Linköping office increasingly important to Väderstad Group

The story of how Rune Stark's innovative invention on the Östgötaslätten (Östgöta Plains) relates to the Väderstad Group’s development into a global leader in its sector is like a fairy tale. It all started back in 1962, when Rune and his wife Siw were working a 30-hectare farm in Väderstad. Just like all the other farmers in the area, Rune used a wooden tine harrow to work the soil, a tool that was the predecessor to the modern harrow. These harrows had always been made of wood and their lifespan was limited.

Rune grew tired of making a new tine harrow at the start of every season. Rune, who was the grandfather of current CEO Henrik Gilstring, decided to get to work on an idea he had been thinking about for some time.

“With Rune's vast experience from many years of backbreaking agricultural work, he designed and built a steel tine harrow instead. This had a tremendous impact, increasing the quality of the operation, and was much more durable. For grandpa, it was important that the products were high quality, and after some further refinements to the tine harrow, the number of orders from other farmers increased even more”, says Henrik.

Soon, Rune's Mekaniska Verkstad was in full swing and the foundation for today's business was built. In 1968, the company launched a new tine harrow that was such a sensation that farmers started to make a pilgrimage to the company’s headquarters in Väderstad. Over the years, all four of the couple's children – Christer, Christina, Andreas and Bo – became involved in the family company and they are still active today in different ways. And four out of nine of Rune and Siw’s grandchildren are also active in the third generation family business.

“I have been the CEO since February 2022. It is incredibly fun and inspiring to be able to carry what my grandparents created further into the future. Everyone in our owner family is very committed, which has helped the company’s strong development”.

Setting the standard in its industry

Since 2015, turnover has increased from SEK 2.1 billion to SEK 5.5 billion, and the total number of employees has grown to approximately 2,000 across the world. The company now has a presence in 40 countries and invests heavily in the US and Canada.

The Väderstad Group is now one of the world's leading companies in tillage, sowing and precision seeding, which has helped the company set the standard in their industry time and time again.

“Of course we are very proud and glad that we have been behind a number of innovations and have made a real mark when it comes to simplifying and streamlining plant cultivation for the world's farmers”, says Henrik with a smile.

Not least through the Väderstad Tempo, the precision seed drill that delivers unprecedented precision at twice the speed compared to traditional seeding machines. The ability to use the same machine for several different crops often means that the Väderstad Tempo can replace two traditional precision seed drills. Something that increases the area that can be cultivated and considerably lowers the cost per hectare.

The head office, with 1,700 employees, is still in Väderstad, but the office in Linköping and its 75 employees has taken on an increasingly important role since it was opened in 2019.

“The agricultural industry is increasingly relying on digital technologies and a significant amount of our development in terms of electronics and software takes place in Linköping. It is very important for our company and our development that we stay here in Mjärdevi, with the strong sense of innovation and competence here, as well as the proximity to the university”, says Henrik.