HORSCH rocked Agritechnica 2011

Silver medal, Machine of the year 2012 and seven new products

This year HORSCH presented its 21 machines on the floor space of over 2.500 m², which made it the largest exhibition stand in the company's history. According to German Agricultural Society (DLG) 415,000 guests visited Hannover this year. About 100,000 of them came from outside Germany. Many guests have visited our stand, where the seven new machines were presented and a project study was carried out. All of the visitors of our exhibition stand were professionally consulted by nearly a hundred of HORSCH employees.

HORSCH is a supplier of the full product range in the field of conservation tillage

In the field of conservation tillage HORSCH presented itself as a supplier of the full product range. The new Cruiser was designed specifically for shallow tillage. The Terrano range is now complemented by Terrano FM and Terrano MT. Terrano FM is a universal cultivator in a 4-bar design with chassis integrated in the frame. Terrano MT operates on the principle of shallow mixing and deep loosening, at the same time being able to avoid the vertical mixing effect.

Numerous innovations in the field of seeding technology

Most innovations were brought into the field of seeding technology. The design of Pronto SW is based on the one of Pronto DC, and includes its own seed waggon. It was designed specifically for large farms. Pronto NT and Sprinter NT are new direct seed drills with 12 to 24 meters in working width. On the one hand, Pronto NT is equipped with the reliable TurboDisc seeding technology. Sprinter NT, on the other hand, uses a novel tine system specifically designed for direct seed in areas with continental climate - with low rainfall during the growth phase

Machine of the year and silver medal for a single grain seed drill

The German Agricultural Publisher (dlv) awarded Maestro SW and Maestro CC with the title of “the seed drill of the year”, as they ring in the future of the pneumatic single grain seed drills. The precise seeds separation is universally suitable for sowing corn, soybean, sunflower, sugar beet and rape. Besides high precision, this machine is brilliant for sowing at high speeds – up to 15 km / h. The patented, robust, and small metering unit allows row spacing of up to 40 cm. In addition, Maestro is equipped with the system “Seed on Demand”. Together with Claas and other partners, HORSCH received a silver medal for TONI (Telematics on implement). This allows data bundling from the tractor and Maestro, as a complete working unit. Thus, a cross-vendor analysis and documentation enables to constantly monitor the seeding quality.

HORSCH new crop protection technology

For the first time HORSCH presented its crop protection technology. In addition to the trailed sprayer GS 6000, the new trailed sprayer GS 8000 and the self-propelled sprayer PT 270 raised particularly strong interest among the visitors. Starting in 2012, HORSCH crop protection technology will be sold not only in Germany but also in England, Denmark, Poland, Austria and Lithuania. According to the Managing Director, Horst Keller, a good distribution network will be built and the excellent HORSCH service will be offered within the shortest time possible in these countries.

HORSCH - Leader in Strip Till

"Strip Till" was a big issue prior to Agritechnica. HORSCH pioneered in this field with Focus TD, which works according to the strip cultivation principle in conjunction with a targeted fertilization and the subsequent precise seed placement. The CEO of the company, Philipp Horsch, explained that the expectations in this area were at their highest, as Focus TD was expected to provide yield stability under extremely severe climatic conditions and much higher yields with good fertilizer efficiency under good conditions. Whereas other exhibitors showed only demo stands instead of finished machines for strip cultivation, HORSCH showed with its rape study, where the technology will develop in the future. The results of the study show that the combination of Focus TD and the high-speed separation ability of the Maestro is the most effective. Such technology, which offers immense increases in yield, will be the basis for our future product developments.

Outlook for 2012 by Michael Horsch

Michael Horsch sees Agritechnica as the world's most important agricultural fair and as a market barometer for HORSCH. In our view, the economic crisis in the agricultural machinery sector is completely over and based on the discussions with our dealers and customers, we would expect a positive future changing for the better. 2011 is the most successful year in the history of HORSCH, as the company’s revenues reached 165 million euro and are expected to remain that positive in the next years. Michael Horsch would continue to show concern not only for machine prices in the future, but also for intensive consulting of each customer, as this together with the highest quality and perfect service have always been the core competencies of HORSCH. According to Michael Horsch, agriculture and agricultural machinery are important for the future as they would take a key role in terms of a food supply and production of renewable energies worldwide. 50% of visitors of Agritechnica had in mind to invest in machines in 2012 and 25% of them used the fair to intensively inform themselves about such investment possibilities. This enables not only the farmers but also us to look positively into the future.

HORSCH defended its top ranking in the Image Barometer again

Another measure of the success of Agritechnica 2011 was our HORSCH Store. During the exhibition items had to be additionally ordered to satisfy the customers’ demand. This demonstrates the ability of the customers and visitors to identify with HORSCH.

The Image Barometer, analyzed and calculated by DLG, reflects the brand enthusiasm, product quality, service and innovation. HORSCH is now for the fourth year in a row on the 4th place behind such large tractor manufacturers as Fendt, Claas and John Deere.