Mr. Horsch on what future has in store for us

AgroCentre has taken part in a major Field Day held by HORSCH Rus in Roshchinsky village (Lipetsk oblast). The event warmly welcomed over a hundred representatives from the leading farms and enterprises of the Russian central regions. This Field Day can be rated as one of the most interesting and informative events of this summer, as the exhibition was attended by the founder of the famous German brand of agricultural machinery Michael Horsch himself. He started off with a speech on the global prospects of agriculture.

‘As far back as the beginning of the 20th century milk, meat, eggs, flour were not always available for many people on planet Earth. As machine manufacturing progressed just within a century the humanity turned them into everyday products,’ says Mr. Horsch. ‘Now’s the time for a new era to begin. According to some estimates, the population of our planet will rise up to 10 bln people for half a century to come. With this the manufacturing process in agriculture has developed so rapidly, that the issue of quantity today is not as relevant as the issue of quality. Thus, a new trend emerged called flexitarianism (giving preference to plant food without total rejection of meat), which superseded vegetarianism. If this trend comes out victorious, our goal will be to feed the population of this planet with its new demands.’

According to Michael Horsch, Russia being the world’s leading grain exporter should be the first to realise it to retain its top position. Moreover, the country should introduce the latest land cultivation procedures.

‘I have visited one of the large farms recently which exercises the best practices’, continues Mr. Horsch. ‘They harvested a good deal of crop. But I asked myself if there could have been even more of it, at least one more ton per ha? Flying over the fields in a helicopter, there is one thing I noticed, which proved to me that they definitely could have harvested more. It just takes a bit more respect to the soil. When I was small, I wasn’t allowed to step on the field for nothing, not to mention running all over it. In Russia you sometimes use machinery or trucks as if you held a rodeo on the crop. It results in numerous tramlines on the field and has a negative impact on harvest. It could be the legacy of the era of socialism, when a “battle” was fought for the harvest. I appeal to the Russian farmers to break the habit little by little. Particularly because a solution to the problem is already close at hand — the so-called Control Traffic Farming, or the system of unchanging tramlines.’

The idea behind it is for all the machinery to follow the same tramlines. It is a step forward to higher yields and lower costs. According to Michael Horsch, such an approach, which has had its pilot run in Germany, reduces investment in machinery by 10-20%, increasing the economic effect from their use at the same time. Yet, the most compelling argument is, perhaps, the fact that it is the only way to continue to lead the way on the market with respect to the worldwide trends of consumption of agricultural products.

Deputy Governor of Lipetsk oblast Nikolai Tagintsev, who has been in charge of the development of agriculture in the region for more than twenty years, was also present at the occasion.

‘Mr. Horsch has delivered an insightful speech on the way we can switch to properly producing organic crop’, says Nikolai Tagintsev. We realise how important it is today to think about people’s health in the first place and to maintain the highest quality of products. Obviously, it is essential to keep up with the cutting edge agricultural technology for it. We really appreciate the valuable experience and the broad view over the world trends the Horsch company shared today and their assistance in teaching us to use the modern machinery. Needless to say, that we are supportive of the company’s views and ideas.’

After the report the guests went to the demonstration area, where they saw a number of Horsch machines for different purposes in action. Among others there were the Tiger 4MT and Joker 8RT for soil tillage and the Pronto 6DC, Avatar 6 SD, Maestro 16 SW sowing units. Besides, it was the first time the sprayer Leeb AX had been shown to the Russian audience. The sprayer is well suited for use on small farms with inexpensive tractors.

‘Horsch machinery is undoubtedly one of the leading and most efficient tools to deal with agricultural challenges’, thinks Vladimir Korneev, ZAO Pobeda (Oryol) Director General. ‘I’ve been to Horsch company’s plant in Germany and can witness to the exceptional engineering skill and ability to put their ingenious ideas into practice. It’s been a useful and informative event for me. I really enjoyed Michael Horsch’s fascinating speech and the demonstration show’.

ZAO OryolNobelAgro technology park (Oryol) has got six Horsch seed planters at their disposal.

‘We closely follow the brand development', says Vitaly Melnikov, Executive Director of the enterprise. ‘We would really like to thank the orgnisers of this Field Day. It has given us an opportunity to observe the newly-developed up-and-coming machines. We are sure to take them into account in our future activities.’

As the dust settled all over the demonstration area, the guests went to have a business lunch to share their views on what they had seen. So, we wish the participants to excel in the nearest season and be the first to introduce the latest technological tools and ideas on their farms.