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Cathrina Claas Muhlhauser and Helmut Claas.
CLAAS was always a family company and a recent change at the top sees that continue.
Patriarch Helmut Claas is handing over the reins to his daughter Cathrina Claas Muhlhauser, who takes up the position of chairwoman of the shareholders committee.
At 44 years-old, she becomes the third generation of the family to hold the role.
Ninety-four-year old Helmut, son of company founder August Claas, has held the role for 25 years and will now become honorary chairman.
During his time as chairmen, Claas has seen a rapid expansion – particularly in its presence beyond Europe – with production and sales now located in places like India, the USA, Russia, China and South America. Along the way, the company also acquired French tractor manufacturer Renault in 2003 to add prime movers to its machinery portfolio.
On the product front, during the same period, the German-headquartered company introduced the industry-leading Lexion combine harvesters in 1995 and the Jaguar self-propelled forage harvester ranges, which also holds a commanding position in the market.
Silage making is both a science and an art, but Claas says it offers onboard technology featured in its Claas Perfect Partners to help farmers make silage more efficiently and effectively.
Claas has recently celebrated the 250,000th CLAAS mower – a Disco 3200 FC – rolling off the production line in Bad Saulgau, south-west Germany.
Christchurch-headquartered Landpower and its Claas Harvest Centre dealerships has taken out the Global After Sales Excellence award in Germany, during the annual Claas after sales meeting at the end of January.
January to March is the heart of New Zealand’s ‘golden’ harvest, but also the time of the year when Landpower and Claas Harvest Centre welcomes two optimisation specialists from Germany to support Claas combine customers in the cab of their machine.
Creating perfect silage is both a science and an art, and it all begins with the right tools, according to machinery maker Claas.
The chair of Beef + Lamb NZ, Kate Acland says the rush appears to be on to purchase farms and convert them to forestry before new rules limiting this come into effect.
New Zealand farmers will face higher urea prices this year, mainly on the back of tight global supply and a weak Kiwi dollar.
Andy Caughey of Wool Impact says a lot of people in NZ have been saying it's crazy that we are not using natural fibres in our buildings and houses.
Former chief executive of Beef+Lamb New Zealand Scott Champion will head the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) from July.
Avian flu getting into New Zealand's poultry industry is the biosecurity threat that is most worrying for Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard.
The annual domestic utilisation of wool will double to 30,000 tonnes because of the edict that government agencies should use woollen fibre products in the construction of new and refurbished buildings.
