On 27-30 January the annual Agro+MashExpo agricultural exhibition was held in Budapest, Hungary. The exhibition, which was being held for the 28th year in a row, is well known among farmers in Hungary and during the four days its 240 stands were visited by 19 800 people.

However the numbers were lower than expected due to snow storms in Hungary during these few days.

This year’s exhibition concentrated on presenting new agricultural products and markets and provided opportunities for discussions, business deals and exchanges of trading experiences. Hungary has the advantage of possessing many natural attributes suitable for agriculture: Fertile soils, a suitable climate, access to water – the amount of running water per inhabitant is said to be highest in the world. Most of the major Western machine manufacturers were represented at the exhibition, as well as a number of small manufacturers from Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Two-thirds of the total land area in Hungary (9.3 million hectares) are used for agriculture and almost 20% of the population work in agriculture. The main crop is cereal, which occupies around 80% of the arable land.

Väderstad Hungary Kft exhibited 12 machines – from soil cultivation to drilling – in a 550 sq.m stand that attracted many existing and potential customers in search of information. This year, an eight-year-old used Rapid seed drill that has drilled 20 000 hectares was displayed. The total running costs in these years have been 0,5€ per hectare, with spare parts included.

A poster beside the seed drill pointed out that during the past eight years a range of significant improvements have been introduced on this type of drill. The display also showed the financing options for visitors, as our Hungarian subsidiary offers attractive leasing agreements extending over a 3-year period.