Claas Balers Turn 30
Claas built its first variable chamber round baler - the Variant 100 - in 1996, so 2026 marks 30 years and the fifth generation of the Variant name, recently complemented by the new Cerex Series introduced in 2025.
The business has been operating from the new site since early June, followed by the official opening celebration in mid-September.
The purpose-built facility, situated on a 10,000sqm site, is said to have been designed to meet the demands of modern agricultural machinery, growing customer fleets and increasingly sophisticated service requirements and represents a major step forward in capability, capacity and customer support for the region.
Landpower founder and director Herby Whyte said the investment reflects the com-pany’s long-standing commitment to New Zealand agriculture and the communities it serves.
“I have always held a long-term view of showing our commitment by investing in New Zealand agriculture, and this building is an expansion of our future,” says Whyte.
The facility has been designed around operational excellence, with a significantly ex-panded workshop featuring modern tooling and gantry systems to improve service efficiency and reduce turnaround times.
In line with Landpower’s strategy of a greater parts stockholding, closer to where equipment is working, the new location incorporates a purpose-built parts department of over 200m², housing in excess of 3300 individual inventory line items, aimed at im-proving parts availability, reducing customer downtime, with the capacity to support future growth.
The workshop addresses future expansion needs, including a site and wall configura-tion that enables seamless extension as demand continues to grow. In addition, acknowledges increasing equipment values, with a 50-metre-long pole shed providing covered storage for customer machinery, including large combines and forage har-vesters, alongside new machinery awaiting assembly and delivery.
Landpower chief executive Richard Wilson says the development reflects the compa-ny’s commitment to combining world-class agricultural machinery with industry-leading customer support.
“It’s bringing the best of a family-owned business and the latest agricultural machin-ery together in a future-focused facility designed to help and support our local cus-tomers,” says Wilson.
Led by branch manager Jordan Law, the Central Districts team is proud to play an ac-tive role in the local community, from supporting Feilding Rural Days, school and sports fundraisers, to taking part in the annual Feilding Christmas Parade.
www.claasharvestcentre.com/dealership/claas-harvest-centre-central-districts
