Customer portrait Luttermann, Echteler (Lower Saxony)
In the German town of Echteler (Lower Saxony) – near the Dutch border – Geert Lutterman has an arable and broiler farm. In addition, Luttermann co-owns a biogas plant with his neighbour. Lutterman and his employees are enthusiastic about the spading process and are happy to tell us about their practical experiences with the Farmax spading machine.
Three company activities
Lutterman took over his parents’ farm in 1982. At the time, the farm had 45 hectares of leased land, and consisted of veal calves, milk cows and arable land. Over the years, Luttermann’s farm grew to 130 hectares of owned land. In 2012, he built a 580kW biogas plant with his neighbour. In addition to the biogas plant and arable activities, Luttermann also has multiple barns with room for 135,000 broilers. The manure produced by the broilers and the cultivated maize of the combined companies are used for the production of biogas.
A pure seed bed
‘The reason we chose for Farmax is that the soil for the seed bed can be prepared in a single operation. Thanks to the spading machine, we no longer have issues with unevenness in the soil, which we did have when we used ploughs’, Luttermann states. Because the soil composition differs between some of Luttermann’s plots, the ploughing result is not the same everywhere. Thanks to spading, the seed bed is more even, since no pulling force is required.
Another benefit Luttermann experiences is that the spading blades of a Farmax spading machine perform better on sandy soil than those of other brands. Luttermann; ‘We have noticed that the Farmax results in a coarser soil structure. We experience this as a benefit, since it results in better drainage.’
The third Farmax
Luttermann first came in contact with Farmax between about 30 and 35 years ago. At the time, Luttermann bought a second-hand machine to try. He was extremely pleased with spading, however: the yield per hectare was excellent and continued to increase. This is why, after his second Farmax, he bought a new Farmax LRP Econ in 2011 from Engbers Söhne in Uelsen. This spading machine is equipped with a roller harrow and an exchangeable tube roller. Luttermann: One of the advantages I like is that the driving speed has gone up over the years and the soil quality has improved through spading’.
By now, Luttermann has spaded 1,000 hectares using the Farmax. This spring, they replaced the spading blades for new ones. If maintenance is required, they carry it out themselves. After all, according to Luttermann; ‘it is a machine that is easy to work on’.
Luttermann does not regret his purchases and would recommend a Farmax spading machine to all of his colleagues.
Download the free magazine of Farmax spaders and seeders
In this magazine, we will explain the spading method of soil preparation and state its advantages in comparison with ploughing. There will also be a brief explanation of all types of spaders and several customers share their experience with our spaders.
