King Agro has opened a new facility in Spain, dedicated to the production of John Deere’s carbon fibre spray boom.
Representing an investment of more than 8million euros (£6.9million) by the company, the new plant – at Picassent, near Valencia – 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.
As many as 100 people will be employed at the 5,500m2 facility, as production ramps up over the next 18 months.
The plant will produce up to a maximum of 1,800 carbon fibre spray booms each year, manufacturing with precision moulds, created using a five-axis, computer controlled CNC plotter.
The president of King Agro, which manufactures exclusively for John Deere, 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.”
King Agro said its “revolutionary” booms were six times stronger and more than five times lighter than traditional steel equivalents.
Highly durable and resistant to the corrosion and fatigue that affect steel and especially aluminium spray booms, carbon fibre offers a long working life and lower operating costs.
The material’s light weight allows overall sprayer weight to be reduced, resulting not only in less soil compaction but also lower fuel consumption.
In addition, the spray boom’s low inertia benefits ride performance, providing improved boom control for increased crop coverage and reduced spray drift.