King Agro opens new John Deere spray boom plant

John Deere’s exclusive partner King Agro has opened a new facility at Picassent, near Valencia in Spain. This is dedicated to the production of the carbon fibre spray boom introduced last year on the new R4050i self-propelled sprayer. Representing an investment of over €8 million by the company, the new plant will work alongside an existing factory at Campana in Argentina to manufacture booms for John Deere sprayers built in North and South America and at Horst in the Netherlands. Up to 100 people will be employed at the 5500m2 facility, as production ramps up over the next 18 months. The plan is to produce up to a maximum of 1,800 carbon fibre spray booms every year. Speaking at the opening of the new plant, King Agro president Guillermo Mariani said: “Our goal is to change the paradigm of steel in agricultural machinery. We believe that carbon fibre spray booms are just the beginning of a trend that will offer innumerable advantages linked to increased productivity, lower costs and reduced soil compaction.”