John Deere is to kill off the Mazzotti name and shut down the factory in Ravenna as it looks to bring the self-propelled sprayers entirely under its own green and yellow umbrella with just the two 500R models. The Italian sprayer maker was purchased by Deere in 2017 to help strengthen its sprayer line up in Europe.

Mazzotti was a new name for many in the UK and Ireland where they were first seen at Cereals 2019 – the company’s strength had been in southern Europe, especially with the likes of high-clearance machines. Initial focus was on the MAF models with tank sizes up to 6,600-litres which exceeded John Deere’s own biggest European built model, the 5,000-litre R4050i.

At Agritechnica 2023, John Deere launched the 300M. Made at the Ravenna plant in Italy, there were several differences from previous Mazzotti machines such as the chassis and wheel motors on the 332M (3,200l) and 340M (4,000l). There was also a new cab. These were joined at Agritechnica 2025 by the 500R which will be at Cereals next month. The 540R (4,000l) and 550R (5,000l).

It is understood that there are 29 redundancies due to this restructuring as the Ravenna factory closes it’s doors. This move also means the 300M will be discontinued, which will prove frustrating for dealers who have machines in stock including demonstration units.

Presumably this means that the 500R will be produced at the Horst plant in the Netherlands where the trailed M700/M900 and R700/R900 ranges are made. The Dutch plant is no stranger to building self-propelled sprayers having been responsible for the R4140i and R4150i which ceased production a couple of years ago

Another repercussion of the move by Deere is that Kverneland Group will lose the IXdrive self-propelled as the chassis was being produced by Mazzotti. It is understood that Kverneland is now on the look out for a suitable suitor that it can add its spray equipment to.

Further afield, John Deere is doing a similar restructuring and rationalisation move with PLA, an Argentinian sprayer maker which it bought in 2018.

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