Ag machinery that is instantly recognisable – both for its colour and innovation

Lemken says its agricultural machinery is not only instantly recognisable by its blue colour, but by the way it works on the field.

From soil cultivation implements for optimal preparation for sowing; to sowing technology for establishing a sound foundation for high yields; to crop protection implements for protecting crops effectively and gently – Lemken says it supplies agricultural machinery that impresses not only through its innovation and diversity.

It can also implement customised solutions for farms of any size, for any soils, any market, and any requirements. It develops these in constant, close dialogue with the people who need them: farmers and farm contractors all around the world.

Lemken’s agricultural implements need to work reliably even under extremely demanding conditions. That’s why it leaves nothing to chance in its production, focusing on superior quality when selecting special steels, allowing it to achieve outstanding robustness and resistance to wear. The quality of all incoming goods is verified by spectral analysis before goods are accepted.

Soil cultivation solutions

Lemken says it is always at least one step ahead as far as pioneering soil cultivation solutions are concerned. Its ploughs, furrow presses, cultivators, compact disc and rotary harrows feature numerous well-designed details and additionally powerful electronics to combine operating comfort with ultimate safety and reliability of use for both conventional and conservation tillage.

For decades, the renowned plough series ‘Diamant’ and ‘Opal’ have been contributing towards the improvement of productivity in progressive agriculture. With the ‘Smaragd’ series, Lemken claims it has considerably improved the technique of stubble cultivation. Today, the Smaragd is one of the most widely used soil cultivation systems in Europe.

In recent years, Lemken has proven its competence for gentle primary soil cultivation, versatile stubble cultivation, efficient tillage procedures and precise sowing technology through many successfully introduced innovations.

Ploughing

Ploughing has once again gained more importance; controlling weeds mechanically due to increasing resistance against a range of crop protection agents, and controlling other pests in crops such as maize, there still is no sustainable alternative to ploughing. Recent studies have shown that ploughing is, for example, unrivalled for loosening and aerating the main root zone to allow rapeseed roots to develop optimally, and ploughing thus establishes an ideal basis for high, reliable yields.

Lemken’s entire plough program stands out through a comprehensive offer of features and accessories for all ploughs. This allows farmers and contract farmers to select the primary soil cultivation implement that is just right for their specific needs. The available features include mechanical and hydraulic stone protection systems, a range of options for selecting the distance between individual bodies to ensure blockage-free operation, and versions with continuous and graded working width adjustment.

Stubble cultivation 

In recent years, the aims of stubble cultivation have changed in many places. In the past, stubble cultivation was mainly employed to control weeds and loosen the soil, but most fields are nowadays largely free from weeds, with very few weeds still producing seeds in crops. Modern combine harvesters with extremely wide cutting units need to process very large volumes of straw, which harvesters are often unable to chop optimally and distribute across the full working width.

It is particularly important to incorporate volunteer cereals and these large volumes of organic matter intensively when seeding a subsequent crop into mulch. At the same time, capillary action needs to be disrupted during the first stubble cultivation pass to prevent moisture from being lost. Once volunteer cereals have emerged, seeding into mulch takes place at greater depths to reduce the density of straw in the topsoil and thus to improve the emergence conditions for the subsequent crop.

Whether working with conventional or conservation tillage, whether running small, medium-sized, or large farms with extensive fields – the pneumatic seed drills from the Solitair range always offer high precision and efficiency. They are available in various models to meet a wide range of requirements for optimal sowing.

Mechanical weeding

Steketee is one of the leading companies in the field of weeding technology for precision agriculture. Today, the company is part of the family-owned Lemken group and has its headquarters and production facility in Stad aan ‘t Haringvliet, the Netherlands.

Since 2007, the focus has been on intelligent camera concepts with single plant detection for automatic machine guidance. Customer proximity and agronomic expertise in software and mechatronics form the perfect basis for machines offering maximum customer benefits. With this Steketee creates space to grow for both crops and farmers.

Lemken UK has worked with Ernest Doe for many decades. From the early 1960s through to the late 1990s – when Lemken was handled through various import companies – through to Lemken UK Ltd which was set up in 2001, the relationship has grown over the years as the two companies share the same family values to succeed in business.

Ernest Doe handles all Lemken machine and parts sales as well as all aftersales needs of the end user. This is achieved through an extensive network of depots, plus trained sales, parts and aftersales personnel who attend regular Lemken training sessions in the UK and at the specialist Lemken Agro ‘training’ farm near to the main Lemken factory in Alpen, Germany.