Massey Ferguson S.A.S. is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in Toronto, then Brantford, Ontario, Canada, until 1988. The company transferred its headquarters in 1991 to Buffalo, New York, U.S. before it was acquired by AGCO, the new owner of its former competitor Allis-Chalmers.
Illustration of the Massey factory in Newcastle, Ontario, circa 1879
Massey-Harris logo, c. 1952
Share of Massey-Harris Limited, issued February 18, 1916
A standard-tread 1948 Massey-Harris Model 20
Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that they tow or operate. Diverse arrays of equipment are used in both organic and nonorganic farming. Especially since the advent of mechanised agriculture, agricultural machinery is an indispensable part of how the world is fed. Agricultural machinery can be regarded as part of wider agricultural automation technologies, which includes the more advanced digital equipment and robotics. While agricultural robots have the potential to automate the three key steps involved in any agricultural operation, conventional motorized machinery is used principally to automate only the performing step where diagnosis and decision-making are conducted by humans based on observations and experience.
From left to right: John Deere 7800 tractor with Houle slurry trailer, Case IH combine harvester, New Holland FX 25 forage harvester with corn head.
A German combine harvester by Claas
A John Deere cotton harvester at work in a cotton field
A British crop sprayer by Lite-Trac