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vor 4 Jahren

XtraBlatt Issue 02-2019

TITELTHEMA The cow is

TITELTHEMA The cow is the yardstick – this is a credo of crucial importance to farmers, agricultural contractors and for the Krone team too. After all, high milking performance, good animal health and economic efficiency are all only possible with an optimal forage ration and the right machinery.

EDITORIAL DEAR READERS, Christmas will soon be with us again, a time that lends itself to reflection on the year now drawing to a close. In this respect, the financial year 2018/2019 proved a very satisfactory one for Krone with a group turnover of 2.24 billion €. And while the present financial year is proving more subdued, it remains generally positive. Hereby, Agritechnica supplied a great confidence boost for me, with its visitor total once again at 450,000 – a result better than might have been expected. But the many discussions taking place on our stand reflected very different emotions on the part of our visitors. Unchanged is the great interest in technical solutions around livestock feed harvesting towards improving the economic efficiency of milk and cattle production. Also very noticeable is, however, a feeling of frustration over difficult production conditions and the associated insecurity these bring. A definite factor of such difficulties is the portrait of agriculture presented by the general media; a picture felt as unfair and one that is – unfortunately – factually wrong in numerous cases. Also unacceptable from my point of view is the increasing volatility with which politics currently alter the legal requirements affecting farm production. In his interview starting on page 32, DLG president Hubertus Paetow hits the nail right on the head in this respect, describing political decision-making as, for him, increasingly reminiscent of a bazaar. In this context it seems that objective discussions and substantiated facts are from yesteryear. Now, opinion polls and emotionally-loaded campaigns seem more important. Seen in this light, farmer protests with tractor convoys against unfairness and associated business insecurity are all very understandable. I am very pleased that these actions have mainly earned substantial popular approval! It is important that agriculture faces changing processes both proactively and constructively. And it must also be made abundantly clear what a magnificent job our farming families do in their contribution to our society, prosperity and environment. It just cannot be that our farmers must fulfil the highest standards but then must compete on product price with, for example, South America. We can be sure, however, that our branch will develop suitable production methods and technologies to cover as much as possible both the requirements for consumer approval and those for business profitability. And, as far as Krone is concerned, we’ll continue to support more than ever an active image promotion for agriculture within politics and associated organisations. In this sense, I wish confidence for every one of you and your family. But naturally first of all I wish you a peaceful, reflective Christmas and a successful and especially healthy 2020! Yours sincerely, Bernard Krone 3