Dennis Nuhn, who oversaw the transformation of a family-owned blacksmith shop in Wartburg into a global farm equipment manufacturing and design juggernaut in Sebringville, is the 2023 Stratford Perth Museum Agri-culture Wall of Fame honouree.

Nuhn Industries, a four-generation company, can trace its roots to Simon Nuhn who started a blacksmith shop in Wartburg in 1902. Simon’s son Wilfred took over the business just after the Second World War and then in 1962 Dennis, then just 17, began working with the company.
The Wartburg facility would see five expansions over the next 20 years and found an incredibly successful niche market – manure management equipment.

In 1982, the company moved to a new 15,000-square-foot facility at the corner of Highway 8 and the Wart-burg road at the west end of Sebringville.

Since Dennis became involved with the company there has been one constant – growth! The Sebringville facility grew to 25,000 square feet in 1998 and now, after six expansions, the footprint is 132,500 square feet.

Nuhn’s impact on the agriculture industry is readily evident. Just take a drive along the rural routes of Ontario and there’s a good chance you will see one of Nuhn’s iconic red tanks being towed along the road or spreading manure in a field.

But Nuhn’s impact goes much further afield as the company has become an international leader and sup-plier – not only in the design and production of manure tanks but also as an innovator in other manure equipment including pumps and lagoon agitators.

And that speaks to the strength of the company’s fourth generation. Dennis’s son Ian joined the company in 2009 as a 19-year-old and has gained a reputation as an industry-leading designer and innovator.

Dennis, along with the 2022 and 2020 Agriculture Wall of Fame honourees, will be introduced at the 2023 Stratford Rotary Club Rural-Urban Dinner