I must have given the commentator’s curse to one of the agricultural shows in my last blog when I mentioned which ones were taking place for the coming weekend. Organisers of The Gorey Agricultural Show were forced to postpone the event, due to bad weather. Unusually, they made the decision on the 11th June, four days before the show was due to take place.

The show organisers took to social media to make the announcement. On their website and Facebook page they wrote “The Committee of Gorey Agricultural Show have had to make the very difficult decision to postpone our 2024 show due to difficult ground conditions and a worsening weather forecast. In the interest of health and safety and out of respect for our landowners it would be irresponsible to continue with preparations”.

Two days after announcing the postponement of the show there was heavy rainfall. This would have made it difficult to erect tents and exhibition stands and would have left the field in a bad state. The landowner would not have been best pleased. It proved to be the right decision in the end.

Any exhibitors that have already paid for or put a deposit on a stand will be refunded in the event that the show cannot be rescheduled.

The postponement of the Gorey Agricultural Show clearly demonstrates just how bad the summer has been so far. It is very worrying for farmers and growers who are wondering if their crops are going to produce descent yields or not.

I am glad to report that one event scheduled for last weekend wasn’t cancelled because of the weather. It was an open day held last Saturday at the Salesian Agricultural College in Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick. The college gave prospective students an overview of the courses it has to offer. Some of the courses listed included the Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture (Mechanisation) and the Higher Certificate in Agricultural Mechanisation. The latter course is widely recognised within the industry as a practical hands-on course. It is Ireland’s first manufacture-led technical qualification programme and is supported by AGCO in partnership with the Salesian College and the Technical University of Shannon (TUS).

Students receive a Level 6 Higher Certificate in Engineering in Agriculture Mechanisation from TUS. Sixteen students took part in the first course, which began in September 2023. The course is spread out over two years. In year two Students complete 30 weeks of work placement in agricultural dealerships/garages, fabricators, and large contractors. The placement will give students the opportunity to put into practice what they have learned in college.

Having such courses available is good for our industry. There are other mechanical courses available around the country. You can visit the Teagasc website www.teagasc.ie/agriculture-courses to find what courses are on offer. I am mentioning about these courses this week as now is a good time to apply for enrolment in September. Perhaps you have an up and coming staff member employed in the workshop that would benefit from formal training? Having such trained staff in your workforce will do no harm to your business.

FGM Claymore has expanded its robotic mower division, focusing on the expansion of commercial robot sales. 

L-R: Paul Butterly with Sam Daybell

Echo Robotics, a subsidiary of Yamabiko, is a manufacturer of large commercial robot mowers, serving customers in the golf, sports turf, leisure, education, and local authority markets. The range is also sold under the brand ‘Belrobotics’ across Europe.

With the addition to FGM’s commercial brand portfolio, the company have recently welcomed Sam Daybell to the team. The company say that as head of the robotics division, Sam is driving business development across Ireland and the U.K. A main figure in the commercial robotics industry, FGM say Sam brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise in commercial robot mower sales and has already established a solid dealer network in the U.K.

“This is a great opportunity.” Sam said. “Echo Robotics produce the best commercial robots on the market; so, after every new installation, I know that the customer is going to be happy with the outcome. In sales, that’s the best possible situation.”

Paul Butterly, managing director at FGM Claymore, is the driving force behind the move into robotics. “The addition of Echo Robotics perfectly complements our existing commercial Echo offering alongside our OREC range of OPE. Along with battery handheld and zero turns, robots remain an important segment in the market and I believe that we now have a world-class offering in all three product categories. Sam is arguably the most well-known and well-respected figure in the industry, so we were delighted that he agreed to join us.” 

FGM say there are dealer franchise opportunities available in both Ireland and the U.K.

Featuring over 100 of the leading suppliers and supported by Bord Bia, GLAS takes place on July 18th at the National Basketball Arena, Dublin.

Minister Pippa Hackett visiting the Bord Bia stand at GLAS 2023

Described by the organisers as the biggest horticultural trade event of the year in Ireland, it is an important sales, networking and learning opportunity for professionals across the garden, landscape, amenity and sportsturf trade.

Organisers say the event has built a reputation for the quality of attendees it delivers, its professional atmosphere and the networking opportunities and subsequent business that comes from meeting a qualified target group of industry leaders, decision makers and buyers. The outdoor area will include machinery stands and demos.

Organisers say a limited number of exhibition spaces remain.

The European Agricultural Machinery Association (CEMA) have released their June Business Barometer Report.

The current June business climate did not confirm the positive trend of the previous month, in which both the current business situation and the outlook for future business were rated positively for the first time in over a year. Obviously, the business situation has not yet bottomed out say CEMA. The index is currently at -56 (on a scale of -100 to +100) and has only fallen below this level in the last 10 years in 2020 during the Covid outbreak shock event.

The gap between the outlook for the current situation and future business is widest in the livestock equipment sector. Here, a good future business (even in the index range above the zero line) is expected and the current index scores best of all segments at -17.

Tractor manufacturers (index -74) and producers of lawn, garden and municipal equipment (index -80) continue to expect very poor business.

However, incoming orders for the agricultural machinery industry continue to show an upward trend and - as an important early indicator - give hope that the market has reached the low point soon, although turnover expectations are rated worse compared to the previous months.

The UK manufacturer of mechanical weed control products, Garford Farm Machinery, and Warwickshire based electrical weed control manufacturer RootWave, have announced a new agreement that they say will bring "next generation weeding technology to UK and international markets."

Front Mount- 3M -Electric Weeder

The new agreement will see the two manufacturers co-develop new weeding technology and products, integrating electrical weeding into precision guided toolbar systems, for high-value and high-intensive crops as well as broadacre arable applications.

The RootWave system uses electricity to boil weeds and their roots. The partnership says this makes electrical weeding highly effective and, because it is non-chemical and does not disturb the soil, it is compatible with both organic and regenerative farming systems.

 
RootWave CEO Andrew Diprose said, “Combining forces with Garford allows us to create a formidable solution for the industry, combining best-in-class power electronics, imaging and artificial intelligence to create an unrivalled weed control solution for vegetables, cereals and row-crops.

“It will alleviate the worries of farmers who are faced with an uncertain future where they don’t know if herbicides will be available, or will even be effective due to safety and resistance issues.” 

Garford managing director Jonathan Henry said, “We are incredibly excited to pair Garford’s vast experience in precision guided hoes, with RootWave’s world leading expertise in power electronics.

“With the increasingly stringent controls over the use of chemical weed management, alongside resistance issues, we can support UK and global agriculture as it embraces its environmental responsibilities.

“Combining our technologically advanced precision guided weed control solutions, with the benefits of RootWave’s high frequency alternating current electrical weeding technology, we can create commercially viable and effective solutions to growers, as a key part of a sustainable, integrated weed management system.”

Claas is celebrating a major milestone in its combine harvester history, with half a million now built since their first M.D.B. combine was produced in 1936.

Since then the company say their combine harvesters, such as the Matador, Senator, Dominator and most recently the Lexion have set standards both for technology and, as a result of that, for high levels of output and efficiency. 

Alongside this has been the development of operator assistance systems such as yield mapping in the early 1990's, Telematics in 2005 and now Cemos introduced in 2013.

As is traditional, Claas say they will also be recognising this major milestone with several anniversary machines, sporting a special paint finish and branding. In addition all combines manufactured this year will have celebratory stickers on them.

Jan-Hendrik Mohr, Claas CEO said, "500,000 Claas combine harvesters are, above all, 500,000 success stories, because farmers and contractors worldwide have placed their trust in us 500,000 times."