I heard, with surprise, that the French agricultural machinery show, SIMA 2024, has been cancelled. SIMA is regarded as the second largest trade show of agricultural machinery in Europe, AGRITECHNICA, which is held in Germany, being the largest. 

EXPOSIMA – the organiser of the SIMA trade show gave many reasons for the cancellation. The wake of the COVID-19 crisis; the war in Ukraine; and raw material and energy price volatility being the main ones.

The show was due to take place at the end of this year from 24 to 27 November. It alternates with AGRITECHNICA, which took place last November. SIMA attracts nearly 200,000 visitors and 1,000 exhibitors and the cancellation has come as a major shock to the industry. Is this a warning shot for future shows and, perhaps even more, is it a warning of the economic outlook for the agricultural machinery industry?

As well as the above mentioned reasons for SIMA not going ahead there are other factors at play. The economic outlook for farmers is not good. They are faced with new regulations, pressure to meet future environmental requirements, and the profitability of their agricultural operations. One only has to listen to the media and see the frustration they are under. This has led farmers to protest on the streets in Ireland and right across Europe. 

It is because of all these factors that demand for agricultural machinery has been falling over the past twelve months and is expected to continue in 2024. The European Agricultural Machinery Association, CEMA, recently published their business barometer for February. It showed another continuous fall in demand. If our customers profits are falling then this has a knock-on effect on our own business.

With all this going on in it is probably of no surprise that major exhibitors decided to withdraw from SIMA 2024. A press release from EXPOSIMA said "The farming environment is worsening in 2024, with forecasts of a substantial drop in the agricultural equipment market.” Will future shows be forced to cancel? The last time that trade shows had to cancel was during the COVID-19 crisis. However, these were forced cancellations, due to government restrictions, and were out of the organisers’ control.

Cancelling a show because of the economic climate, especially within the agricultural sector is worrying. Organisers rely on key players to support their shows. Here in Ireland, the FTMTA intend holding their show from 12 to 14 November this year. At the moment there is nothing to suggest otherwise. I also expect that the BTME and LAMMA shows in the UK will also go ahead in early 2025.

The downturn doesn’t seem to be as bad in Ireland. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 2,310 new tractors were registered in Ireland in 2023. Even though it is 58 units less when compared to 2022 (down 2.5%), compared to Europe we have fared a lot better. However, the 2023 figures are down 7.3% on the 2021 figures when 2,491 new tractors were registered. 

On the optimistic side, EXPOSIMA say that SIMA will return in November 2026. I do hope that this will be the case.

New Holland has announced the winners of its 2023 UK and ROI Dealer of The Year Awards, which celebrate excellence in performance and service quality across its UK and Ireland dealer network.  

The Republic of Ireland awards meeting and dinner was held at the Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort, Co. Kildare where David Rapkins presented the awards - where M & S Machinery took the top prize for Ireland.

The UK awards were announced at the Dealer Kick Off Meeting which was held at the Basildon plant followed by an evening dinner at Stock Brook Manor Golf & Country Club. The awards were presented by Sean Lennon, vice president New Holland Europe and David Rapkins, New Holland business director UK & ROI. 

Main category winners:

Ireland Dealer of the Year: M & S Machinery

Overall, UK Dealer of the Year: Russells Ltd
Medium UK Dealer of the Year: Francis Bugler Ltd
Small UK Dealer of the Year: T Alun Jones & Son  

Product Line Category Winners:

Combine Dealer of the Year: Robert D Webster Ltd
Tractor Dealer of the Year: Lloyd Ltd
Hay & Forage Dealer of the Year: Lloyd Ltd
PLM Dealer of the Year: Agricar Ltd
Implements Dealer of the Year: Agricar Ltd
Construction Equipment Dealer of the Year: M & S Machinery
Telehandler Dealer of the Year: Ernest Doe & Sons Ltd
Parts Dealer of the Year: T H White Ltd
NPS Dealer of the Year: Ernest Doe & Sons Ltd

David Rapkins,said, “I would like to express my congratulations to all the 2023 New Holland Dealer of the Year winners. These awards acknowledge and reward the performance and effort that our dealers put into the service they provide to our customers. A big thank you to all our UK and ROI dealers who have contributed to make 2023 a great year. We truly appreciate your hard work and excellent teamwork across the dealer network”.

The removal of both agricultural mechanics and HGV mechanics from the State’s Ineligible List of Occupations (ILO) has been welcomed by the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA), the industry’s all-island trade body.   

Michael Farrelly, the executive director of the FTMTA

Over the past 18 months, the FTMTA has “been working hard to address the current shortfall of suitably qualified technicians in our industry,” according to Michael Farrelly, the Association’s executive director.

“We took a multi-faceted approach to this issue, having engaged with the various training bodies and within the industry itself to try and raise our industry’s profile while also drawing attention to the opportunities that a career as an agricultural technician can yield,” he said. 

A second element to the FTMTA’s campaign - to tackle the immediate shortage of technicians within the industry - was to examine how to source technicians from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). 

However, this approach had previously been stymied due to the presence of mechanics on the Department of Enterprise Trade & Employment’s ILO, which meant such professionals were ineligible for General Employment Permits (GEP).

Said Mr Farrelly: “With this in mind, the FTMTA undertook an extensive lobbying campaign to have both agricultural mechanics and HGV mechanics removed from the ILO. This campaign was strongly supported by our Executive Council members who carried out extensive lobbying of elected representatives in their local areas. As part of  this strategy, we made a public consultation submission to the Interdepartmental Group (IDG) as part of a review of the occupations’ list last August.  

“The IDG subsequently recommended that both professions should be removed from the ILO. This welcome development means that mechanics from outside the EEA can apply for employment under a general work permit and should help to make an impact on the shortage of technicians in our industry.” 

Michael Farrelly concluded: “We will continue to engage with the Government, Solas, education bodies and industry partners to raise awareness about the opportunities available within our industry and to promote the career paths that are open to qualified agricultural mechanics.” 

According to the Department, the ILO is organised via the Standard Occupational Classification system (SOC 2010) which “classifies workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data”. The updated list came into effect on December 20th last. 

For information on General Work Permits, visit https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/workplace-and-skills/employment-permits/permit-types/general-employment-permit/

Husqvarna have released their full year financial report from January - December 2023.

Pavel Hajman, Husqvarna CEO

Pavel Hajman, the company's CEO said, “During the year we continued to deliver on our strategy, reinforced our positions in key segments as well as achieving an improved operating margin and a strong cash flow.”

However, the company sais the fourth quarter was characterised by a continuous challenging market situation with lower demand. Group net sales declined by 15% organically.

In the Husqvarna Forest & Garden Division, sales of professional robotic mowers and battery-powered products were strong. However, sales of petrol-powered wheeled products decreased significantly due to lower demand. Husqvarna say they are proactively exiting parts of this segment.

The Gardena Division delivered good growth in Europe, driven by the watering category, but sales in Orbit in North America declined. In the Husqvarna Construction Division, the performance was solid in emerging markets, however they experienced weaker development in Europe and in North America in the fourth quarter. There was an improved operating income and operating margin, excluding items affecting comparability, for both the Gardena and Construction divisions driven by solid execution of cost savings as well as operational efficiency measures.

For the full-year, Group net sales declined by 1%. The operating margin, excluding items affecting comparability, increased to 9.3%. This was driven by their cost savings program, as well as contribution from price increases and lower costs for logistics. Husqvarna improved the operating margin for all three divisions. 

Pavel Hajman went on to say, “As part of our transformational journey, we are focusing on growing in the areas of robotic mowers, battery-powered products, watering and solutions for the professional market. During the year, we progressed on our operational ambitions, increasing sales of robotic mowers, our share of electrified solutions expanded to some 42% of our motorised products sales, and the number of connected devices rose to 4.5m. With an increased focus and new innovations, we have strengthened our market positions in these segments compared to the previous year. These product segments have a high future growth potential and now account for a larger share of our net sales.

"The electrification ambition is the major driver to consistently reduce our carbon footprint. To date, we have reduced CO₂ emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3) by -44% compared with the base year of 2015. At present, we have thus exceeded our target of a -35% reduction by 2025. Our commitment to reducing CO₂ emission is continuing, including our exploration of products using alternative fuels.”

Following its Tractor of the Year 2024 and Farm Machine 2024 (Large Tractor Category) awards at Agritechnica, followed by an AE50 award in the United States, Claas's Xerion 12 Terra Trac has also recently been awarded the Grand Prix in the International Product Development category at the AGROmashEXPO in Hungary. 

The Claas team with the latest award

“It is absolutely extraordinary to receive four awards for a new product in such a short period space of time,” said Dr. Martin von Hoyningen-Huene, chief technology officer at Claas Group and responsible for the Tractors and Implements division. “Thanks to its unique features, the large tractor sets benchmarks in many ways that help our customers work even more productively and efficiently while reducing the burden on the driver and the environment.“

The new Xerion 12 series is positioned above the 4200, 4500 and 5000 models. After what the company describes as a successful start of production at the main plant in Harsewinkel, an initially limited number of machines will be built this year and marketed in the core target markets. It will be introduced in other sales regions at the same time. 

"There is great interest in the new series,” explained Steffan Kurtz, global product team Large Tractor. “After all, the Xerion 12 series not only offers the most powerful four-wheel tractors with continuously variable transmissions on the market, but also sets new standards in this segment in terms of efficiency and comfort.”

New Holland used the recent Show Rural Coopavel in Cascavel, Paranà, Brasil, to unveil new solutions developed by their Dealer Technical & Customer Training team, that utilise virtual reality headsets and the metaverse platform to train dealers and others, who are able to connect from different locations and can learn without needing to be physically with the machine in the field.

The New Holland stand at 2024 Show Rural Coopavel in Brazil

The manufacturer says the metaverse solution takes advantage of the virtual immersive environment to connect an instructor with multiple students, wherever they are. They are able to simultaneously perform the same task or be guided by an instructor remotely throughout the entire operation process, in a collaborative learning mode. In virtual reality mode, training is individual, while self-learning mode means following the same metaverse line but without the interaction of one or more people during the activity.

The manufacturer says the advantages of this new solutions are multiple. Training can be done in a safe environment to teach the first operating steps even to inexperienced users. It gives complete teaching flexibility - with the metaverse, students and instructors connect from different locations to learn and teach without the need to be with the physical product or in the operating field.

Currently, this training mode is available on the company's CR EVO 7.90 combine harvester, where it is possible to carry out the complete harvesting operation, take a tour around the machine for full product recognition, climb into the cabin and carry out all operating commands. The operator can harvest a soybean field, practicing the headland manoeuvre at the headland and unloading the grain into a truck.

Additional training is available for the Defensor 2500 Sprayer. Here the technology allows the user to tour around the product and interact with the main components and features, completely operating and spraying with all cabin controls.

Job Title: Business Development Manager    
Location: Ireland    
Salary: Up to €50,000 + Company Vehicle + Bonus + Great Benefits

The Company:

Kress are an ambitious state of the art innovative business that out classes its competitors, they believe progress and sustainability are not incompatible to each other. Part of a cash rich global company with a turnover of $700million+, they’ve seen in excess of 10% growth year on year for the last 4 years – that’s something to shout about.

Unlike many other businesses they are more versatile, focussed and ambitious.  They understand the needs of their consumers and customers and manage all aspects of the supply chain to provide profitable solutions.

The Opportunity:

In this role you will be responsible for developing and driving sales with a variety of innovative new Kress products through the Specialist Independent dealers. You will have the ability to continuously identify and explore new opportunities, as well as implement annual promotional plans for all ranges.

This is a high-profile role with your principle focus in growing profitable sales in this channel. Some accounts need to be established and will require careful and persistent development to realise their full potential. Working with all decision makers within the buying process the job holder will need to understand the needs of the business. Focussing on negotiating all trading terms you will have complete insight to your company’s operations in order to create profitable win-win proposals.

You: 

• Have genuine interest in Garden Tools that are state of the art
• Have some previous experience selling and influencing within the independent market (preferred but not essential)
• Self-motivated with the ability to go and win new business
• Demonstrable evidence of good gravitas, creativity and commercial organisation skills.
• Strong negotiation, relationship development and influencing skills to drive commercial success.
• Ability to work under pressure. 

If you wish to apply for this role please contact Harry at harryj@veritaspartners.co.uk at Veritas Partners at  or 01189034914.

Not right for you?  We’d still like to speak with you about other sales, marketing or category management opportunities, so please do send an up-to-date copy of your CV in word format and we will call you.  

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