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The 4th of July, Rasso Schatz was appointed CEO for Väderstad’s subsidiary in Germany. Rasso, who is an agronomist with a specialization in business administration, has a long sales experience of agricultural machinery and he is used to working close to farmers.

As the demands for precision, and the need for simulations and testing increases Väderstad have opened up a newly built modern seed lab. The facilities opens up new possibilities for the Research and Development department.

Väderstad’s new seed drill has been tested with very positive results by Simon Wancke, the operational manager at the Jussö organic farm just outside of Värnamo in southern Sweden.
— The Spirit R 300S is exactly the right kind of machine for this sort of farm and its soil types.  It allows a fantastically even cultivation and even the plant sizing is exactly equal. We have drilled just over 90 hectares and they all look identical, even on soil that is uncultivated and damp, says Simon.

In time for the autumn season, the hydraulically mounted Cultus 300/350/400 and Carrier 300-400 can be delivered with SoilRunner - Väderstad’s latest packer.  A compacting packer with Ø 575 mm U-profile, well-adapted to hydraulically mounted Cultus and Carrier. The U-profile fills directly with soil and uses it to work soil to soil.

Rapid can be adapted to all field conditions and crops. It can manage all soil types given that it is equipped with so-called long life solutions throughout the whole machine.
- This is also reflected in the machine’s second hand value. We tend to say that Rapid will last a Swedish farmer for all of his working life, says Johan von Mecklenburg, product manager at Väderstad AB.

In order to further develop its business in Romania, Väderstad is initiating a new collaboration with Titan Machinery. As a result, the company will be able to offer its customers a comprehensive service network while optimising its supply chain at the same time.

In spite of challenging external factors that squeezed producer prices for farmers, the Väderstad Group reports results (EBITDA) of MSEK 82 for the previous financial year. At MSEK 2100, turnover was largely unchanged compared with the year before. The equity ratio is 42 per cent.

Rapid was the easy winner in a 10-year trial of direct drilling in Finland, in which 8 different seed drills drilled the same plots of land for an entire decade. Rapid took 5 gold and 3 silver over 10 years by achieving the best harvests. This means EUR 70 extra per hectare for any farmer who chooses Rapid as his seed drill partner.

Rapid appeared at a time when farming was regarded as unimportant and was unprofitable. In 1991, when Rapid was launched, the political situation was directly counterproductive for Sweden’s farmers. Farmers were a burden - you could get food in the shops, people reasoned, even at high levels in government, and farmers were offered money to switch over to golf courses, for example.

A new, more airtight seed meter and alternative seed tubes provide the Tempo precision drill with even more possibilities, while the reinforced bearings on the new discs reduce the need for maintenance.