Source: Salford Group

Salford Group, a tillage, seeding and fertilizer application equipment manufacturer, has acquired Valmar Airflo Inc., a manufacturer of seeding and granular application equipment for the agricultural industry. The merger will allow Salford to offer a complete line of competitively priced seeding and granular application equipment to the grower and service provider.

The Valmar Airflo acquisition adds significant benefits and expertise to Salford, with an expanded product line that now includes: primary, secondary and vertical tillage; air seeders; commodity carts; cover crop seeders; spinner-type fertilizer spreaders; air-boom applicators and granular applicators for fertilizer, insecticide, seed, seed inoculant and forage preservatives. 

Valmar has a long history of combining its patented Airflo metering technology with other OEM tillage, seeding, plant and application equipment to enhance productivity and versatility. Indiana no-tiller Dan DeSutter was the first field operator to use Salford and Valmar equipment together, when he paired a Salford I-1100 and a Valmar 2455 to seed his annual ryegrass back in 2007. 

Since that time, interest in cover crop seeding among the farming community has expanded rapidly, and in response, Salford and Valmar have been steadily increasing their level of cooperation in order to offer farmers a flexible, effective cover crop application tool. That cooperation was recognized by industry analysts in fall 2014 for multiple benefits to the farmers, as they noted that the combination of Salford and Valmar equipment saved producers time and fuel while improving soil health. 

As a new unit of the Salford Group, Valmar will continue to produce equipment from its Elie, Man., manufacturing facility and Salford is planning investment that will help expand production capacity and marketing power to make Valmar products more widely available to North American farmers. The Valmar facility will also become a parts distribution center for the complete Salford Group product line, providing better support for growers. The Manitoba facility will be the fifth manufacturing location for the Salford Group, adding to existing operations in Salford, Ont., Osceola, Iowa; Cornelia, Ga., and Omsk, Russia.