The demise began following the merger of Schuitemaker and Veenhuis in 2019, when the focus switched to the main product lines of slurry tankers and forage wagons. There was no room for the Innovado.
Initially fitted with a 6.0m³ tub, the 60hp Deutz powered machine was able to cut silage from the clamp, load additional feedstuffs, mix the contents and then feed them.
Based loosely along similar lines to the prototype, but with a more powerful 80hp JCB engine and a larger 8.0m³ tub, the pre-production version was on display at EuroTier 2014.
Schuitemaker continued to perfect the technique, and after eight years of field tests and more than 20,000 hours of operation, the first five commercial versions were built in 2016.
One of them was on display at EuroTier 2016, and we caught up with one of the first commercial machines at a farm near Schuitemaker HQ for a report in profi 4/2017.
At the time, Schuitemaker staff were confident of a bright future for the autonomous feeding system. It was not to be.
