Seed Hawk Inc. will build a new manufacturing plant in southeastern Saskatchewan, following an agreement to sell a minority share of the company to Väderstad-Verken.
The $2- to $3-million facility, which will be erected at Seed Hawk’s existing facility north of Langbank, Sask., will handle growth expected from the new partnership.
Väderstad-Verken, a Swedish agricultural company, offers a line of stubble tools, drilling machines and turf managers in Asia and Europe. It is seeking new markets in Eastern Europe, where dryland farming conditions are similar to those in Western Canada.
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Pat Beaujot, Seed Hawk president and a Langbank farmer, said the partnership will allow his company to expand the plant, increase production and gain access to international
markets.
“If we had expanded on our own, we would have to wait a lot longer to do that,” he said.
Beaujot said Vaderstad-Verken is well known in Europe and will help launch Seed Hawk’s expansion into those and other markets.
“Their bringing our product into the market will introduce the product more quickly as us going in as a new company.”
Through the agreement, Seed Hawk can access Väderstad’s technology for the Saskatchewan-based operation, including variable rate systems for metering drives.
Beaujot expects to triple sales and hire 10 to 20 workers for the new plant, which will be built within the next two years.
Sea Hawk has already shipped three seeders to Russia, Australia and Ukraine for demonstration, and has orders for 10 units bound for Russia.
Seed Hawk, established in 1992 to create a drill that seeds, bands and packs in one pass, is developing a twin wing opener that sows two rows of seeds at a time.
The company will host a demonstration day Oct. 26 at its site.
