Claas and JCB lead raft of machinery-maker investments
Despite market challenges worldwide, farm equipment manufacturers continue to invest in larger and better-equipped facilities – and acquire other businesses.
We take a look at who’s up to what, and where.
See also: First impressions: New cab major progress for Claas Axion 9
Claas expands Le Mans facility
Le Mans plant expansion anticipates increased Claas tractor sales © Claas
Construction is under way of a new multifunctional production facility at the Claas tractor manufacturing and assembly plant on the outskirts of Le Mans in France that will increase capacity for the 75-450hp tractors built there.
The €6.5m (£5.7m) project, due to be ready by the end of this year, anticipates Claas tractor sales growth over the next 10 years and adds to the €80m (£70m) spent since acquiring the operation from Renault Group in 2003.
Its Le Mans plant has subsequently built more than 200,000 machines, gaining new cab pre-assembly and tractor assembly lines in recent years.
JCB plans major revamp at Rocester
JCB’s £100m investment will benefit Loadall production © JCB
An all-new paint plant costing £60m is among plans for a major overhaul at JCB’s headquarters factory in Rocester, Staffordshire, where backhoe loaders and telescopic handlers for farm and construction use are built.
New machining centres, friction welders and hydraulic cylinder boring machines take the total investment to £100m.
This comes on top of JCB’s ongoing £100m hydrogen engine project, and a $500m (£373m) factory development in the US.
The US facility due to come on stream this year has been doubled in size to counter a big increase in tariffs levied on raw product and the quantity of steel in products imported from Britain.
Maschio Gaspardo’s new US venture
A stronger presence in the North American seed drill market is being pursued by Italian manufacturing group Maschio Gaspardo through a shareholding in Lynx Ag, an Iowa-based producer of no-till air drills.
The new partnership has spawned Maschio Gaspardo US, a joint venture with Lynx to build wide-working, high-speed precision planters, that complements MG’s long-established operation assembling planters of more modest scale.
Founded in 2013, Lynx Ag makes strip-till drills, its largest being a 20m, 36-row unit with 24t fertiliser tank.
The new products will be supplied through both companies’ dealer networks.
Versatile’s new owner pumps in cash
Ambitious plans to increase sales in Europe as well as the North American market are being backed by a C$25m (£13.4m) investment in improvements and new manufacturing equipment at Buhler Industries’ Versatile tractor plant in Winnipeg, Canada.
In 2024, Buhler became wholly-owned by Asko Holding – a Turkish engineering group that lists Basak tractors among its varied products – and the Winnipeg operation building tractors from 175-620hp has been under scrutiny to improve efficiency and capacity.
Danish firm GreenTec buys Razorback
Razorback’s Martin Lole (left) with the GreenTec management team © GreenTec and Razorback
Having initially formed a UK distribution alliance, Danish vegetation management business GreenTec has now acquired Razorback, the Worcestershire-based operation that builds reach flail mowers and wide-working stubble and grass mowers.
Originally formed as a sister company to drill maker Mzuri (now owned and built by Polish concern Mzuri World), Razorback provides GreenTec with additional manufacturing capacity, as well as complementary equipment.
The Razorback name will continue, say GreenTec managers, as will the distribution collaboration with PJM Agri, the Bury St Edmunds-based dealership that brought GreenTec to Britain.
Allison snaps up Dana Off-Highway
Dana’s off-highway products include telehandler drivelines © Dana
The Dana and Spicer-branded drive axles that underpin numerous farm tractors, wheeled loaders and telescopic handlers will be built under the ownership of Allison Transmission, the company best known for its powershift gearboxes.
Dana has had a long presence in the off-highway sector, supplying key drive and other components to manufacturers throughout the world, but has chosen to concentrate on products for light and commercial vehicles.
Allison is paying $2.7bn (£2bn) for the business unit, which includes production of self-propelled sprayer wheel drives and Graziano powershift components.
New harvester plant for Grimme
The timely closure of an e-bike business close to Grimme’s headquarters factory in Damme, northern Germany, has enabled the company to shift its parts operation, freeing up space for construction of a new harvester assembly plant.
A new shipping and used-machine centre, and a logistics hall, are also part of the plans now that the parts business is operating from the recently-acquired 6,700sq m building.
Deere buys into robotic sprayers
A joint venture established in 2022 has matured into an acquisition by John Deere of Guss Automation, a manufacturer of semi-autonomous orchard, vineyard and vegetable crop sprayers based in California, US.
One operator can remotely manage up to eight of the self-propelled, diesel-fuelled sprayers at once, thanks to a combination of GPS, lidar, vehicle sensors and control software.
Last autumn, Guss said the 250 machines it had supplied had clocked up 500,000 hours of self-guided operation across 1m ha.
Doosan Bobcat eyes up Kramer and Weidemann telehandlers
One of Europe’s largest manufacturers of light construction equipment and farm loaders is weighing up an acquisition proposal from Doosan Bobcat, which makes Bobcat loaders and small excavators.
Wacker Neuson, based in Germany, is the parent company of Kramer-Werke and Weidemann, the sister businesses that co-operate in the production of telescopic handlers and both fixed-arm and telescopic wheeled loaders while maintaining separate distribution channels.
Doosan Bobcat has twice the revenues of its European counterpart at the equivalent of £4.6bn in 2024 versus Wacker Neuson’s £1.9bn.
The latter has a stronger position in agriculture, which generates around 23% of group revenues against just under 10% for Doosan Bobcat.
Bigger factory for Spread-A-Bale
Michael Hughes has moved Spread-A-Bale to a larger factory in Deeside © Spread-a-Bale
Growing demand in an increasing number of countries has prompted Spread-A-Bale to shift production to a larger factory.
The Deeside facility has three times the floor space for building the machines best known for distributing bedding straw.
Founder Michael Hughes, who came up with the patented design on his Cheshire farm 25 years ago, says the move is a significant step for the development of the business.
“Total sales have grown to more than 5,000 machines and we are now shipping them across five continents and 40 countries,” he added.
“The new facilities will enable us to roll out our ambitious plans for the future.”
Boost for Agco engine re-manufacturing
Agco has more than doubled engine re-manufacturing capacity © Agco
A €54m (£47m) investment in Agco Power’s Linnavuori plant in Finland has resulted in a new machining hall for cylinder heads and CVT transmission components, and increased capacity for engine re-manufacturing.
The latter – which Agco Power has carried out in a systematic way since 1990 – now produces 1,000 reworked engines a year.
The process can re-use up to 80% of the engine’s mass, including all cast iron components, as a cost-effective replacement option.
The bigger facilities increase re-man capacity to 2,500 engines a year.
Vredo gets new investor
The previously family-owned company Vredo has been acquired by a Dutch investment firm as the third-generation of the De Vree family takes on leading roles in the business.
Vredo is familiar for its big capacity self-propelled slurry and digestate tankers, and for its overseeders and other equipment designed for farm grassland production.
Apicem’s partners say they will establish a renewed management structure with the existing team to take the firm through a programme of continued growth and international expansion.
Chafer and Horstine acquired
A new company is to resume production of Chafer sprayers and Horstine precision applicators having bought key assets of Chafer Machinery from administrators.
Nexus Chafer has been formed by agricultural engineer Peter Chantry, who used to import Dammann sprayers from Germany; digital technology engineer Rick Scott; and sales and marketing specialist James Bilson. They were in the throes of setting up a new business to manufacture UK-built equipment and systems for precision guidance and other location services when Chafer was put up for sale in October 2025.
Nexus Chafer is now operating out of Chafer’s long-established Cow Lane base at Upton, Lincolnshire, with assembly of sprayers and other equipment under way, and with longer-term plans for a new line-up of digital products for smarter crop care, operator safety, guidance and machine control.
Overum ploughs given another chance
New Holland owned Overum from 2017-2024 © New Holland
Having filed for bankruptcy last September under the short-lived ownership of a German private equity investor, plough maker Overum Industries has been given another chance of survival.
After several years operating as part of large agricultural engineering groups, this time the business has been bought by two Swedish investment companies.
Their ambition is “to rebuild and develop the operations at Overum with a focus on long-term commitment, stability and high technical competence”.
Overum was part of Kongskilde Group for many years until CNH acquired the plough and cultivator business in 2017, as part of its purchase of Kongskilde Agriculture for New Holland.
However, it was not included in the 2024 sale of selected product lines (mainly feeders and grass kit) to Seko of Italy – instead being acquired by Munich-based FairCap.
A year and a half later, Overum succumbed to a liquidity crisis and insolvency, says FairCap, with the chief executive and two other board members resigning at short notice.
The rescue deal to take the business back into Swedish ownership was concluded just two months later.
