Lemken have announced that they have ended the past financial year with sales at an almost unchanged high level of EUR365 million.

The manufacturer said demand was particularly high for seed drills and hoeing technology. They also claim the new year has started well with very good levels of incoming orders.

Antony van der Ley summarised the past year by saying, "We are happy and grateful that we were able to maintain our production throughout the past year without placing the health of our 1,631 employees worldwide at risk. We have achieved our ambitious goals for both sales and results and are very satisfied, even though we exited the field sprayer sector.

"We have also been able to bolster our service for specialist dealers, farmers and contractors at the highest level. We managed the challenges of COVID well by providing many smaller-scale demonstrations and digital offerings. However, we would certainly be delighted if we were able to have face-to-face contacts and events again soon so that we can demonstrate the benefits of our methods on the fields for everybody to see." 

Last year Lemken took a decision on its future direction by stopping field sprayer production and focusing its strengths fully on the manufacture of modern precision hoeing technology. They say this has already yielded initial success: their subsidiary Steketee has increased its sales by 30 percent.

Sales in the German home market have remained consistently high, although international sales dominate with a 77 percent share in total sales. In 2020, the company's largest markets included France, Russia, the USA and the United Kingdom, with substantial increases in sales for the last three of these countries.  

The family-run business also say they are very optimistic for 2021, given the high levels of incoming orders.