The efficient running of modern engines has come a long way. Agricultural tractor manufacturers have invested a lot of money in reducing fuel consumption while, at the same time, ensuring a high engine performance. Manufacturers must also keep compliance with stricter exhaust emission limits and regulations. The days of smelly fumes in the workshop, as we tried fixing engines that were constantly burning oil, should soon become a thing of the past. 

Do we really know how much carbon we emit from running our business or know what level of emissions come from the machines we sell? Can we honestly tell our customers what the carbon footprint is from each machine? 

On June 1 last the Brussels based European Rental Association (ERA), updated their Equipment CO2 Calculator. This calculator is tailor made for the construction industry to provide a comprehensive and easy-to-use tool for making sustainable choices when using equipment. It is aimed at rental companies, local authorities and other equipment users.

I am curious to know does such a calculator exist for agricultural, landscaping or sportsturf equipment? I immediately did a search on Google and found that there are companies that provide carbon footprint calculations for homeowners and businesses but I couldn’t find anything specific for the agricultural or sportsturf industry. On the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website there are links available to service providers that will help businesses and homeowners monitor their carbon emissions. Costs vary, depending on the size of your fleet. 

Having an equipment CO2 calculator available that is specific to our industry would be very useful to have. It would mean that we would be able to calculate the carbon footprint of our own and of our customers’ existing fleet and make recommendations on how to lower their emissions.

The ERA’s updated Equipment CO2 calculator can calculate for handheld tools and modular space, with the calculations ‎tailored to each category of equipment across the parameters of production, transportation, ‎lifetime and utilisation, energy consumption, maintenance and end-of-life. ‎The updated version has the option for group calculations for a specific project, task or jobsite or an entire equipment fleet. Users can group all categories of equipment into a single calculation, with the results showing ‎the total carbon footprint for all the equipment.‎ This is on top of calculations of the carbon footprint of a single piece of equipment in a specific use ‎scenario.

Translating this into our own industry would mean that we could calculate the CO2 footprint of all the machines on a farm or sports facility. We could calculate the emissions for a particular job such as cutting silage or mowing 18 fairways. The carbon footprint could even be calculated for a strimmer that is used to maintain bunkers on a golf course. From a dealership point of view it would be possible to record the carbon footprint of the sales team or the repairs and service crew that are out on the road making calls to customers. Recording and compiling all this data would make it a lot easier to monitor progress and, more importantly, implement changes where necessary. 

Our industry is doing its bit in improving air quality. More efficient engines and the development of Smart Technology has contributed a lot towards reducing CO2 emissions. We should be proud of that but, rather than resting on our laurels, we should keep striving to improve reducing CO2 emissions even further. Being able to record and monitor these levels would help a lot.

The European Agricultural Machinery Industry Association (CEMA) have reported a decrease in their Business Climate Index for May.

They report that the general business climate index for the agricultural machinery industry in Europe has entirely left its first upward path since the sharp declines in the course of the Russian war against Ukraine, and is still barely at a positive level. In May, the index decreased from 16 to 11 points (on a scale of -100 to +100).

CEMA continue their report saying that order backlogs have finally peaked in recent months. The volume of orders has been significantly reduced and is now corresponding to a production period of 5.5 months, which is still very high in a historical comparison, but substantially lower than at any time in the past year.

While considerable easing can be observed on the supply side, uncertainties are increasing with regard to the market side, and confidence levels are declining accordingly. The industry representatives have further downgraded their future expectations. While there is still a moderate majority of company representatives with positive turnover expectations for some large markets such as France and Germany, confidence has virtually collapsed with regard to the markets of Italy, Spain and Poland.

More than 50 John Deere dealers have been given training on how greenkeepers can make the most of the company's latest technological developments. 

Held at Golfpark Kurpfalz - a German complex largely maintained using Deere's machinery - the event saw representatives from across the European network of dealers trained by experts from across the golf and turf division.

Chris Meacock, division sales manager for Golf and Turf, said, “Our innovation pipeline looks to improve every aspect of a machine’s performance and that covers many facets of a product.  

“What’s changing fast is the opportunity to use technology and data to make the process of using a John Deere product more efficient and productive for our customers.

“This event was a chance for the dealer network to see all our precision turf technology in action, working together to demonstrate the advantages of GPS-driven accuracy.”

Dealers were shown how mowers and compact tractors equipped with the manufacturer's satellite-steering AutoTrac technology can reduce overlaps and fuel consumption. HD200 Progator sprayers were demonstrating their ability to place fertilisers and herbicides in exactly the right place, avoiding spraying non-target areas and wastage. 

The advantages of accurately mapping a course’s tees, greens, fairways, bunkers and paths was presented using Starfire GPS receivers and dealers were given further training in how the data produced could be accessed and tailored for course managers using the John Deere Operations Center. 

Sessions were also run on how OnLink - the cloud-based golf course management software acquired by John Deere in 2019 - automatically synchronises any machine and operator working anywhere on the course, allowing course managers to remotely create and assign tasks and meticulously manage equipment and labour costs. 

“This training sets up our dealer network to be able to work even closer with golf courses who are looking to take their maintenance and management to the next level,” Chris added.

Service Dealer are pleased to announce that Toro UK and Kubota will be returning to the Conference & Awards this year, as Gold Sponsors.

A new venue has been announced for this year, with the Crowne Plaza at Stratford-Upon-Avon taking on hosting duties - with the date to mark up in your diaries being 30th November 2023.

Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray-Clarke  said, "Toro UK returning to support our event once again is fantastic news and clearly illustrates how they share our ethos that a heathy independent dealer network is vital for the success of our industry."

Craig Hoare, sales and marketing manager at Toro U.K Limited said, “We are delighted to again commit to the Service Dealer Conference & Awards in 2023. Service Dealer has always been at the heart of the industry and the essential link between manufacturer and dealer.  

"Our dealer network is at the core of our success and I see no better opportunity than the Service Dealer Conference & Awards to come together to celebrate the hard work, commitment and achievements of those dealers.”

Duncan added, "It's also great news that Kubota UK have chosen to join us at our new venue this year, supporting our event dedicated to the independent dealer network."

Rob Edwards, marketing manager of Kubota UK said, “Kubota are committed to supporting and recognising the talent within our industry and are delighted to be an ongoing Gold sponsor at the Service Dealer Awards.  

"The awards, where the conference speakers always offer up new and provocative insights to how we move our industry forwards, allow the chance for the industry to celebrate together as we award dealer excellence”. 

Look out for an announcement of the theme for this year's Conference & Awards in the upcoming issue of Service Dealer magazine.

Campey Turf Care Systems have announced they have added the Dutch-made Van Vuuren turf harvesters to their staple of machines.

 
Van Vuuren has been a supplier of machinery for the turf industry since 1988.
 
Lee Morgado sales director of Campey says he is delighted to be adding the equipment to the their line-up. “We’ve known the company a long time and have a good relationship with them. Together, we can provide the sales, service and back-up network to drive the whole range, in particular the TurfTick 2316 Universal Stacker and BigTick 1040 turf harvester, forward in the UK and Ireland.”
 
The TurfTick 2316 is a single-operator, universal stacker, described as suitable for turf growers with a harvesting capacity of approximately 900m2 per hour.
 
The BigTick1040 meanwhile is described as being an economical solution for harvesting high-quality large turf rolls, with a production capacity of 2400 meters per hour.

“By growing cover crops, we can recycle nutrients, increase the soil organic matter, as well as protect our soils from erosion,” says Gordon Sullivan. “It all leads to the potential of improved profitability.”

Gordon Sullivan
 
Gordon is the fourth generation farming arable crops outside Kinsale, Co Cork. He works alongside his father John Sullivan, 83 years, growing mixed tillage crops of winter beans, winter wheat and spring barley in rotation on 358 acres of land. Brassica sowings are used as break crops. Without farm stock, cover crops are an essential part of their way to maintain healthy soils in this entirely arable operation.
 
“We don’t have stock on our farm and there is no re-usable farmyard manures, therefore cover crops are our best solution,” explains Gordon. “We typically experience heavy rainfall where we farm. After a winter wheat harvest, without cover crops, these fields can experience soil loss through surface run-off and through wheelings. Fields that have cover crops have shown very little erosion, if any, even in areas that tend to lay wet,” added Gordon.

John and Gordon used to use a flail mower to process cover crops into the soil, but the flail system is typically slow, with a scant output of three acres per hour. It’s also power hungry and costly to run. More importantly, it wasn’t mulching the crop residue and green manures sufficiently.
 
“In the business environment we find ourselves, it is incumbent on us to find ways to reduce our operating costs and maximise our production performance,” continued Gordon. “The old flail mower was hard on the tractor, expensive to maintain, and very poor at daily output.”
 
“Growing and managing cover crops is an essential part of our cropping rotation so we decided to look at ways to improve mulching efficiency and speed up the entire mulching process.”

The Sullivans explored the market and found the Major Cyclone suited their requirements. They settled on the 5.6m model with eight rotors and 32 knives. This fully-mounted topper can be folded up into a 2.02m transport width.
 
“What really attracted us to the Major Cyclone was the fact that it was almost twice the width of the previous flail mower, uses 25 percent less fuel, and covers the ground much faster,” continued Gordon. “We got anything between seven and ten acres an hour, and it has a much lower capital outlay.”
 
“On top of all this, the mulching capability of the Cyclone is quite astonishing! You don’t see swaths of residue lined up behind the mower at all,” enthused Gordon. “In fact, the mulched cover crop or crop residues are completely chopped and disappear quickly and easily into the remaining cultivated soil tilth.”
 
Gordon continued, “Through soil testing we are already seeing the benefits of using cover crops in rotation. The mulched green manure increases the organic matter in the soil, which has a direct and positive effect on yields,” says Gordon. “If we can reduce our fertiliser input costs then there is a double benefit to our crop husbandry policy.”

John Deere has announced the appointment Deanna M. Kovar as the future president of its Agricultural Machinery business, effective November 1st, 2023 - a move that they describe as part of its long-term succession plan.

Deanna M. Kovar

Kovar will oversee Regions 1 (Africa, Middle East and Asia) and 2 (Europe and CIS), the presidency for the Agricultural Equipment business, and the Turf businesses. She previously led the Precision Agriculture business unit.

The company says Kovar will spend the remainder of this fiscal year familiarising herself with the new role in addition to her existing responsibilities.

As of November 1st, she will then be given full responsibility for this post. On that date, Markwart von Pentz will assume an advisory role to CEO John C. May before his retirement in 2024.

von Pentz said, “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished with John Deere in Europe, Africa and Asia over the past years. Now is a perfect moment to pass on the baton and I can think of no better successor than Deanna."

Von Pentz has been one of two global presidents of the Agricultural Machinery business since 2007. In his long period as a board member Deere say he has played a major role in shaping and strengthening the company's position and economic power, particularly in South America, Europe and Asia, over a period of 16 years. Von Pentz also set in motion the company's realignment toward the digitisation of agriculture.

It is precisely in this digitalisation of agriculture that the manufacturer says Kovar is a proven expert. In her previous position, she was responsible for the area of Precision Agriculture, and was instrumental in the company's transformation into a 'Smart Industrial Company' and in the introduction of the [John Deere Production Systems'.

Kovar said, “For me, it was exciting to observe Mark's early commitment to digitalisation and our common goal was always to meet the complex and digital demands of farmers."

In the transition phase to the new position as Head of Public Europe, she will be trained by von Pentz in the Small and Medium-Sized Agricultural Machinery and Turf divisions.