Kverneland Group Les Landes-Genusson, 75 Years of Innovation and Excellence
Kverneland Group Les Landes-Genusson, the pioneer in agricultural equipment manufacturing of harrows and cultivators, is celebrating 75 years in 2023. Since its establishment in 1948, the factory has been dedicated to developing sustainable farm solutions for soil preparation and tillage.
Based in Les Landes-Genusson, in an important dynamic area of West of France called Vendée, the Kverneland Group factory was founded in 1948 by Mr. Georges NAULEAU, under the name SICAM (Société Industrielle de Construction Agricole et Métallurgie). It supplied various agricultural equipment (water barrels, planters, etc.) for horses and then for tractors. In the 60s and 70s, it was very famous for its heavy harrows and cultivators; and its distribution network was mainly France.
In 1977, the German RAU group bought the family business, becoming RAU-SICAM. The range of products expanded (subsoilers, precision planters, etc.) and export sales increased. In 1999, RAU-SICAM came under the ownership of the Kverneland Group, becoming Kverneland Group Les Landes-Genusson in 2001. In 2005, the factory concentrated its activities to become the Center of Excellence for Soil Equipment. In 2012, the entire Group was bought by Kubota. The Japanese Company were breathing new energy into the factory, bringing their industrial know-how (Kaizen method; 5S, …), the latest technology production tools, and a pleasant and motivating working environment for their staff.
Scroll down to learn more about the history of Kverneland Group Les Landes-Genusson and its highlights throughout time.
Learn more about Les Landes-Genusson’s history
Kverneland Group Les Landes-Genusson was originally established by blacksmith Georges Nauleau in 1918 when he started making small harrows. In 1948 the named changed to SICAM (Societe Industrielle de Construction Agricole et Metallurgie)
The Les Landes-Genusson is based 50 km from Nantes in the middle of France. Factory is 13.500m² on 37 000m² of land. Around 80% of its machine activity is exported across the world, from Chile to New Zealand, from Norway to South Africa.
Years up to 1970, product line was further developed together with a range of chisel cultivators.
In 1971, the Company start a collaboration with the Rau family in Germany. And in 1977 SICAM became a part of the RAU Group. Towards the end of 1970’s , numerous of new products were added like subsoilers, precision seeders and soil preparation equipment’s.
In 1985, Jean de Bru, a factory in Carcassonne producing disc harrows was acquired and in 1986 the Rau Agrotechnic SA Group was founded. In 1989 a Centre for future development of R&D was opened.
In 2001 The name changed from SICAM to Kverneland Group Les Landes-Genusson, and in 2012 Together with Kverneland, becoming a part of Kubota.
On January 31, 2023, Kverneland Group acquired the company BCT, based in Arcy-Sur-Cure (Burgundy) in the Center-East of France. BCT is specialized in Weeding Equipment (inter-row cultivators and guidance interfaces, rotary hoes...). With this acquisition, Kverneland Group added another rope to its bow, allowing farmers and its dealer network to have a complete product portfolio. The integration of the Company in the Group is made with the support of Kverneland Group LLG.
Today Kverneland Group Les-Landes produces a broad range of products like Stubble and Seedbed Cultivators, Compact Disc Harrows, Subsoilers, Strip Tillers and Weeding technology.
2024 will be an important year for the factory’s customers. The large Kverneland Qualidisc compact disc harrow (up to 12.25m for Control Traffic Farming), as well as the Arcadia tine harrow, will be launched to the different distribution networks. Other developments will appear on other products in the ranges of the 2 production sites.
