Lemken pulls the plug on sprayers with production ceasing at the end of 2020

The company says it is taking this step to position itself strongly and independently for the future. It adds that it intends to strengthen and expand its soil cultivation, drilling technology and crop care product areas in order to sustain its position. In doing so, ‘crop care’ will be concentrated on sustainable crop care solutions in future, with the inclusion of its recently launched fertiliser spreader range.

In 2018, Lemken acquired the Dutch hoeing technology company Steketee, creating the opportunity to combine mechanical weed control with selective band spraying or spot spraying, it says.

Mr van der Ley says there is a trend to meet the increasing demand for mechanical weed control with intelligent controls.

He says; “Not only does Steketee offer a range of innovative hoeing technology, it also has the most intelligent camera technology on the market. We want to connect these machines to our digital solutions and make them adaptive.”

The sprayer production site in Haren, Germany is to be retained and expanded to assemble seed drills in the future. The company says this step will enable future expansion to meet a rise in demand for these products and make space for future models it has planned in the seed drilling and precision seeding areas.

Lemken has confirmed farmers who own one of its sprayers are guaranteed a continued supply of replacement parts, as well as continued access to its customer service. Customer orders will be accepted and fulfilled up until the end of the year.