| Arable
Rapid 25 years
“A difficulty overcome is an asset”
apid appeared at a time when
farming was regarded as
unimportant and was
unprofitable. In 1991, when
Rapid was launched, the political
situation was directly
counterproductive for Sweden’s farmers. Farmers
were a burden - you could get food in the shops,
people reasoned, even at high levels in
government, and farmers were offered money to
switch over to golf courses, for example.
“We spotted potential in this rather absurd
situation. We made use of this difficult situation
and worked hard to produce a new concept. Our
primary motive was to find a way to help farmers
reduce their costs and make their farming
activities more efficient. A difficulty overcome that
became an asset,” says Crister Stark.
Following the election in autumn 1991 there
was a change of government, but it wasn’t until
1995 that Sweden joined the EU, which was
creating requirements that improved conditions
for Swedish agriculture. The consequence was
new rules and economic conditions that made
things easier for farmers.
But the story of Väderstad’s seed drills for
direct drilling began much earlier. During the 80’s
Crister Stark and Gert Gilstring worked on the
direct drill. Even back then one of the main
reasons was to find more cost-effective
cultivation methods, which was, among other
things, strongly linked to fuel prices.
It can be risky to drill with crop remains still on
the ground, not least because of slugs. So here
in the Nordic region, where drilling takes place
predominantly in the autumn, people did not
immediately see the possibilities, but then arose
a wave of interest in direct drilling on the part of
farmers.
R
“As long as we can see
ahead, we can improve the
concept further. We already
have a number of ideas for
increasing precision and
making it even more
attractive to our customers,
and they support us in our
work. Some products are
immortal, Rapid is iconic,”
says Crister Stark.
Being able to drill under different
conditions without preparatory soil
cultivation meant that a new era opened up
for farming
“They liked these machines that drilled the
perfect depth and also instantly pressed the earth
down over the seed with their wheels. They came
to call the direct drill their universal machine,”
says Crister.
“Rapid is just right for agronomy”
The primary advantage of the Rapid machine
is that it reduces costs but is nevertheless just
right for agronomy. It is suitable for pretty much
all soil types, and the ground does not need to
be prepared. This makes it an incredibly costeffective machine. Even if the ground is hard, the
disc moves with the help of its rubber suspension
straight into the soil. It is the wheel behind that
guides the disc and also presses down the
furrow.
“Farmers were defeated at the start of the 90s.
We realised that the only thing we could sell in
future was something that would help them to
improve and be more efficient. We took the best
from the direct drill, especially the seed coulters,
and developed it further until it later turned into
Rapid. We produced bigger wheels and
developed the combi system for fertiliser. We
changed most things but kept the supporting
concept from the direct drill,” says Crister.
16 | Farming Monthly | April 2016
They also brought in effective soil cultivation
using CrossBoard - an invention that changed
agriculture. The machine had such excellent
features that the drilling speed could be doubled.
In spring 1991 50 Rapids were sold. 25 years
later almost 25,000 have been sold.
“Of course, there were some problems to
begin with, but we battled on and solved all our
difficulties, making farmers very happy,” says
Crister.
Today Rapid can be found in 40 countries
Being able to drill under different conditions
without preparatory soil cultivation meant that a
new era opened up for farming. At Väderstad
they worked constantly to improve and refine
their products, and there was great demand for a
bigger pneumatic Rapid. An international market
soon opened up.
“There was huge development potential in
pneumatics and we began to design a machine
that could be folded up to a width of three metres
for transport purposes. Optimism among the
farmers had increased with the decision to join
the EU at the same time as the machine
appeared. The situation became much better in
general,” says Crister.
Finland also became a big and important
market for Väderstad, but like Sweden, it
occasionally had difficult economic per iods due
to currency issues and devaluation.
“Later we started in the UK. We got off to a
fantastic start there. We expanded our
production, we built three and four-metre
machines and pneumatic machines up to eight
metres, side by side, on two lines. Gradually we
started up in France and then we took country
after country.”
Rapid is iconic
Rapid is a robust and sustainable machine
that helps farmers streamline their agricultural
activities through reduced effort and improved
harvests. It offers a very high chance of plants
growing regardless of the season. With Rapid the
farmer can drill twice as fast as when using
conventional drilling and soil cultivation. In
parallel with this, tractors have been developed
and technical developments have gone well.
“I think that the machines will get bigger and
bigger and that we will broaden their application.
But their original versatility, quality and reliability
will always remain. There is also good demand
for used Rapids; Rapid is just getting bigger and
bigger,” says Crister.
At Väderstad they say that it is the power of
innovation that creates their success. There is
now yet another version of Rapid using new
technology, new IT features, new maintenancefree bearings and so on.
“We were also the first to use E-Control, which,
using an iPad as the only control unit, now opens
up a whole new market. Our competitors said
“that will never work”, but they were wrong. The
iPad communicates wirelessly with the drill’s
Gateway and is absolutely superb in its simplicity
and user-friendliness. A system pretty much
without limitations,” says Crister.
“As long as we can see ahead, we can
improve the concept further. We already have a
number of ideas for increasing precision and
making it even more attractive to our customers,
and they support us in our work. Some products
are immortal, Rapid is iconic,” concludes Crister.
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