Agriculture has been at the centre of technological advancements over the centuries. From the invention of the wheel, through the industrial revolution, to today’s internet and technology developments. Our forefathers have seen the phasing out of the horse to the motorised tractor. Are we seeing another huge change in our lifetime? Will diesel and petrol powered tractors give way to all electric ones? There is already a big switch from fossil fuelled equipment to all electric types, especially in the domestic market. 
 
As the cost of internet connectivity has fallen, the number of connected devices has increased. It is estimated that each person has an average of three devices that are connected to the internet - known as the Internet of Things (IoT). These would include smart devices that control lights and security systems. The number of these types of devices is expected to double in the next five years.

IoT is also getting popular in agriculture and horticulture. They range from monitoring devices, such as sensors monitoring precipitation in an irrigation system on a golf course and devices that allow farmers monitor the onset of diseases in crops, informing them of the appropriate time to spray.

Automation and robotics in agriculture benefits the environment as it reduces the amount of chemicals and fertilisers being applied to the land. The development of electric and battery operated vehicles allows for less dependency on fossil fuels, which is another plus for the environment. Sales of these machines are continuing to grow each year.

Farmers and growers are becoming more aware of the environment. They are trying their best to reduce their carbon footprint and are looking for ways of doing this. Dealers are already coming on board with this concept as the trend to grow more with less land, water and nutrients is becoming more important, even when the world’s population is increasing.

A unique two-day agricultural festival that specialised in regenerative farming took place in the UK last June. Called Groundswell 2023 and in its eighth year, it highlighted the importance of sustainable agriculture. Those that exhibited needed to pass the show organiser’s ethos of sustainability, which included dealers around the UK. Over 6,500 people attended the show and it is marking the way for similar show types to follow. 

A dealership that specialises only in sustainable equipment might be the way forward for some who are considering a niche market opportunity. There are a range of products that would fulfil this criteria - robotic mowers, electric utility vehicles, precision agriculture using GPS technology in tractors and much more. The interest is definitely out there, especially in the public domain as people are becoming more aware of ways of protecting the environment.

It would be great if a similar show like Groundswell could be organised here in Ireland. Service Dealer owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke wrote an excellent article about Groundswell 2023 in the September/October 2023 edition of the Service Dealer magazine which I recommend you to read.

Speaking of shows, the National Ploughing Championships begin tomorrow at Ratheniska in County Laois. This three day event is expected to attract up to 300,000 visitors. I hope that all the dealers who are exhibiting there will get plenty of visitors and generate lots of sales and new business. Let’s hope the weather stays kind during the event.

A recent report from U.S trade journal Rural Lifestyle Dealer, says that Briggs & Stratton have stated that effective immediately, it will no longer offer Simplicity and Snapper tractors in North America.

An internal U.S dealer memo seen by the publication states that the manufacturer will cease production " . . due to the considerable year-over-year market decline for the tractor segment."

As well as the tractors, the memo also says the company will no longer produce their "remaining four series of Simplicity and Snapper zero-turns" for the US.

The memo goes on to explain, "This decision was not taken lightly, and it reflects an evolving market dynamic as consumer preferences and needs change."

The manufacturer also explained to its U.S dealers that their Ferris brand had seen "rapid growth in the market", and that they intend to expand on its success. Also they say they are " . .actively exploring opportunities to license the Snapper brand."

Europe

Service Dealer Ireland reached out Briggs & Stratton's European branch, to see whether this decision in the US would have any impact on our readership of Ireland dealers. We were issued with the following statement:

"Recently, Briggs & Stratton announced to cease Snapper and Simplicity tractor production at their North American manufacturing facility due to a considerable year-over-year market decline for this segment. Subsequently, the decision was made to also discontinue the production of Snapper and Simplicity zero turn mowers for North America.

"Strategically, both Snapper and Simplicity remain very important and popular brands for the European and MEA markets. Therefore these brands will remain active in these regions.

"Our current Snapper and Simplicity tractor and zero turn line up will continue to be manufactured at our North American facility and remain available for the European and MEA markets. In Spring 2024, both Snapper and Simplicity will launch two new rear collecting tractor lines for Europe and MEA. The new tractors will be manufactured in Europe."

The latest speaker announcement for November's Service Dealer Conference is Abigail Kimber, a client development consultant at Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England.

Abigail Kimber

Abigall says she will be delivering a workshop to help break the stigma on mental health. With the financial impact cited as costing upwards of £33billion per year, she is keen to point out that poor mental health can have a huge impact on a business.

Abigail works with organisations of all sizes, in a wide range of industries, including agriculture, construction and manufacturing. She supports businesses to identify and understand their employee’s mental health needs and create long-lasting solutions.

Focusing on assisting businesses to build and enhance their well-being approaches to create mentally healthier working environments, Abigail helps people to develop the skills to look after their own and others’ well-being. 

"I am dedicated to normalising attitudes and behaviours around mental health in all areas of society," says Abigail.

She now joins the previously announced Sophie Brooks who will be talking about sustainability, branding expert, Daryl Fielding and customer experience specialist, Adrian Swinscoe, who will be sharing their knowledge with our dealer delegates.

Taking place on Thursday 30th November 2023 at the Crowne Plaza, Stratford upon Avon, the theme for this year's event is Taking Care of Business.

STIHL held an international press conference at their headquarters in Waiblingen, Germany on Wednesday last week, where they announced a downturn in revenue.

STIHL Brand World in Waiblingen, Germany

Service Dealer Ireland attended the event that saw trade press from around the world gather to hear Michael Traub, chairman of the STIHL executive board say that the past eight months have "proven challenging" for the STIHL Group.

He confirmed that the company had generated revenue of 3.84 billion euros in the period from January to August 2023, which is a decline of 1.5% year on year. He also announced that the company's workforce had decreased by 0.5% to 20,311 employees worldwide as of August 31.

Michael Traub said, "After several years of strong growth, our markets find themselves in a period of temporary consolidation in 2023." He explained this downturn as being a consequence of consumers not spending as much on their homes and gardens as they were during the Covid years. He also cited the high energy costs hitting both themselves and their customers, as another factor affecting revenue levels.

He went to on say though that the company is looking to the future with confidence. "We have ambitious growth plans and continue to invest a great deal in our business," he said, "especially in batteries - the technology of the future - and in our global manufacturing and sales network."

Inside Brand World

As part of this growth, the company have announced that they are to build its own EC (electronically commutated) motor plant for professional battery-operated products in Waiblingen. This will be the first time the company has manufactured their own EC motors in-house, which they said will ensure that the motors are a better match for their products as a whole. The facility will initially focus on producing these components solely for the pro tools and is set to start in 2025. The total investment was said to amount to roughly 17 million euros.

The meeting this week also afforded the company the opportunity to show off to the gathered press their new Brand World - a three-story exhibition space measuring just over 1,500 square meters. The modern, interactive facility highlights both the company's history and the development of its products - as well on focusing on the power and importance of forests around the globe. It's an impressive facility that will be both open to public and used to bring groups of STIHL's dealers and guests together.

Demo of new professional battery-powered brushcutter

We will have some more information from the meeting including what was said regarding their global dealer network and new products launched, in the upcoming edition of Service Dealer magazine.

The Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) has announced the appointment of Claire Daly as its new members relation officer. 

Claire Daly

Claire, a native of Timahoe, County Laois, grew up on a dairy and beef farm where her family milks approximately 120 British Friesian cows, keeping all stock to finishing; the Dalys also conduct their own contracting services. 

A first class honours graduate of ATU Galway (formerly GMIT) where she studied a degree in Rural Enterprise and Agribusiness, Claire has also worked in another family business, Laois Upholstery, which was established by her mother Margaret.  

With a strong interest in machinery (representing Massey Ferguson on International Women’s Day in 2021), Claire gained practical experience at Mountbellew Agricultural College in County Galway, which is linked to ATU. And for her degree dissertation, Claire wrote about the succession of Irish farms based on gender. 

“When I was younger, I was always looking up in awe to the men drawing in silage and now to be drawing in myself, alongside my family, brings me a great sense of achievement,” she said. 

“I have participated in tractor runs for charity and I’ve been the only female driver so I am very proud to be setting new standards for young girls interested in driving tractors.” 

An enthusiastic sportswoman, Claire has been a member of the Timahoe Senior Football panel for the past eight years and is captain of the St Lazarians Camogie club in Abbeyleix, which was established in 2019. She’s also an active member of Portlaoise Badminton Club.  

Since joining the FTMTA team on June 1st, Claire has, among other duties, been busy helping out with the successful staging of the Farm Machinery Show which took place on July 5th and 6th at the Punchestown Event Centre. 

In the coming weeks she will start visiting FTMTA members, which will give Claire the opportunity to develop a better understanding of their businesses and the issues that are important to members. 

Claire can be contacted on 045 409309; 087 7009080 or email her at claire.daly@ftmta.ie

EMS (Embankment Machinery Sales), based in Naas in County Kildare, is showing several new products from Develon, formerly Doosan Construction Equipment, for the first time at the National Ploughing Championships, being held at Ratheniska in County Laois from 19-21 September 2023.

EMS is responsible for sales and service for the full range of Develon crawler and wheeled excavators from 14-100 tonne in Leinster, Munster and Connacht in Ireland. EMS is also the dealer in the same areas for the full range of Develon mini- and midi-excavators from 1 to 11 tonne.

The new products include the DX27-7 2.8 tonne and DX50Z-7 5.4 tonne mini-excavators, being shown alongside the brand new DX63-7 6 tonne and DX85R-7 8 tonne models. 

Now in its 92nd year, the National Ploughing Championships is the largest event of its type in the world.

Reesink’s purchasing, sales processing, service and training team have won Toro’s International Aftermarket Achievement Award for 2022. 

John Mooney, commercial products area Manager - UK, Ireland and Middle East at The Toro Company presents Reesink UK’s managing director Alastair Rowell and operations manager David Jackman, with the Toro 2022 International Aftermarket Achievement Award

This news follows the recent announcement that Reesink had won Toro's International Outstanding Sales Achievement prize.

Up against fellow Toro distributors, Reesink say they impressed on an international scale with its dedication to aftermarket care.

Michael Hampton, parts manager at Reesink Turfcare, said, “Winning this award puts into perspective all the hard work that goes into taking care of our customers beyond the initial purchase period. Part of what makes Toro machines so great are their long lifespans and helping customers to get the most out of their investments is always our aim.”

To achieve this award, distributors needed to have demonstrated superior parts business growth, which includes three main factors: exceeding parts sales goals, attaining high parts fill-rates, and successfully executing parts promotions. The distributor has to complete product reworks - repairing products in accordance with Toro’s inventory standards - in a timely manner and achieve excellence in service training too.

Michael continued, “It’s vital that our customers know the importance of using genuine parts in their machines so that they can run to the best of their ability. Part of this is educating them through our team’s expertise and promotions.

Lee Rowbotham, service manager at Reesink UK adds, “Our training courses and ReeAssure maintenance plans are also key components of our aftermarket offerings. In particular, the Turfcare Mechanics course has gone a long way to equip customers with the fundamentals they need to service and maintain their Toro machines, while the ReeAssure scheme provides customers with manufacturer’s routine maintenance and scheduled servicing, giving that extra peace of mind. I think that’s what sets Reesink apart, that extra bit of attention afforded to all of our customers even down the line.

"Being recognised for that and winning this award means a lot to Reesink and especially to our incredibly hardworking aftermarket team - it’s a real honour.”

Organisers of the Equip Exhibition trade show that takes place in Louisville, Kentucky from October 17 to 20, say this year's 40th Anniversary event will be better than ever.

Kris Kiser, President & CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), which owns Equip said, "If you don’t come this year, you’ll have missed something. Landscape contractor attendance is up by 39 percent over last year, which is a record, and dealer registration is up by 10 percent. This shows the relevance and importance of Expo."

Kris added, “With California now moving to full implementation of their combustion engine equipment ban, this year, look for extensive new offerings by manufacturers to comply with these new and upcoming regulations. Over 40 manufacturers are putting new products in the New Product Showcase.” 
 
Every year, Equip say they invest in and commits to making the user experience unique in response to the industry’s needs, demands and market changes. 
 
“It will be the same show you’ve always loved - just better,” Kris says. “This year, we’ve invested in an expanded UTV Track, will have our first-ever, stadium-sized, free concert at the Yum! Center, expanded education for our Hispanic industry members and more."

Some of the highlights this year include:

New education and training sessions to help landscape contractors and dealers make more money and grow. Sessions focus on topics like growing and managing your business for greater profits, hiring and retaining key employees, and new technology.  
 
Arena concert with Third Eye Blind. This free concert, open to all Expo registrants and their guests and friends, will be held on Thursday night, October 19, at the KFC Yum! Center. 
  
30-acre Outdoor Demo Yard. Equipment manufacturers show off the newest equipment and attendees can “try it before they buy it.” It’s a place to mow, mulch, cut, dig, drive, and test the latest outdoor power equipment in the industry. 
 
Expanded UTV Test Track. More than a dozen new UTVs from 10 manufacturers can be through their paces 
 
Inaugural Women’s Leadership Reception. More than 200 women in the industry are slated to attend the first-ever Women’s Reception on Thursday evening.
 
Tree climbing workshops.Climbing technique sessions on a live tree in Freedom Hall give an up close and personal look at better tree care. 
  
Keynote address. Hear polar explorer Ben Saunders share his journeys which include 12 major expeditions covering just over 4,500 miles (7,250km) on foot in the high Arctic, Greenland and Antarctica since 2001.