President of CLAAS Omaha announces retirement

After 19 years with the company, Salz has retired from Claas Omaha. Matthias Ristow has assumed his role. Here is the full Press Release from Claas

Following nearly two decades at Claas and an even longer career in the farm equipment industry, Claas Omaha President Maury Salz announced his retirement. Matthias “Matt” Ristow has assumed the role of president of Claas Omaha, the combined production company for Claas in North America.

Leif Magnusson, president of Claas Global Sales – Americas, says:

“We would like to thank Maury very much for his successful work at Claas throughout the years. Many of our North American operations were shaped and further developed under his hard work and effective leadership. He had a hand in the evolution of the LEXION combine in North America for nearly two decades.”

During Maury’s 19 years at Claas , he was responsible for a wide range of North American operations including research and development, purchasing, quality, logistics, and manufacturing. Most recently, Salz oversaw the production of the all-new 8000-7000 Series LEXION combines, which returned to the bright “seed-green” Claas color after many years of Caterpillar yellow.

In 2018–19, Maury served as president for the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and actively participates in executive committees for the advancement of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. He officially finished his year-long commitment to the organization as past president at the ASABE International Meeting this July.

The incoming Claas Omaha president, Matt Ristow, has been with the company for six years — first serving as Vice President – Finance & Operations, and now President & Managing Director, Business Administration. The planned transition has been a smooth one.

Matt was born in Germany and came to the United States as a high school exchange student. He continued his higher education in the U.S., receiving a bachelor’s degree in business general administration and a master’s in international business from Fresno State in California. Matt returned to Germany and worked for the largest privately-held service company in Europe, holding progressive positions overseeing controlling before returning to the U.S. and beginning an international career that led him from the U.S. to the United Arab Emirates and Turkey in senior executive positions.

Magnusson says:

“We wish Maury the best of luck in his retirement on his family farm in Northwest Iowa. Looking ahead, we are extremely excited for Matt to take on this new role. We recognize his dedication to continuously improving our products, and we are more than confident in his leadership for Claas of Omaha.”