scepticism was quickly dismissed when he pushed harder and harder in heavy first cut, and the forager’s engine revs dropped back with the increasing load.

“I was told to work it hard, and pulling the motor back from 2100rpm full throttle to 1900rpm for peak power was fairly impressive,” he says. “Its appetite is something else, and making it work harder in heavy crops – sometimes dropping back to 1500rpm in lumpy swaths – still meant I could comfortably see off 10 acres per hour.

“If my 6850 dropped to 1800rpm, it was done – simple as that,” he says. “And then I would have to unblock it.”

John Brewer’s choice of forager model was driven by workload. With many livestock customers preferring to opt for more and more baled silage, the firm’s silage making workload had been gradually eroded from 1214ha to 809ha, which meant the 7350, with a maximum power rating of 480hp, was big enough to fulfill his harvesting requirements.

Operational flexibility comes from John Deere’s 13.5-litre PowerTech Plus engine, which is shared by four models in the range, peaking at 625 maximum hp in the 7550 and wide-bodied 7750 model.

With unit fuel injection, exhaust gas recirculation and a variable geometry turbocharger, the Tier III emissions compliant engine is one that packs a substantial torque reserve, as Mr Brewer can confirm.

“Nipping between fields on the road sees engine revs capped at 1650rpm for transport, and once as I swung into the next field and got stuck into a swath, I didn’t realise that the transmission was still in its road gear,” he admits. “I just leant on the hydrostat and the machine carried on chopping, very effectively but at just 1650rpm.

“This forager has proved to be one that can deal with any crop condition we’ve encountered, where the 6850 wouldn’t,” adds Mr Brewer. “It doesn’t matter if grass swaths are wet, dry or lumpy, as this new machine just gets on with the job – I think crop flow and throughput is where the main productivity gains have been made.”

The forager also meets his need for greater cab comfort too.

“The cab is longer and wider, which means I’ve room to stretch my legs so it’s not so hard on my knees when sitting in the same position all day long,” he says. Mr Brewer also believes that the new forager is considerably more efficient. While fuel use is hovering around 50 litres per hour in heavy first cut grass – up from 45 litres/hour on his 6850 – the improved crop flow through the 683mm wide cutterhead and crop accelerator mean that Mr Brewer often enjoys an extra two acres per hour in productivity.

“I’m very pleased with the forager’s performance,” he says. “Compared to my 6850, I’m now getting around 15 to 20 per cent more output for just a marginal increase in fuel consumption.”

•  In addition to the basic models from 380 to 690hp in John Deere's new 7050 Series self-propelled forage harvester range, which will be available for the 2008 season, six new i Series machines will be equipped as standard with an integrated ‘intelligent’ package of precision farming technology. This includes the HarvestLab dry matter sensor, GreenStar 2600 display, Harvest Monitor and Harvest Doc software, StarFire iTC receiver with SF2 signal (offering +/-10cm accuracy for yield mapping), and new AutoLOC. AutoLOC provides automatic, on the move adjustment of the length of cut depending on the dry matter content of the crop being harvested, based on settings programmed in by the operator on the in-cab GreenStar display. In this way, operators can improve forage quality for better clamp preservation and ultimately ensure the best silage feed value for the animal.