New distribution and service partnership for robots in Switzerland and France

• Groupe SERCO has entered into a distribution and service partnership with AgXeed
• Digitalisation and the trend towards lighter machines that can operate 24 hours a day and still achieve surface yields are the current challenges

Serco’s and AgXeed’s offerings are complementary, autonomous tractors are not part of Serco’s offering at this time. In the future, 3 AgBots will be offered as well as full advice, technical support, service and product maintenance. The machines can be ordered now, with deliveries possible this year.

AgBots stay below the irreversible threshold of soil compaction, avoiding further soil degradation compared to increasingly heavy traditional machines, resulting in healthier crops and higher yields. The customer benefits not only in terms of ecology and productivity, but also in terms of profitability: savings in time, labour, energy, fertiliser, seeds, etc.  As individual units or as part of a fleet, AgBots are capable of performing all agricultural tasks, autonomously and safely and efficiently, thanks to the precision of the robots.

In three field presentations, AgXeed and Serco presented the AgBot to about 100 customers. Christian Chuard a farmer said, “The ease of use of the software for job planning is remarkable”. Michael Balimann – Bösiger company, market gardening: “With the AgXeed products we find a concrete answer to the labour shortage in the market gardening sector.”

Werner Berger, CEO Groupe SERCO said:

“Producers want solutions from us in the agricultural machinery industry to improve their economic situation. They don’t need machines with more horsepower, but intelligent solutions, which allow them to reduce their costs and improve their yields. As Groupe SERCO we believe in the opportunities offered by digitalization in agriculture and invest in digital services. SERCO continues to develop in the field of New Technologies, digitalization and innovation. AgXeed is a pioneer with its innovative autonomous systems that have great potential in Swiss and French agriculture. We are very pleased to announce this important partnership.”

Joris Hiddema, CEO AgXeed :

“With the Groupe SERCO we have found an excellent partner for the sale and service of our technology. Autonomy is the next logical step in the development of modern professional agriculture. We provide not only autonomous machines, but more than that – complete automation and optimization of field operations. AgXeed enables an integrated approach to all farm processes: crop planning, production and distribution.  Our machines are the most visible part of our product offering, but the data portal, which collects data and provides actionable information, plays a key role in the total value we deliver.  Together with the SERCO Group, we see ourselves in a position to meet the challenges of this sector and offer the farmer real autonomy and enable him to run his business in a sustainable and more profitable way.”