XtraBlatt Issue 02-2017

» The digital
advances in agricultural
engineering require
special electricians in
the trade.«
Jürgen Boomgaarden
T
he theme farm machinery is interwoven for generations
with Jürgen Boomgaarden and his family.
His grandfather had a farm machinery dealership and his
father at the end of the 1940s founded a newspaper for
the farm machinery trade. The first issue of the “Eilbote”
appeared in 1949. Since then, the “Eilbote” has become
established as weekly magazine for the farm machinery
sector throughout the German-speaking regions. Jürgen
Boomgaarden took over the management of publisher
and magazine in 1977.
Publisher Jürgen Boomgaarden has known the farm equipment branch
and associated trade very well over decades.
Boomgaarden: For West Germany I estimate the number
of farm machinery firms and blacksmiths at around 7000.
On average, this kind of dealer would have, at the most, 10
to 12 employees. These were mainly individual firms because
the system of branch outlets began first at the end of the
80s. From these have developed the private and cooperative
businesses that we still have now.
XtraBlatt: It’s thought provoking that, back then, the
farm equipment trade looked different compared to
now – or how would you describe the situation?
XtraBlatt: In those days, every dealership still had several
brands in the showroom. Was it far away from any
exclusivity?
Jürgen Boomgaarden: In the 1970s, there were still large
dealers that delivered not only to the many master blacksmiths,
but also supplied farm machinery traders. I recall a
big dealer in southern Germany that had a massive range
of products, from tractors to the smallest harrow tine. In the
north operated, for example, the firm Mager & Wedemeyer
as large dealer, and still does. The firm Rau, Kirchheim/Teck
was not only a farm machinery manufacturer but also developed
a large-scale dealership. In those days, the system
worked very well because the machinery did not have the
many specifications it now has. Additionally, the variation
within a model programme was substantially smaller.
These big dealerships had respectable stores of spares and
were able to give prompt service to farm machinery traders.
When, at the beginning of the 1980s, unit sales began to fall,
many of the big dealers disappeared from the market. At
the same time, some individual dealerships became even
larger.
XtraBlatt: How many firms existed in those days and,
in the 1980s, how many staff members had a mid-sized
farm machinery trading company?
Boomgaarden: Certainly! I remember well dealerships that
had John Deere tractors and Claas combines in their range.
IHC or Fendt and Claas were favoured combinations in trading.
The first company that established exclusivity with its
brand was John Deere in the 80s.
XtraBlatt: … and how have the cooperative farm equipment
traders developed?
Boomgaarden: The cooperatives had their regional business
areas and nearly every cooperative traded in farm machinery.
The strength of the cooperative farm machinery
companies increased substantially moving from north to
south. In Schleswig-Holstein, private farm machinery traders
were dominant and always strong. That had a lot to do
with the agricultural infrastructure there.
XtraBlatt: Did the infrastructure of farm machinery dealerships
change in 1990 with the unification of Germany?
Boomgaarden: The large private dealerships were quick in
establishing branches in eastern Germany. The cooperatives
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