15 years of HORSCH LEEB: A partnership shaping crop care technology

When HORSCH LEEB Application Systems GmbH was founded in 2011, this was by no means the start of a co-operation. The company’s foundation rather marked the next step in a partnership that had begun many years earlier.

The connection between the Horsch and Leeb families dates back to the early 1980s. Theo Leeb and Michael and Philipp Horsch have known each other since their youth. Over the decades, these personal ties have developed into a close working relationship.
While Theo Leeb took over his parents’ agricultural machinery business in Oberpöring in the mid-1990s, he simultaneously established the engineering company Leeb Mechanik. The company quickly became a sought-after partner for development and prototype projects in the agricultural machinery sector.

Already back then, numerous joint projects with HORSCH were realised. Leeb’s role was clearly defined: develop new ideas, implement technical concepts and build working prototypes. Year after year, new machines and technical solutions were created, many of which were ahead of their time.
An early example of this was a pneumatic fertiliser spreader developed in 1994 on behalf of HORSCH. Even back then, the machine featured technologies that are taken for granted today. Four sections could be switched on and off using SectionControl. Various self-propelled vehicles and attachments were also developed together during this phase.

Beyond the technical side, there were close ties between the families. Judith Ehmann-Leeb and her marketing agency had been working closely with Cornelia Horsch for many years, helping, among other things, to develop early marketing and communications campaigns. The relationship between the companies had thus grown not only professionally but also personally.

A major step

A decisive milestone followed in the late 1990s. The joint development work resulted in the prototype of a self-propelled crop care sprayer. The project showed the potential of modern plant protection technology. At that time however, HORSCH’s focus was more on the seeding and tillage sector.

This is why HORSCH decided not to expand the crop care sector further for the time being. This opened up the opportunity for Leeb to independently continue the development, production and marketing of crop care technology. Step by step, an independent company developed under the Leeb brand, focusing entirely on crop care.

Despite the corporate separation, the connection with HORSCH remained close. For many years, Leeb’s crop care technology was sold in Germany almost exclusively via the HORSCH sales partner network. Both families remained in close contact and always agreed that a reunification might make sense in due course.

A joint step forward

As the success of Leeb sprayers grew, it became clear that further growth would require a strong sales and service organisation. The establishment of HORSCH LEEB Application Systems GmbH therefore was the logical next step. The combination of LEEB’s development expertise and HORSCH’s international sales and service network proved to be the ideal foundation for further growth. With the establishment of the joint venture, Theo Leeb was appointed to the management board of the HORSCH Group to represent the crop care sector.
At the time of HORSCH LEEB’s foundation, it was also clearly communicated both internally and externally that the Landau site would remain and be expanded. This was, of course, also an important signal for all employees.

The Landau site was thus continuously developed. The company had already moved from Oberpöring to Landau in 2009 because the existing premises no longer met the requirements of growth. The good transport connections and proximity to the motorway proved to be important location advantages.
The workforce grew from around 50 employees in 2011 to more than 755 within 15 years. This growth required not only investment in buildings and production capacity, but also the continuous development of structures and processes. Hardly any two years were alike. The ability to constantly evolve became a key factor in our success.

At the same time, the product portfolio was consistently expanded. Individual crop care solutions resulted in a comprehensive range for a wide variety of farm sizes and requirements – from mounted and trailed sprayers to self-propelled models. Simultaneously, the company developed an increasing number of international markets. At the Landau site, around 500 self-propelled sprayers and some 1,500 trailed and mounted crop care sprayers now leave the factory each year. As a result, the share of group turnover has increased enormously compared to the early years.

Innovation and Customer Focus

A key milestone in the company’s history was the development of the active boom control system BoomControl. It ensures that the spraying boom is guided in a stable way and close to the ground, even in difficult conditions. This innovation set new standards and is continuously being developed further. At the Agritechnica 2025, HORSCH LEEB was awarded the DLG Silver Medal for the next step in this development: proactive BoomControl. The award-winning solution represents forward-looking boom control and helps to further increase precision, efficiency and safety in the crop care sector.