The President of WS Steel in Steinbach says the product they unveiled to the public Tuesday is a "game changer."
On Tuesday afternoon, the world's first smart seeder (right inset) was on display on the grounds of WS Steel.
"My family has been in the metal working industry for fifty years and I have personally been the President of WS for twenty-five years and have built lots of equipment that is probably even bigger than this and more complex," says Waldner. "But we've never rolled out a product that will be built on mass production."
Waldner says think of this seeder as a printer and your field as the canvas. By using this new seeder, a farmer can can put whatever input on whatever part of the field in a one foot increment.
"So if a farmer has a field that's quite large and he wants to do different inputs at different parts of the field, he can break it down to one foot and do a one hundred per cent controlled input down to one foot," he says.
According to Waldner, there is already a lot of excitement towards this machine in the agriculture sector. In fact, he says it has won nearly every major award in the industry.
He notes the unit will be sold wherever there is seeding being done in the world. Clean Seed has signed a distribution agreement with Rocky Mountain Equipment, which has a store in Steinbach. Today it is being marketed in Canada but Waldner says word is already spreading to the United States and he expects it will be shipped all over the world.
"I haven't slept much the last three months," admits Waldner. But he says the process has been awe inspiring and mind boggling.
Waldner says while the market will determine how many of these are sold, the contractual obligation of WS Steel is to build a minimum of one hundred of these units in the first three years of production.
In the words of Waldner this is a "game changer" in the seeding industry and a "game changer" for WS Steel. He says they have always built goods for other organizations, but this is the first piece of equipment they have built that has their brand on it.
"It's only because of how we have established the processes with these other brands that we can now build something that's got our brand on it, that's got our community's brand on it," says Waldner.
He admits this has been an emotional experience for him. And Waldner says while this has created excitement within his family, it is also big for Steinbach.
"I hope this changes our community," he says. "I tell people all around the world how this community has hard working people and that's really why a machine like that can be brought to market."
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Thu, Apr 25, 1:00 PM
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