The Danish Agro Machinery Industry in a Global Perspective, 1945–2005

Abstract

Since the mid-nineteenth century, agriculture and the agro machinery industry has formed an integral part of the developed world, dominated by North America and Western Europe. After the Second World War, agricultural industrialization speeded up. Millions of small and mixed farms in the West disappeared to be replaced by large-scale and specialized farming. The technology needed to transform agriculture was supplied by an expanding agro machinery industry. As in other fields of industry, the agro machinery industry turned into an international business. By the turn of the twentieth century, farming and industry took an even bigger step as business and technology were being globalized. The agro machinery industry that served these global markets remained in the West, however. Eventually, transatlantic mergers consolidated firms into industries for plant, dairy and pig and poultry farming equipment. This article discusses how the Danish agro machinery increasingly became an integrated part of international and global developments.

Keywords:

• agricultural machinery
• Denmark
• farm mechanization
• globalization
• industry
• information technology (IT)
• management

Notes

¹I define ‘globalization’ as international production driven by transnational corporations, as it is put forward by the United Nations (UN) project on foreign direct investment in the World Investment Reports, which have been published annually since 1991 (e.g., UN, World Investment Report 2005. New York: UN 2005, Overview).

²I adhere to the modern father of the cluster idea, Michael E. Porter, as he first presented it in The Competitive Advantage of Nations (New York: Macmillan 1990).

³See, e.g., Philip McMichael, Ed., The Global Restructuring of Agro-Food Systems. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press 1994; Neils Fold, Cross-Continental Agro-Food Chains Structures: Actors and Dynamics in the Global Food System. London: Routledge 2005; Kevin Morgan et al., Worlds of Food: Place, Power and Provenance in the Food Chain. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2008.

⁴FAO, Production Yearbook. Rome: FAO 1950–2003; H. P. Binswanger, Agricultural Mechanization: A Comparative Historical Perspective. Washington, DC: World Bank 1984, 5–20.

⁵Giselle Jones et al., Global Agricultural Machinery: A Strategic Review of Markets, Players and Products. London: Informa 2000, 5–23.

⁶Alfa Laval, Alfa Laval i hundradra aar, 1877–1977. Tumba: Alfa Laval 1977.

⁷Jens Christensen, IT and Business. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press 2000, passim.

⁸Danske Landbrugsmaskinfabrikanter, Branchestatistik. Copenhagen: Danske Landbrugsmaskinfabrikanter 1980.

⁹Jones et al., Global Agricultural Machinery, 33–40.

¹⁰Statistics Denmark, Import and Export. Copenhagen: Statistics Denmark 1945–2005.

¹¹Case IH. Annual Reports.: Case IH 1995–1998.

¹²Case New Holland (CNH). Annual Reports.: CNH 1999–2004.

¹³AGCO, Annual Reports.: AGCO 1994–2004

¹⁴Jones et al., Global Agricultural Machinery, 92–109.

¹⁵Teknisk Forlag, Danmarks storste virksomheder. Nesbru: Teknisk Forlag 1967–1980; Greens, Haandbog om dansk erhvervsliv. Copenhagen: Greens 1980–2004; Interview with Steffen Bus Jespersen, CEO, GKN Nagbol.

¹⁶Teknisk Forlag, Danmarks storste virksomheder, Sekura; Greens, Haandbog om dansk erhvervsliv, Sekura; Interview with Carsten F. Andersen, CEO, Sekura.

¹⁷Per Boje & Hans Chr. Johansen, En ivaerksaetter: Historien om Mads Clausen og Danfoss. Odense: Odense University Press 1989, passim; Interview with Finn H. Lyhne, CEO, Danfoss Hydraulics.

¹⁸Danish National Archives, Industry Production. Copenhagen: Danish National Archives 1955–1980; Danish Agro Machinery Industry Association, Company Information. Copenhagen: Danish Agro Machinery Industry Association 1970–1980; Kongskilde, Historie. Soro: Kongskilde 2000.

¹⁹Henrik Pade, Ed., Landbrugsmaskinindustrien. Copenhagen: Schultz 1990, 60–61; Greens, Haandbog Om dansk erhvervsliv, Kongskilde.

²⁰Kongskilde, Annual Reports. Soro: Kongskilde, 2000–2004; Interview with N. Chr. Hundahl, Sales Manager, Kongskilde.

²¹Danish National Archives, Industry Production; Danish Agro Machinery Industry Association, Company Information.

²²Auriga, Annual Reports. Lemvig: Auriga 2000–2005, Hardi; Interview with Hans Niels Andersen, Product Manager.

²³UN, Transnational Corporations in the Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Industry. New York: UN 1983, 6–11; Jones et al., Global Agricultural Machinery, passim.

²⁴Dronningborg, Dronningborg Maskinfabrik. Randers: Dronningborg 1894–1944, 1944–1964; B. Bernard, Ed., Saadan skabtes Danmarks storste virksomheder. Copenhagen: Erhvervs-Bladet 1988; Statistics Denmark, Import and Export.

²⁵Dronningborg, Aarsberetning. Randers: Dronningborg 1982–2002; Pade, Landbrugsmaskindustrien, 61–64; Interview with Niels Jorn Rarbek, CEO; Interview with Klaus Sogaard, Technical Manager.

²⁶ Borsen, 3 June 2006.

²⁷Jones et al., Global Agricultural Machinery, 29–33.

²⁸Interview with Henning Pedersen, Manager of Development.

²⁹Danish National Archives, Industry Production; Danish Agro Machinery Industry Association, Company Information, JF.

³⁰Interview with Henning Pedersen, JF.

³¹Jones et al., Global Agricultural Machinery, 28–29, 197–198.

³²Jones et al., Global Agricultural Machinery, 26–27, 30–31, 186–187.

³³Danish National Archives, Industry Production; Danish Agro Machinery Industry Association, Company Information, SAC; Interview with Hans Dalsgaard, Manager of Development, SAC.

³⁴Interview with Hans Dalgaard.

³⁵Interview with Ole Sindbjerg, CEO, Ro-Ka.

³⁶Statistics Denmark, Import and Export.

³⁷ http://www.sac.dk

³⁸Interview with Niels Lund Jensen, CEO, Skov; Interview with Ole Andersen, CEO, Big-Dutchman Scandinavia; http://www.big-dutchman.com; http://www.ctbinc.com

³⁹Greens, Haandbog om dansk erhvervsliv, Skiold; Interview with Poul Thomsen, CEO, Skiold.

⁴⁰Of these, only cleaning equipment had been consolidated, based on German Karcher and Danish Nilfisk-Advance: http://www.karcher.com; Nilfisk-Advance, Annual Report. Copenhagen: Nilfisk-Advance 2005.

⁴¹Danish National Archives, Industry Production; Danish Agro Machinery Industry Association, Company Information, Funki; Interview with Finn Madsen, CEO, Funki.

⁴² http://www.aco-funki.com