{"id":621232,"date":"2026-08-05T05:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T05:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/621232\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T05:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T05:56:23","slug":"fertilizer-spreader-turning-heads-winning-awards-at-ag-in-motion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/621232\/","title":{"rendered":"Fertilizer spreader turning heads, winning awards at Ag in Motion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Horsch celebrated a pair of firsts at Ag in Motion<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n

The equipment manufacturer debuted its Leeb Xeric 14 FS fertilizer spreader <\/a>into North America at the farm show.<\/p>\n

You can follow all our Ag in Motion coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For its efforts, the company also picked up a Gold Innovation Award<\/a> at the show.<\/p>\n

One thing for sure, at 160 feet wide, this new spreader makes a big statement.<\/p>\n

Large coverage area and 12-section control means operators can quickly dial-in fertilizer placement as needed.<\/p>\n

Mike Wasylyniuk, product manager for sprayers at Horsch<\/a>, said the biggest difference between the company\u2019s latest spreader among its competitors is the width.<\/p>\n

However, differences don\u2019t end there. New technology such as 12-section control with individual metering augers for each section are on the new Horsch as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne-hundred-and-sixty feet wide with 12-section variable rate control will be the two main innovations on this unit,\u201d said Wasylyniuk.<\/p>\n

To get there, Wasylyniuk said the company combined three different technologies: an air seeder cart, a pull-type sprayer chassis and a high clearance sprayer boom.<\/p>\n

Read Also<\/p>\n


\n \"A
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Bringing those three ideas together essentially created the Leeb Xeric 14 FS, he added.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Leeb Xeric spreader controls its variable rate application using a 12-section control with individual metering augers for each section.
\n Photo:
\n Greg Berg<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last idea that\u2019s going to be a little bit new to the industry will be automatic calibration,\u201d said Wasylyniuk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose 12 metering augers are inside a calibration box that\u2019s on load cells.\u201d<\/p>\n

Individual metering augers for each section means each section can be adjusted to a variable rate across those 12 sections.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The flex boom on the Leeb Xeric spreader helps keep the far ends of the 160-foot boom from getting too close to the ground in uneven terrain.
\n Photo:
\n Greg Berg<\/p>\n

\u201cSo just like any of the air seeders here, it\u2019ll self-calibrate as it\u2019s going through the field, and just make the experience for the operator a little bit simpler.\u201d<\/p>\n

A unit this size is also designed to cover a lot of ground, and fast if need be.<\/p>\n

Wasylyniuk estimated that if an operator travelled at 32 km-h with the new Horsch, they\u2019d cover about 388 acres in one hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can run higher speeds with this unit,\u201d Wasylyniuk added, \u201cbut if you get into some hills, it also has a flex boom. So, it also has boom height control and an outside flex that no other air spreader will do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Wasylyniuk, product manager for sprayers at Horsch, stands in front of the Leeb Xeric fertilizer spreader.
\n Photo:
\n Greg Berg<\/p>\n

The Leeb Xeric is also equipped with four wheel steer that follows tractor tracks to limit compaction and an automatic tire pressure system.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs this tank empties or fills, the tire pressure will change up and down,\u201d added Wasylyniuk.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as you fold the booms in or out, it will automatically adjust the pressure on the tires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late last year, Horsch was also awarded a Silver innovation award at Agritechnica<\/a> for its proactive BoomControl system that that uses 3D radar sensors that analyzes the soil surface to maintain a consistent spray height.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Horsch celebrated a pair of firsts at Ag in Motion in July. The equipment manufacturer debuted its Leeb…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[245906,79,18,70440,262419,19,3536,17],"class_list":["post-621232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-ag-in-motion","tag-business","tag-eire","tag-fertilizer","tag-horsch","tag-ie","tag-innovation","tag-ireland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117041364988532537","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}