EXHIBIT 32(1)

                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

         I, Andrew B. Schmitt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Layne
Christensen Company (the "Company"), do hereby certify in accordance with 18
U.S.C. ss. 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of thE Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, that:

                  (a)      the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
         annual period ended January 31, 2004, which this certification
         accompanies, fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or
         15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and

                  (b)      the information contained in the Company's Annual
         Report on Form 10-K for the annual period ended January 31, 2004, which
         this certification accompanies, fairly presents, in all material
         aspects, the financial condition and results of operations of the
         Company.

     Dated: April 12, 2004             /s/ A. B. Schmitt
                                       -----------------------------------
                                       Andrew B. Schmitt
                                       President and Chief Executive Officer