HORSCH Studio – Topics from practical farming

From crop production to farm management: at the HORSCH Studio, farmers, consultants and experts share their experiences from different regions.

Since autumn, the number of podcasts published from the HORSCH Studio has grown steadily. In addition to technical presentations from the winter programme, discussions and interviews have appeared in several languages, including German, English, French, Polish and Ukrainian. A glance at the podcasts shows just how varied the challenges the agricultural sector is facing can be – and what solutions are emerging in practice.

A new start in Slovakia

What do you do when the family farm becomes too small and further growth at home is virtually impossible? Rick and Thijs de Schutter decided to take an unusual step: they sold their farm in the Netherlands and took over a 1,200-hectare arable farm in Slovakia.
The brothers brought a lot of experience with them – particularly in growing potatoes and onions. Nevertheless, it soon became clear that the biggest challenge did not lie in arable farming. After all, new soils and climatic conditions can be understood over time. It was more difficult to run a farm in a foreign country, to understand bureaucratic processes and to gain the trust of employees and local people.
Today, Rick and Thijs run the farm together with their team and consistently develop it further. In the HORSCH Studio, they talk about their first years in Slovakia, their biggest setbacks, the evolution of their roles on the farm, and why they would still dare to make this new start again.

Looking towards North America

Another episode is dedicated to the history of HORSCH LEEB – covering not only the company’s early days but also, in particular, its expansion into the North American market. Theo Leeb looks back on the beginnings of the co-operation with the Horsch family and describes the journey from the first prototypes to the development of one of Europe’s leading ranges of crop care equipment. It becomes clear how technical curiosity, rigorous field testing and a focus on application quality have shaped the development of the Leeb sprayers.

At the Agritechnica, Marcel Van Staveren presents the specific characteristics of crop production in Canada’s Prairie provinces during a panel discussion. Winter rapeseed serves as the starting point for a broader examination of the challenges in Western Canada: short growing seasons, drought and the efficient use of available soil moisture. The podcast highlights the role played by direct seeding, soil health and modern harvesting technology, and how farms adapt their cultivation systems to these conditions.