AMAZONE Report - Issue 48

The AMAZONE Group is the most innovative medium-sized company in Germany.

What a success!

AMAZONE is Germany's most innovative medium-sized company 2024

The AMAZONE Group is the most innovative medium-sized company in Germany. This was the conclusion of a study conducted by Munich Strategy in conjunction with the magazine WirtschaftsWoche. 

We are very proud of the fact that Amazone has been able to take 1st place in this important ranking. It is a recognition of our efforts to consistently offer high-quality products to our customers.
In addition to this success, we were delighted to be able to welcome 6,500 visitors to our in-house field day, Amatechnica in May of this year, after a break of six years. The event impressively demonstrated how we at AMAZONE are not only maintaining our role as one of the leading suppliers of agricultural machinery, but are continuously expanding it. 

We consider Amatechnica to be not just a platform to present our latest products. It offered farmers, contractors and sales partners from a;; over Europe and the entire world, the opportunity of taking an in-depth look at the challenges and opportunities facing agriculture today, and to gain new impetus through dialogue with industry experts. 

The questions of the future are the driving force behind our corporate strategy. Bearing in mind the expanding markets outside Europe, we have strengthened our international sales activities and have acquired a new strong partner in Brazil with MP AGRO. After participating in Brazil's largest agricultural trade show, we were already able to draw a positive first return concerning this partnership. Read more about this here.

A look at last year's figures shows that we are on the right track, despite challenging market conditions. Sales of 852 million Euros meant that we achieved a new record. We owe this, above all, to our dedicated team, and to you, our reliable partners and loyal customers who placed their trust in us.

In the current financial year, however, we are confronted with a downturn in demand due to the economic situation, which presents our industry with further uncertainties. However, we are confident that we can overcome these hurdles. In this year, the driving force for sales will be the expanded product range with innovative Amazone machinery that fits to the soil type and climate in the various different regions of the world. We are also driving development in the areas of autonomy and artificial intelligence. AI-supported solutions have become an important constituent in our product strategy.

We are convinced that we will continue successfully to shape the agriculture of the future with our innovative strength and commitment.

Christian Dreyer and Dr. Justus Dreyer

JUNGE Landtechnik and AMAZONE

Cooperation between family businesses

The company JUNGE Landtechnik from Geestland in the district of Cuxhaven in Lower Saxony, founded in 1954 by Herbert Junge, has been a major player in the agricultural machinery industry for generations. The cooperation with AMAZONE came about in 2016, after we took over the plough production of the company "Vogel & Noot", whose products had been distributed by JUNGE Landtechnik for several years.

#Today, this family-run company is managed for the third generation, by Ninja Junge, who runs the business, together with her husband Benedikt, and her father Udo Junge. Ninja and Benedikt brought their valuable experience from their previous work at KRONE to the company.

JUNGE Landtechnik is one of our premium distribution partners and offers a wide range of products. In addition to agricultural machinery, the company also sells milking technology products and small appliances (from chainsaws to lawnmowers and even bicycles).

A new distribution centre is currently being built to meet the ever-increasing challenges and in order to meet increasing customer demand. It enables more efficient display of the products and provides improved customer service on site. Our factory representative Maximilian Homann has been alongside JUNGE since December 2021.
 

Future Farming in Denmark

Award for sustainable agriculture 

At the Danish Agriculture and Food Council's Crop Congress, Martin Molbo was honoured as the farmer of the future in the sustainability category. Together with his team of seven employees, he focusses on ecological, social and economic sustainability. For him, financial success is more of a side effect if all aspects of the company's activities are geared towards sustainability in terms of climate, environment, biodiversity and social commitment. Martin, a graduate farmer, computer scientist and accountant, joined his father's farm in 2001 at the age of 25 and converted it completely to conservation arable farming in 2017. 

The switch to no-till cultivation did not result in any yield loss, but actually increased yields as a result of improvement in the soil, build-up of humus and healthier soil life. Less tractor hours and savings in diesel amounted to around 15,000 litres per year. Martin relies on AMAZONE machinery, such as a ZA-TS fertiliser spreader and the Cayena tine seed drill, which is still not widely used in Denmark: "We see many advantages in sowing with a tine for our mulch or direct seeding," says Martin, "but you have to know one thing: Wait until the dew has dried from the crop residues, otherwise the machine will get blocked! We don't start sowing until midday, which makes a world of difference." 

With his new UX 6201 with AmaSelect multi-nozzle bodies, Martin hopes further to increase their plant protection efficiency. He is also planning to go into spot spraying based on the use of drones.

AMATECHNICA 2024

In May this year, we welcomed lots of visitors to our in-house AMATECHNICA field day under the banner "Ideas for future".

Around 6,500 farmers, contractors and sales partners were given the opportunity of finding out about the latest developments and innovations at AMAZONE. The concept, consisting of practical machinery demonstrations both in the field and in the arena, a presentation of the latest innovations in the ACTIVE-Center, a full line up of the machinery portfolio along with factory tours and a vintage machinery show with around 120 old tractors, struck the right note with the discerning visitors.

The main focus was on our numerous new products, some of which were also shown in action on a nearby field – and the weather was perfect.

To mark 75 years of Amazone seed drills, an extensive collection of old drills and drill combinations was on display alongside the current models. This exhibition offered the visitors a fascinating journey through the history in the development of seeding. Many more machines, including, of course, the soil tillage, fertiliser and crop protection sectors, as well as groundcare equipment were impressively showcased by the AMAZONE team with demonstrations in the arena. 

Another highlight was the "Walk of Innovation" in the ACTIVE-Center, which took visitors through an inspiring series of pioneering technologies and smart solutions for precise, sustainable agriculture. Experts from a large number of partner companies were also available for one-to-one discussions.

Lots of the visitors also took advantage of the free shuttle bus to visit the state-of-the-art spare parts centre at the Tecklenburg-Leeden facility and our new AMAZONE experimental farm in Wambergen, where we develop and present the latest arable and crop establishment concepts. 

The joint auction of 37 items of agricultural machinery at AMATECHNICA 2024, in conjunction with the auction house, Euro Auctions, was a complete success. The auctioneer and his team brought the machines under the hammer in a period of around one and a half hours. Bidding took place on site and online. A special highlight was the auction of the last machine, a D9 mounted seed drill. The winning bid was placed by online by Benedikt Schulze-Lammers from Borken with his final bid of 12,500 Euros. Since the proceeds from this seed drill in the auction were to be donated to the Osnabrück outpatient children's hospice, AMAZONE agreed with the auction house to increase the amount to 15,000 Euros.

A marquee with a spacious terrace was erected to cater for everyone's well-being and to facilitate the relaxed and convivial part of the day. This is where our guests were provided with food and drinks and a good time was had by all. There was also a "fun area" consisting of a goal wall shoot-out, "ring-the-bell" and even a driving skills competition, a nail bar and a bouncy castle.

To round off the day with pleasant conversations, a proper "after-field party" was held in the large marquee from 6 p.m. A 5-piece band provided excellent music and there was a great atmosphere. Many of our guests enthused that the day was a complete success and that the very long journey, in some cases, had been worthwhile. We look forward to seeing you again at the next Amatechnica.

Agricultural machinery for northern Poland

Our new regional importer Amatech: 

At the beginning of 2024, we added Amatech to our Polish sales network as our third sales partner, alongside Tech-Kom and Agromix Sp. z.o.o. "Amatech Open Days" were held in early January to raise awareness of the new distribution channel for AMAZONE and SCHMOTZER products with our end customers. . Despite the difficult market environment, the event was very well attended and our machines were so well received by the visitors that several deals were finalised after the event - "A successful start" was the clear statement of our local factory representative, Bartłomiej Chmurzyński. Amatech was founded in January 2008 by Jarosław Poznański and specialises in agricultural machinery sales. The company mainly serves the north of Poland in the greater Gdansk area. In addition to AMAZONE, the company also sells Manitou, Steyr, Kubota and Krone machines. Alongside its sales department, Amatech also offers a comprehensive service facility and spare parts. With a team of 18 experienced employees providing professional advice and technical support, Amatech has established itself as a reliable partner for farmers. The company's headquarters are in Czarlin, approx. 50 km south of Gdansk.

We hope that this expansion of our sales network will increase our market presence as well as our customer presence in Poland.

The new Precea 6000-TCC

Following the successful launch of the 12 metre Precea 12000-TCC, the trailed 6 metre version Precea 6000-TCC is now also available to round off the range for larger farms and contractors. Whether used for conventional or mulch sowing, the Precea-TCC trailed precision air seeder is characterised particularly by its very precise placement, high output and comfortable operation.

Innovations presented in 10 countries

On tour with AMAZONE! Over the past few weeks, two of our working students travelled through Europe on behalf of AMAZONE and presented two of our big new products. Emma Nottbohm and Jan Schmüser set off across Europe with our self-propelled Pantera 7004 crop protection sprayer and the trailed 
ZG-TX 11200 combi spreader on-board. 

Starting from the main factory in Hasbergen-Gaste, the tour travelled through Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Croatia. Our two students finally found their way back home via Austria. 

Emma Nottbohm and Jan Schmüser were representing AMAZONE and they explained the various sophisticated boom functions of the Pantera: Flex fold, ContourControl boom guidance and SwingStop.

On the way through these ten countries, we were able to present the new products to interested parties and potential customers at a total of 35 regional events. This gave contractors, farmers and cooperatives the opportunity of seeing for themselves our highlights and technical innovations in the fields of plant protection and fertilisation. The ZG-TX combi sprayer was a real hit with the audience, above all due to the simple conversion between the TS spreader unit and the new spreader unit for lime. This means that both mineral fertilisers and earth-moist limes can be precisely applied using just the one machine. The new self-propelled Pantera 7004 crop protection sprayer, on the other hand, impressed with its particularly high level of driving comfort thanks to the new chassis with automatic slope levelling. The new spray liquid tank with a capacity of 7,000 litres also attracted a lot of interest, so much so that the spectators would have liked to have kept the machine right there and then. In total, these two students covered a distance of 8,300 kilometres on tour, 7,200 of which were covered by the machines under their own steam. What an experience! 

AMAZONE goes Brazilian

MP AGRO ACQUIRED BY AMAZONE 
Brazil's fertiliser spreader specialist is now part of the AMAZONE Group 

In April of this year it became official: the Brazilian fertiliser spreader specialist, MP AGRO, is now part of our AMAZONE Group. This acquisition marks a significant milestone for both companies, and signals an important step towards the internationalisation and growth of our Group in South America.

"We rely on the MP AGRO team and want to use their expertise and market proximity to bring our technology to Brazil," explain AMAZONE owners Christian Dreyer and Dr Justus Dreyer. Our goal is to offer innovative agricultural machinery of the highest quality in Brazil and to raise the precision and sustainability of fertilisation to a new level.

MP AGRO brings with it a young, highly motivated and dynamic team that focuses on customers in the sector of fertilisation and has in-depth market know-how in Brazil. With strong distribution partners, MP AGRO is known for the high quality and reliability of its products. We are very pleased that the existing workforce will remain unchanged and will continue its operation under the proven leadership of Douglas Peccin.

Together, we are striving to become the leading supplier of fertiliser spreaders in Brazil and to further expand our innovative strength. This partnership promises significant added value for our customers in Brazil.

Our initial focus is on fertiliser spreaders, although other product lines are conceivable in the future. The MP AGRO brand name will be retained for the current products and our AMAZONE spreaders will be sold in parallel with the MP AGRO spreaders on the Brazilian market. 

We look forward to a joint future with combined strength to set new standards in professional fertilisation.  

Good level of sales at Brazil's largest agricultural exhibition

Considerable interest in AMAZONE in South America

The 29th Agrishow event took place in Ribeirão Preto (approx. 300 km north of São Paulo) from April 29th to May 3rd. Not only were the innovations, the new technologies and the best practices in field cultivation presented here, but the exhibition also offered a positive environment for business deals and contacts. 

With over 800 exhibitors across 520,000 m², and more than 195,000 trade visitors, Agrishow 2024 has continued to maintain its position as the largest agricultural exhibition in Brazil. The fact that the potential business intentions expressed hit a record level of approximately 2.2 billion Euros (R$ 13.608 billion - an increase of 2.4 % compared to last year's exhibition) shows not only the importance of the event, but also the strength of the market for agricultural machinery and equipment in the country.

Taking part in the show provided MP AGRO with a valuable opportunity for customer interaction and for finalising significant deals. A total of 62 machines were sold off the stand. The show was also used as a stage to announce the acquisition of the company by AMAZONE. The company's visibility and confidence in the national market are to be further strengthened in this way. The presence of AMAZONE equipment met with great interest from farmers and competitors and emphasised the relevance of the technological innovations presented at the show.

The Agrishow consolidated its role as an indispensable event for the continuous development and growth of the agricultural sector. We are looking forward to the next one, which will take place from April 28th until May 2nd 2025. 
 

Change of leadership in Brandenburg

New factory representative

Since 1 July 2024, Markus Gernt has been the new factory representative for AMAZONE in Brandenburg. 40-Year-old Markus Gernt, who lives in Stechow-Ferchesar, is taking over the field sales activities of Volker Rehfeld, who has taken well-deserved retirement after around 18 successful years with AMAZONE. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking Mr Rehfeld once again for his almost two decades of loyal and market-defining work.

Markus Gernt is a trained farmer, state-certified technician and has worked for six years in agriculture on a dairy farm. He gained his commercial experience over the last 15 years at an agricultural machinery dealership in Brandenburg. Not least because of his background, we are convinced that Markus Gernt will quickly establish himself as a competent and likeable contact for our sales partners and end customers.
 

"Samson"our jack-of-all-trades

Over 40 years with AMAZONE 

Our esteemed colleague Wilfried Schäper, known throughout the company as "Samson" , took well-deserved retirement at the end of July. He owes his nickname to light-coloured overalls, long hair and his strong build, reminiscent of Samson from Sesame Street. 
After training as a car mechanic at Karmann in Osnabrück, he attended the vocational and technical college for mechanical engineering. He became a member of the AMAZONE family in 1983 - although he was actually part of it from birth, as he is the great-grandson of Friedrich Dreyer, one of the two half-brothers of AMAZONE founder Heinrich Dreyer. 

"From jam to machines, I drove everything and anywhere."
Wilfried Schäper

Samson worked in many departments during his more than 40 years of service. He worked as a fitter, in the warehouse, in test and development, in the paint shop and also in the goods in department. He also worked as gatekeeper and at reception for some time. A jack of all trades - who impressed with his skills in all areas. For the last 15 years, he was known as the driver of an AMAZONE flatbed, with which he was available and on duty around the clock. He was always the link between our factory and local suppliers. Fleet management, shopping, repairs and transporting all kinds of things are just a few of his other tasks. With a laugh, he said: "From jam to the machines, everything was there for me as a driver." Samson has been very committed to AMAZONE over the years and was always on hand when help was needed.

Thank you, Simon!

From the first employee to General Manager

After the founding our subsidiary AMAZONE Ltd. in the UK in 1983, Simon Brown was our first employee.  He started his career as a field service technician and travelled extensively in Germany in this position. He later looked after spare parts and field service for the whole of the UK, eventually becoming Brand Manager and finally Managing Director of AMAZONE Ltd in December 2018. With great commitment and passion, he quickly helped AMAZONE to become very well known. 

He was actively supported by his wife, Caroline during his more than 40 years of service. She was involved in numerous exhibitions throughout the country, looking after, among other things, our customers on the stand. We would like to take this opportunity to thank her once again. 

Over the years, Simon Brown has unselfishly, and with great commitment, dedicated himself to AMAZONEN-WERKE's interests and has thus made a significant contribution to the company's major success in the UK. We are very grateful to Simon, and, with all our hearts, we wish him all the best for this new chapter in his life.

To bid him farewell, we travelled to the UK with a strong line-up, including Senior Partner Klaus and Managing Director Christian Dreyer, to host a big farewell party for Simon at our Orchard Farm subsidiary together with around 100 of his most important customers. In a speech to the assembled company, Christian Dreyer and Simon's successor, Matt Smith, thanked Simon for his outstanding work. This day will be remembered fondly by everyone involved. 

"It will be strange, not having Simon in the company, after so many years.
Christian Dreyer 

A life dedicated to farming and family

Matt Smith: Our new man in Great Britain

32-year-old Matt Smith is following in the footsteps of Simon Brown. Like his predecessor, Matt studied at Harper Adams University in Newport. He successfully completed his studies with a Bachelor of Agricultural Engineering and started a full-time internship at "Househam Sprayers Ltd.", a British manufacturer of self-propelled sprayers, as part of his studies. After completing his studies, he was hired there as a Regional Sales Manager. He later moved to HORSCH, a German manufacturer, where he was Regional Sales Manager for plant protection in the south of the UK. He then came to AMAZONE Ltd. in 2021 as National Sales Manager and has taken over the additional position of Managing Director upon Simon’s retirement in June. "I wish Matt continued enjoyment of the agricultural machinery industry and to have pleasant customers," said Klaus Dreyer at the get-together on June 3rd.

Matt Smith is married and lives in Stamford, Lincolnshire, with his wife, Katie and three-year-old son, Isaac. 

AMAZONE 1950

Once upon a time…

This view of the main factory in Hasbergen-Gaste was taken in 1950, shortly after the Second World War. The picture shows the factory from the east with three chimneys. The largest belonged to the boiler house with a steam engine, which produced the energy and heat required by the company. The boiler was heated mainly using waste wood from the production of fertiliser spreaders, potato sorters and the like. 

The boiler house was demolished in January 2006, while the chimney had to be dismantled earlier than that for reasons of dilapidation. The smaller chimney belonged to the former steam engine, from which the lathes and drills were driven via transmission shafts until around 1937. Next to it was a water tower to supply the steam engine, which became redundant in 1950. The chimney and water tower were demolished around 1951.

Then there was the small third chimney. It belonged to a large forge hearth in which the steel rings for the large wooden wheels of the fertiliser spreaders were made red-hot and, with two strong men using tongs, taken out of the fire and hammered onto the wooden wheels and quickly dipped into water so that the wood of the wheels did not burn.

After the war, the factory was shut down for about six months. The British forces had converted the site into a transit camp for German soldiers who were being repatriated after the war. Every day, up to 10,000 war veterans were driven to the factory by British soldiers on military lorries, fed there for a day, housed overnight and transported on the next day. For many years, former soldiers have fond memories of their stay at AMAZONE, their last day in captivity, and then their release to freedom.

AMAZONE was then allowed to manufacture agricultural machinery again, and the company started up again with around 50 employees under the management of Dipl. Eng. Heinrich Dreyer. This is an important part of the 140-year history of Amazonen-WERKE.

The oldest "AMAZONE"

Other companies usually quote the establishment of a manual fabrication workshop as the year of foundation. With AMAZONE, however, things are different. The foundation of the factory for agricultural equipment is always quoted here - that was in 1883. The Dreyer family had also been involved in the manufacture of agricultural machinery and equipment for several generations, albeit on a manual fabrication basis. In other words, customised production. The grandfather of founder Heinrich Dreyer, Johann Caspar Dreyer, supplied a grain cleaning machine, known as the Wannemühle, to the city of Osnabrück in around 1780. Heinrich Dreyer documented this in his chronicle and reacquired this machine from the city in around 1938. It stands in all its splendour, and is very well preserved, in our museum at Gut Wambergen. This winnower is very elaborately made entirely of oak, with fittings of hand-forged iron, and certainly cost a relatively large amount of money. It is still fully functional today, although it shows clear signs of wear. Even back then, the Dreyers had the motto: The most important thing is good quality and optimum function. 

The first AMAZONE plant abroad

AMAZONE factory overview, part 2: Forbach

AMAZONE's first subsidiary outside of Germany is located in Forbach, France. This site is located directly on the Franco-German border near Saarbrücken.

At the beginning of the 1960s, France became the most important export market thanks to strong sales of the ZA twin disc fertiliser spreader. It therefore made sense to have our own facility here. This also took place against the backdrop of the developing Franco-German friendship based on the Élysée Treaty of 1963.

AMAZONE was offered a company with sufficient space on favourable terms, which even had two railway sidings. Dr Friederichs (a member of the management at the time) played a key role in the negotiations with the previous owner, who was of Italian origin.
However, the company was in a deplorable, partly dilapidated state. This affected both the offices and the production buildings. In addition, the large factory hall was open to the weather and was heated with open coke ovens in winter. It is astonishing that around 50 employees had worked at the previous company despite these conditions. This made it all the more important to those responsible at AMAZONE to restore production, administration, workplaces and social facilities into a decent condition. Over the years, not only were the facilities renovated, but new halls were also built and a large adjoining site was purchased from a haulage company. The offices, which had previously been housed in a residential building on the street for a long time, were also relocated to a new administration building. 

In the beginning, AMAZONE produced the EK single disc fertiliser spreaders in Forbach, as well as the "Tübings" from time to time. These were supports for the underground mine passages, which had been manufactured by the previous owners. The existing machine tools were initially used for this purpose. After some time, the AMAZONE product range was finally able fully to utilise the company's capacity and, in addition to fertiliser spreaders, tooth packer rollers were also manufactured from then on, the production of which was automated by AMAZONE. To round off the range, the "Groundkeeper" lawn mower and the self-propelled sprayer "Profihopper" were later added to the product portfolio. 

The first factory manager in Forbach was Mr Herweg, who moved to France from Germany with his family. This position was then held by Mr Schomäker, who had previously worked in Hude. He was followed by Mr Pfisterer and then Mr Franke. Today, Mr Descamps manages our business in Forbach - a native Frenchman from the agricultural machinery industry who is bilingual, owing to his many years of living in Germany, which benefits communication between the factories. Ludger Braunsmann joined the management team in Forbach as Managing Director for Finance and Controlling.

Currently with 100 employees, the first AMAZONE subsidiary has developed over the years into a very efficient plant for "groundcare". 

150 years of Klaus and Christian Dreyer

Family celebration "at home" - at the company

AMAZONE celebrated a special anniversary on May 7th this year. On this day, Klaus and Christian Dreyer celebrated their 90th and 60th birthdays respectively, which was a very special occasion, not only for them, but also for the family business.

Klaus Dreyer joined AMAZONEN-WERKE as Managing Director in January 1958 after studying mechanical engineering, together with his cousin Dipl. Eng. Dr Heinz Dreyer. Dipl. Eng. Heinrich Dreyer, Heinz's father and representative of the second generation, had passed away unexpectedly. Christian Dreyer joined the family business in 1994 after studying industrial engineering and working for a machine tool manufacturer. In 1999, he took over from his father as Managing Director. 

In addition to the birthdays, there was another special company anniversary: Christian Dreyer celebrated his 25th anniversary as Managing Director of the company, which he now runs together with his cousin Dr Justus Dreyer. Under the leadership of the third and fourth generation of Dreyers, AMAZONE has developed remarkably over the last 66 years. The company's turnover rose from DM 10 million to over 850 million Euros, and the number of employees grew from around 500 to over 2,500. The production sites have now grown to nine, supplemented by numerous subsidiaries worldwide.

The jubilee celebrants are determined to continue this success story with the support of competent management and committed employees.

The celebrations began on May 7th with a reception for all invited guests, clubs, associations and company executives at the ACTIVE Centre in the AMAZONEN-WERKE factory in Hasbergen-Gaste. To the accompaniment of piano music, there was a cosy get-together over lunch, words of appreciation for the jubilee celebrants and a buffet.

A festive evening private event followed on May 8th. Around 200 friends and relatives of the birthday boys came to celebrate with Klaus and Christian Dreyer.