Today (June 8th) is the start of Phase 2 easing of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Some restrictions have been considerably eased such as travelling distance has now increased from 5km to anywhere in your own county (it was originally to be 20km) and more businesses are allowed to open their doors to the public. With the extra travel distance allowed this should bring more visitors to our parks and gardens.

Since golf courses reopened they have seen a big influx of people playing the fairways again. Travelling anywhere within your county should see even more golfers returning to play the game. Greenkeepers and their machines will be back to full operation mode. We are on our way to an almost normal life but there is still a long way to go. Thankfully, the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Ireland is falling rapidly. Long may it continue.

This week I want to turn your attention to farm and garden safety. This is the time of year when most accidents occur and users of equipment must be vigilant. Service dealers should (and many do) make a point of informing their custumers of the risks associated with the machines they sell to them and also of the precautions and safety guidelines needed to operate and maintain the equipment safely.

On that point I was shocked to see on the news last week, as many other people were, the videos posted online of people carrying out stunts using agricultural machines. Tractor racing on a public road; standing on the drawbar of a tractor while moving; a man sitting on the front of a tractor as it drives through a field at speed; men sitting in the bucket of a digger as it rotated quickly, and a quad being driven up a steep embankment and almost overturning in the process. These are just some of the examples of the stupidity that people can get up to.

What made it worse was that they thought it was all a bit of fun and decided that it would be a great idea to film themselves and put them up online for the world to see. Already, there have been eight farm fatalities recorded so far this year (and eight heartbroken families). These type of videos don’t help in reducing the number. I was delighted to see on the same news bulletin, several dealers and distributors condeming the actions, along with farming associations and organisations.

Up to now we have been blessed with fine weather. This normally encourages people to go out gardening but if you add in the lockdown and isolation with the glorious weather, there has been a noticeable surge of people doing work in their gardens. Lawn mowing, rotovating the vegetable plot, hedge clipping, strimming are just some of the things being done, leading to an increase in demnand for garden equipment. This is much needed good news for dealers and distributors around the country, many of whom have been closed for 2 months and have just recently opened.

Some of the dealers I have been talking to say that their business is returning and doing reasonably well again. A warm and sunny summer ahead is needed to keep this trend continuing.

The latest figures issued by the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) in relation to registrations of tractors and other types of self-propelled machinery cover the period to the end of April and, unsurprisingly, record a substantial fall off in activity when compared to a year ago.

The ongoing Coronavirus crisis and associated restrictions did not seem to have much impact on the registration of new tractors during March but the wider situation was certainly felt far more acutely in April when registrations of new tractors dropped by 43% during the month in comparison to April, 2019. April saw 119 units registered which brings the total for the first four months of the year to 1,015 units, a drop of nearly 8% on last year.

The farm machinery trade continues to operate in relation to the supply of parts, service / repair and delivery / installation of machines as essential services in support of farming and while new machines can be delivered it was generally expected that this would be at lower than previously anticipated levels.

Cork, Wexford and Tipperary continue to be the three counties with the highest level of registrations in the first four months of the year; Cork has had 145 units registered and Wexford and Tipperary are separated by only one unit with 68 and 67 units registered respectively.

Slightly in excess of 91% of new tractor registrations during the first four months of the year were of machines with more than 100hp and 60% were of machines with more than 120hp.

Teleporter registrations probably continue to be more heavily impacted by the overall global context with the 50% year on year drop seen in March escalating even more in April when the level of monthly registrations fell to 7 units, a drop of 75% on April 2019. The total number of such machines registered during the January to April period is 196 units, a drop of some 20% on last year. While it is likely that an effectively suspended construction sector is impacting on these numbers, the fact that the NCTS centres have been closed since the end of March is another contributing factor. Most tractors are registered online but an element of teleporter registrations would be done physically at NCTS centres.

Wheeled loader registrations dropped by 5 units in April, as against the same month last year, to record 12 units registered. Despite this drop, such machines have seen total registrations in the first four months, underpinned by good numbers in January and February, increase by 21% on last year to 57 units.

There were no registrations of backhoe loaders during April, leaving the total for the year to date at 19 units, down from 35 in 2019.

As the start of the grass silage season looms, registrations of new self-propelled forage harvesters are gathering pace. A total of 22 such machines had been registered by the end of April. Last year was a bumper one for foragers with nearly 60 new machines registered and it is to be expected that numbers will fall this year. It is interesting to note however that the current level of registrations is the same as the total number for the full year of 2012 with more machines still to make their way through the system.

German farm equipment manufacturer Lemken has announced that demands on agriculture for sustainable crop care solutions and the constantly increasing regulatory requirements surrounding sprayers and crop protection products are behind its decision to discontinue crop sprayer production from the end of 2020.

The news affects the firm's mounted and trailed machines, and also Lemken's recently-introduced Nova self-propelled unit.

Anthony van der Ley, the firm's CEO, suggested that after ten years in the sector it was felt Lemken's sprayer business had not reached a market-relevant size, and that with the legal requirements in each of its key markets increasing and becoming more disparate while customer needs and preferences continued to be diverse, satisfactory production runs could not be achieved.

"We are also seeing that, even from a consumer standpoint, chemical crop care product hurdles are becoming ever higher. Although we introduced several future-focused new models at the last Agritechnica, and our team is extremely motivated by their great reception, we are choosing this moment to break from our field spraying range in a responsible manner.”

Lemken says it intends to strengthen and expand its soil cultivation, drilling technology and crop care product areas, and in doing so that its crop care focus will in future be concentrated on sustainable crop care solutions, including its recently-introduced fertiliser spreader range. This fits with its acquisition two years ago of Steketee, the Dutch hoeing technology specialist, which the firm says creates the opportunity to combine mechanical weed control with precise, selective band spraying or spot spraying rather than broadcast spraying, with environmental, time and cost benefits. Mr Van der Ley said the firm also sees a trend to meet the increasing demand for mechanical weeding with intelligent controls.

"Steketee offers a range of hoeing technology, including intelligent camera guidance. We want to connect these machines to our digital solutions and make them adaptive, for use by both organic and conventional farmers."

Lemken's Haren site in Germany where its sprayers are made will be retained and expanded, with production switched to drill manufacturing, an area in which the firm says there is a significant rise in demand. It will also free up additional capacities at the main site in Alpen for the production of soil cultivation equipment. Lemken sprayer owners have been assured of continued replacement part supply and service support, while dealers have been assured that customer orders will be accepted and fulfilled up until the end of the year.

Reesink Turfcare has announced the retirement of its national sales manager Jeff Anguige after 21 years working with the Toro UK distributor and its predecessor Lely UK, and a total of 46 years serving the turfcare industry.

Jeff, 63, began working in the industry straight after leaving college, learning the business working at golf and grounds dealerships and turf machinery manufacturers such as Ransomes. In 1999 he joined the then Toro UK distributor Lely UK, with headquarters at St Neots, Cambs., as national Toro sales manager, responsible for spearheading sales of its golf course and sports turf maintenance machinery.

At Lely, and latterly Reesink, he has played a leading role in helping develop the Toro name and reputation.

It is, he says, his biggest career achievement; “Toro has been the constant in my working life at Lely and Reesink,” says Jeff. “For over two decades I’ve worked with a brilliant team to help it grow to where it is today - in my view, holding the number one spot for quality with its reputation preceding it.

“I’ve always had total belief in Toro. So many of my career highlights have come from witnessing how Toro has made such a huge difference for our customers. How it has greatly improved the quality of the golf course, made tasks easier for the greenkeeping team or solved a particular problem. In my time I’ve seen Toro go to the top of not only the golf industry, but the sports sector and other fine turf sites, too. It’s now at a point where around 80 percent of Premiership football clubs, as well as other major sporting venues in, for example, cricket, rugby and tennis, also use Toro.”

Jeff has seen many big changes throughout his time in the industry. Among the biggest, he says, is the way in which clubs now buy their machinery. He says: “When I started, people tended to get their cheque book out and buy one piece of equipment at a time, outright. Now the majority of customers invest in fleet deals on finance. It gives the option to have more machines straightaway for the same level of investment, as well as the latest technology to maintain playing surfaces. The upscale is huge, as is the improvement in quality of playing surfaces. It’s certainly a very different market to when I started, and very much for the better.”

David Cole, managing director at Reesink, paid tribute to Jeff and the instrumental role he’s played with the company, saying, “Jeff has been at the forefront of the Toro equipment success for over twenty years and his focus and dedication will be challenging for the business to replace. I am sure that the extensive contacts and colleagues Jeff has built up during his time in the industry will want to join us at Reesink in wishing him all the very best for a well-earned and enjoyable retirement. Jeff will always be able to look back with pride on his role with the Toro brand, as a job well done”.

Jeff plans to spend his retirement in his native Yorkshire, where he lives in Gomersal with his wife, Julie, enjoying time with his family and grandchildren – and, of course, playing golf.

A man who enjoys huge respect and fondness from among his many friends and colleagues in the industry, Jeff says: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working in the industry and am delighted to have been a part of it. It’s a relationship industry and I’ve gained friends for life. I believe it still offers great career opportunities for young people and will watch with interest as the next generation comes through.

“Despite the current difficulties presented by Covid-19, I’m confident that Reesink, Toro and the turfcare industry has an exciting future,” he says. “Yes, there will be challenges and changes ahead, but also plenty of opportunities. I wish it and all my friends and colleagues in the industry every success for the future.”

Smithco has introduced its Sand Star E electric-powered bunker rake.

The Sand Star E is powered by a 48-volt AC induction Mahle continuous-duty, industrial-rated motor with peak torque of 83 N-m.

Operators can travel from hole to hole at 10 mph and travel up to 5 mph in reverse. The bunker rake will cover every bunker on an 18-hole course on a single charge of its six 8-volt batteries, according to Smithco officials.

Smithco developed the bunker rake due to growing interest in alternative fuel and quieter equipment. The new Sand Star E is in production and in limited quantities at dealers for demonstrations. The rake is available with a front plough and a variety of both center and rear implements.

Kevin Broderick Ltd are the Smithco Distributors in Ireland. For more information on the Sand Star E phone 01 2572255 or email info@brodericks.ie

As part of a number of new internal appointments announced by the Claas Group, Trevor Tyrrell, who since 2011 has been the UK CEO, has been announced as the new senior vice president Western Europe for the company’s sales and service division with effect from June 1st 2020.

Trevor Tyrrell

In his new role, Trevor will take on responsibility for sales both within Western Europe, but also Oceania, for which he is currently regional director. He succeeds Christian Radons, who will be joining the Claas Group Executive Board with responsibility for the Global Sales and Service division.

Trevor joined Claas UK as a management trainee over 30 years ago and since then has held a number of positions in product management, marketing and sales departments within the company.

In 2008, he was appointed regional director with responsibility for sales within the British Isles, in addition to a number of importer markets, including Oceania, prior to becoming CEO of Claas UK in 2011. As part of this role, he has also been a long time member of the Region Western Europe management team.

GKB Machines, have launched a solution for ground compaction with the GKB Deep Tine Aerator (DTA).

The machine works on natural sports pitches to relieve the surface, compaction enabling water to travel through and for stronger roots to develop.

Tom Shinkins, operation manager said, “We’re really pleased to have this machine added to our range, it now enables us to offer golf clubs and sport pitches the full maintenance package.” He continues, “it was the missing piece to our catalogue and now being able to offer customers the full range of reliable and robust machinery will allow us to truly stand out from the crowd.”

With an adjustable 25-degree heave angle, the GKB DTA’s tine holding system allows users to take control on removing compaction. From varying depths up to 16 inches. Featuring a 3-speed heavy duty gearbox, users can adjust the speed on the tines to create the required hole pattern in the turf, and its unique tine mounting system allows quick changeover for different size tines. In addition the company says they ensure that the GKB DTA requires minimal maintenance as it’s fitted with a heavy-duty sealed bearings on the crank shaft, ensuring focus is always on improving the ground and less on maintaining the machine.

Martyns Lawns, based in Dunmore, Co. Galway are the Irish distributors for GKB machines. For a demo on the DTA contact 093 38012 or email info@martynlawns.com

Dealers attending this October's GIE+EXPO trade show which is still scheduled to take place October 21-23, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky, will be able to attend ten High-Performance Dealer Workshops.

Sara Hey at 2019's GIE+EXPO

Organisers say that dealers looking to pick up real-world tips on timely topics can attend workshops led by Bob Clements International, as well as experts from the Equipment Dealers Association and United Equipment Dealers Association.

In a statement the show's organisers said, "As of March, the way people do business changed. It brought to light many of the strengths of the green industry while at the same time showing areas that need to be safeguarded heading into the future. Bob Clements and Sara Hey will lead a roundtable discussion with other green industry businesses about how dealers can bulletproof their businesses in a post-COVID-19 world."

Sara Hey said, "There are always going to be things that happen in your business that are unexpected. One of the things many dealership owners have going for them is that they are entrepreneurs at heart and can think outside the box when they are thrown a curveball.

"Adaptability is key when you are dealing with the unexpected, and regardless of how good your plan is there will always be unexpected things. COVID-19 has continued to reinforce the importance of keeping dealerships in 'balance'. Our goal is that at the end of the day, two of the three departments in your dealership can sustain your dealership at any given time. This doesn't happen by accident, but through a number of small, deliberate changes over time."

To see a full schedule of the educational opportunities available to dealers, click here.

In addition to the education opportunities, dealers will again have access to the indoor show floor earlier than the rest of the industry. Also this year the show boasts expanded in-tree arborist training, hands-on drone sessions, and a UTV test track.

Organisers are keen to stress that the show benefits from 20+ acres of outdoor space and they will of course be following all the guidance to keep people safe. Luckily the Kentucky International Exhibition Centre had space available for the show to expand into to ensure there is space for everyone.