The origins of the 5,000th silage spreader

This year, we’re celebrating a wonderful milestone. Hoopman Machines produced and delivered the 5,000th silage spreader to Holaras dealer Agrotechnik Tafiły in Poland. A silage spreader has become an indispensable tool to help farmers and agricultural contractors ensile grass.

But where did the idea come from?

We have to go back about 45 years. Farmer Joop Visser from Miste in the eastern Netherlands regularly ensiled grass with his neighbour. Joop used to stand on the silage heap with a pitchfork, to spread the grass as well as possible. Besides this being heavy manual work, the challenge was to make the silage heap as uniform as possible to preserve the grass well. Joop thought there must be a better way. First, he tried using a Strela hay tedder on the heap, but it was too light to deal with all the grass. He then covered the ends of the tedder with pieces of old carpet, which prevented the grass scattering during spreading. The gist of the idea was there, but Joop wanted to turn it into a more heavy-duty machine. The design was shown to Klein Nibbelink’s agricultural mechanisation company in Bredevoort. Klein Nibbelink put Joop in contact with Bram Hoopman; after all, Hoopman Machines is a specialist in building agricultural machines.

From idea to innovation

When Bram took over the forge from his father in 1955, he started a business importing and selling agricultural goods. He was also constantly on the lookout for innovative ideas. For example, he elaborated on the idea of the tuber picker by the farmer Heijnen, and developed the onion topper for a arable farmer from Zeeland who wanted to pack onions without tails. Bram was also interested in taking on this new challenge, and, after listening carefully to the ideas of the farmer Joop, produced the very first silage spreader. Now, 45 years later, the silage divider has been modified, expanded and improved on multiple occasions. This robust machine is used on farms worldwide.

The power of collaboration

Hoopman Machines engages in co-creation with colleagues, customers and partners to develop innovative machines that add value. The company follows market trends, listens carefully to wishes and needs, and actively shares thoughts with customers. Customers can rely on a trusted partner. The team believes in the power of partnerships; maybe you can travel fast alone, but together you go much further.

If you’re interested in the full story, watch the video about the origins of the 5,000th silage spreader.