Last Monday (18th May) saw the re opening of golf courses, all be at a very limited capacity. But it is a start to getting back to near normal times for them. Garden centres also reopened last Monday, which saw a big influx of customers who were keen to stock up their gardens with bedding plants and shrubs.

Many of the domestic garden service dealers also saw their doors re-open after almost 2 months of non trading. It has been a hard time for them and I do hope that they can pick themselves up and salvage some lost business. Thankfully, the summer months are upon us, which should allow for some demand in garden mowers and equipment.

With people being allowed to meet up (a maximum of four people staying 2 metres apart), public parks and gardens will be popular venues for gatherings, especially in the fine weather that we have been having. Maintenance of these parks was carried out at a limited and basic level during the lockdown. Machines were not put to use as often as they would have been. With the re-opening of golf courses in particular, standards of maintenance will need to be stepped up, which should see the demand for grass cutting equipment increase. This should be good news for dealers and those businesses carrying out machinery repairs.

Reading the latest statistics on agricultural machinery sales it is hard to see a big demand in new equipment. According to the association of European (agricultural) machinery manufacturers – CEMA, they see the European agricultural industry remaining deeply negative due to the impact of Covid-19 being keenly felt. CEMA’s most recent monthly ‘Business Barometer’ survey found that those businesses who participated saw production capacity around Europe at only three quarters of what it was before the coronavirus took its toll. However, on a brighter note, the survey found that order volumes are at a relatively good level, due to a higher order intake before the pandemic hit.

With regard to the Irish tractor scene, figures issued by the Farm Tractor and Machinery Association (FTMTA) found that tractor registrations (including other self-propelled machinery) was 43% less in April 2020 compared to April 2019.

The above figures make for grim reading and one would think will we ever get back to ‘normal’ times? The future will be a lot different to what we have been used to and a lot of adapting will be needed. This will include the changing of business strategies. Barry Drennan of Golfhire.ie is an example of one such business who has already adapted. He has an interesting article in this edition of Service Dealer Ireland on how he has gone from selling equipment to hiring it out instead.

One of the saddest things as a result of Covid-19 is the canceling of the agricultural and horticultural shows, particularly our National Ploughing Championships. This is one of the great events of the year and attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. The ploughing matches, however will be going ahead behind closed gates but the trade exhibitions will not be happening. These shows provided opportunities for dealers and distributors to showcase their machines and have proved to be an added attraction to the shows. It is hard to imagine a summer without these events taking place.

Had someone told me last summer that no shows would take place a year later I would have laughed at them. What a difference a year makes.