Irrigation, slurry and dirty water specialist Greencrop, part of the Ben Burgess Group, has been appointed as the main UK and Ireland importer of Kemper red products (grass pickups, maize headers and ProfiCracker) previously sold through Anker Farm Machinery.
Based in Beeston, mid-Norfolk, Greencrop has grown from a small local manufacturer and importer supplying the East of England, to a UK national supplier with a 35-strong dealer network covering anything to do with clean water irrigation, dirty water, slurry systems and even fuel bowers. Plus, it also supplies digestate separators, pumps and mixing systems to AD plants.
Keen to add a complementary product line to the mix, the company saw Kemper as an opportunity to extend the season and winter service work. “With our wealth of knowledge in both the clean water and slurry sectors of farming, this additional range of machinery will allow us to expand our repertoire and provide our customers with a broader range of services,” comments Greencrop sales manager Howard Chantry.
It is not as strange a mix as you might first think. As part of the Ben Burgess Group, the company has acquired plenty of in-house experience with Kemper attachments on John Deere self-propelled forage harvesters. There is still a lot to sort out, but the situation at John Deere, which bought Kemper in 1997, will not change. Deere dealers will continue to buy headers directly from John Deere and the sales channels for maize headers for CNH and Fendt and pick-ups for the Katana will remain as they were.
Greencrop will look at the rest of the market. Suppling 300 and 400 series maize headers to Claas and Krone and grass pick-ups to CNH and Claas. The US-made ProfiCracker as a unit or replacements rollers can be supplied for Claas, CNH and Krone.
Greencrop dealers will be encouraged to take on the Kemper franchise and the company is keen to talk to forage harvester dealers. “We will stock a large supply of Kemper parts at our central warehouse at Ellington,” adds Mr. Chantry. The launch was planned for LAMMA in January. The plan now is to reveal all at the postponed event in May.
“The UK and Ireland are two very important markets for us,” comments Kemper territory manager Fred van der Eijk, who says the firm’s headers fit most self-propelled forage harvesters.
“Plus, we now offer grass pick-ups for Claas and CNH and the ProfiCracker for Claas. This is new for the UK and Irish markets. Last year we completed a successful demo tour and sold the first pick-ups in the UK and Ireland. More demonstrations are planned this season.”
