Back in June, John Deere announced its newest offerings in the company’s forage harvester lineup: the F8 and F9.
At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in September, Deere had an F8 model on-site for attendees to get a first-hand look at the new harvester.
The F8 is just one of 11 new models in the brand’s forage harvester lineup, said Shaun Fritchey, John Deere’s product specialist for forage harvesters, at the farm show.
“There’s 11 new models in the lineup,” said Fritchey, “Starting with the F8 100 up to the F8 600, and then you can go to the F9 series which is our wide channel machine with higher horsepower.”
Horsepower in the six F8 models range between 420 to 636 hp while the five F9 models range between 690 to 1006 hp.
The width of the crop channel between the F8 and F9 models also sets them apart.
John Deere’s F8 models have the standard 26-inch width (660 mm) while the F9 models have a wider, 32-inch (830 mm) width to handle a larger crop volume.
The new F-models also benefit from improved automated technologies such as Constituent Sensing to gauge nutrient quality of feed, a HarvestLab 3000 moisture sensor that uses a near-infrared technology to gauge crop conditions in real time, and a new feature called Active Fill Control that automatically fills trucks or carts evenly in the field.
“There’s a lot of new technology on the machines. We’re kind of expanding upon that,” said Fritchey.
“New for 2026 will be Ground Speed Automation where you can put an inexperienced operator in the seat, set the parameters on the machine, and the machine will maintain productivity and efficiency to the levels of a skilled operator.”
Deere also aims to improve kernel processing quality and speed with wider rolls that also have a larger diameter by releasing two options: the Ultimate KP at 10-inches (250 mm) and the XStream KP at 12-inches (305 mm).
John Deere is taking orders now for its new F8 and F9 model forage harvesters with deliveries planned for the spring of 2026.
