Pöttinger: From grassland machinery to global innovator

That changed in 1975, with a move into soilengaging products when the company acquired The Bavarian Plough Factory in Landsberg, Bavaria – about 40km west of Munich.

The Landsberg factory is said to be one of the oldest manufacturers of soil preparation implements in Germany, so its acquisition meant that Pottinger inherited over 85 years of experience and development knowledge.

Over the years, Pottinger has developed and launched several new ranges of machinery, including the Servo generation of ploughs in 1981, the heavy-duty and durable Lion power harrows in 1991, and the Synkro, linkage-mounted stubble cultivators.

The company added to its portfolio in 2001 by purchasing the Rabe seed drill plant in Bernburg, Saxony-Anhalt, heralding a move into the crop establishment market, with mechanical, pneumatic and mulch seed drills.

More recently, in 2021, the company spent €4.5 million buying the mechanical crop care division of CFS of Switzerland. This purchase delivered a footing in the mechanical crop care sector, with rotary hoes, row crop cultivators, and light tine harrows.

One year later, Pottinger took over the Italian MaterMacc company, known for its precision planting technology, mechanical and pneumatic seed drills, crop care machines, and the supply of OEM components.

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The 50th anniversary this year will see numerous activities, retrospectives, special anniversary offers on tillage equipment, crop care machines, grassland implements and digital agricultural technology.

The company has also launched an anniversary website, highlighting the history of the move into arable machinery, with notes, reviews and commentary about machines developed over the previous half century.