Agritechnica 2011: Agriculture is future

The international exhibition for agricultural machinery and equipment Agritechnica 2011, being held from 15 to 19 November 2011 (Preview days on 13 and 14 November) at the Exhibition Grounds in Hanover, has displayed a hitherto unrivalled appeal for manufacturers of tractors, agricultural machinery, accessories and spare parts from home and abroad. With 2,611 direct exhibitors and 48 additionally represented companies from 48 countries, DLG as organizer can report a new record level. The number of exhibitors is around 15 percent higher than at the previous record event two years ago. The exhibition area has also grown by six additional halls to now altogether 24 halls and around 39 hectares. Furthermore, a firework of innovations can be expected at this year's Agritechnica. This is evident from the innovations submitted to DLG, making Agritechnica the world's most important forum for presenting new machinery and equipment. This further expands and consolidates the exhibition's position as the world's most important show for agricultural machinery and equipment. Agriculture is future!

Outstanding participation from abroad

The strong increase in the number of exhibitors by comparison with the last event has been driven primarily by international exhibitors, with a plus of around 20 percent. For the first time half of the exhibitors come from outside Germany. The largest groups of the altogether 1,334 international exhibitors come from Italy (309 companies), the Netherlands (109), France (90), China (83), Austria (76), Turkey (66), Denmark (58), Canada (48), the United Kingdom (43), Spain (40), Poland (38), India (35) and Finland (34). It is notable that there is an increase in numbers from nearly every country.

Agribusiness set to take on key role in 21st century

DLG sees these stand booking results as clear confirmation for the upswing within the entire global agribusiness sector. The international markets for agricultural commodities are booming. Agriculture is "in"– it is one of the key industries of the 21st century. However, the changing world of agriculture with commodities and raw materials becoming globally scarcer now calls for a strategy that taps the potentials of working the land. It is important to produce sustainably high-quality agricultural commodities in sufficient quantities, quality, and with social acceptance in the face of limited and finite resources. It is expected that by the year 2050 approx. nine billion people will need to be fed. At the same time the demand for agricultural commodities for energy production is rising as well. Fukushima has led to a discussion worldwide on the energy supplies of the future and, especially in Germany, to a radical turnaround in energy policy. New standards for farming the land and for process chains are being set all the time. On top of all this, alongside the increasingly more volatile world markets, a discussion on agricultural policy orientation has been set in motion by Brussels, where the objective is to reorganize the principles of future agricultural policy by the year 2013, and the results of this are not yet foreseeable. Moreover, agriculture is also challenged by growing weather-related production risks.

Agriculture needs new concepts and innovative agricultural machinery

The agricultural sector will be faced with new challenges, but at the same time these are opening up great opportunities. To be able to grasp these opportunities holistically and sustainably, agriculture needs further new concepts and innovative agricultural machinery and equipment. With its focus on Smart Farming innovations, the initiative for agricultural research, and commitment to training and recruiting young newcomers to the sector, Agritechnica is pointing up the overriding topics of the coming years. It creates discussion platforms and shows a range of solutions. Its outstanding programme of agricultural machinery and equipment this year makes Agritechnica the major information platform for such issues. This is where the world's largest range of modern agricultural machinery, components and spare parts, unsurpassed in innovative force, is presented. All the internationally leading companies in the industry are represented at Agritechnica and will be presenting their individual strategies for each farm type. They will be showing a product palette adapted to the various conditions and requirements. Every farmer will find just what he needs for successful planning for the future at Agritechnica.

Europe's farmers – Stable business situation at a high level

Europe's farmers are looking optimistically to the future. This is shown by the results of the latest Trendmonitor Europe, which DLG has conducted jointly with Europe's leading agricultural market research institute, the Kleffmann Group (Lüdinghausen/Westphalia) in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. According to the results of the survey, the farmers in Germany, France and the United Kingdom consider their current business situation to be stable at a high level. Farmers in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary too report a positive appraisal of the current business situation in a long-term trend. These countries have evidently "arrived in Europe"and are orienting large sectors of their production to the global frameworks. As the results for Germany, France and the United Kingdom also show, the expectations of future business development remain at a high level, despite the economic uncertainties. Farmers and investors in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are expecting positive business development for their enterprises in the future. This reflects the optimism characterizing the farms and businesses in the agricultural sector. Uncertainties exist in individual regions as a result of the regionally very difficult harvests. This continues to represent an unpredictable environment for grain exports due to international competition, and weather-related, regionally restricted areas for cultivating oilseed rape.

Nearly every second farmer plans to invest

As the results of the current Trendmonitor show, nearly half the farmers aim to invest in the next twelve months. By comparison with the results of the spring survey, the level is a little lower. This is attributable partly to the fact that substantial investments were already made in the first half of 2011. Looking at the medium and long-term trends, it can be recorded that over 60 percent of the farm managers target production efficiency with investments and thus want to improve their own competitiveness. For more than 40 percent of the farm managers surveyed, this goes hand-in-hand with farm enlargement and corresponding expansion investments. The main drivers of investments are field operations. The still very attractive interest rate level has a positive influence on tendencies to invest.

350,000 visitors expected

The need to choose the right orientation in response to the new challenges and opportunities has led to an exceptionally high demand for information among farmers, at home and abroad. They want to exploit the existing potentials at their sites more effectively, more efficiently and more sustainably. With its unique range of information, Agritechnica offers them the ideal platform for this.

With 355,000 expert visitors, including 80,000 international visitors, Agritechnica 2009 displayed a great appeal for contractors, machinery rings and farmers from all over the world. In 2011 too, Agritechnica will be the meeting place for the international agricultural industry. DLG is expecting roughly the same numbers of visitors as in 2009.