It’s great to see the stretch in the evenings, now that we have moved our clocks forward.

The extra daylight hours means that temperatures are on the increase, allowing the grass to grow faster, resulting in regular lawn maintenance in our gardens, parks and sports pitches. This increased outside activity should also see an increase in footfall into our showrooms and workshops. While we may look forward to this increase in business, we should not get too complacent by taking our eye off the ball, especially when it comes to health and safety in the workplace. Having more customers arriving on our premises has the potential for increased risk and hazard to people. Make sure your public liability insurance is up to date.

Many of the dangers to your employees and customers can be minimised by providing regular training to your staff. In my own place of work I am very impressed with the training facilities that are provided by my employer. Some of them are compulsory, such as manual handling and first aid but there are lots more to choose from that are optional and mostly free. Courses available include Display Screen Equipment User Awareness; Interacting Effectively with Colleagues; Being an Effective Team Member; Handling Difficult Situations with your Customers; Managing Pressure and Stress, and many more. The vast majority of these courses can be done online and can be completed within 45 – 90 minutes. You don’t get an official qualification but you will benefit immensely by taking the time to do them.

As well as providing manual handling and first aid courses, one important item that tends to get overlooked is the company’s Safety Statement and the appointment of a safety officer. The Safety Statement should be revised annually as unforeseen accidents may have occurred during the year and measures to avoid it happening again should be listed in the Safety Statement. The safety officer should, ideally, be a member of staff. Their function is to ensure that safety procedures are adhered to, report any accidents and near misses that may have occurred and to update the safety statement accordingly so as to prevent similar incidents happening again. The Safety Statement should be available to all staff members at any time. It could, for example be left in the staff canteen.

There are many training providers around the country. Some of them will come to your premises to carry out the training, provided that there are enough participants to make it worthwhile for them to do so. If you are a business with low staff numbers it may suit you to just send one or two of your staff members at a time to the training centre.

I particularly liked doing the Interacting Effectively with Colleagues course. It is great for team building. There is nothing as bad as working in an environment where staff do not get on with each other. Low morale among staff can be contagious, which could lead to a situation where your customers even notice that there is something wrong. That is not a great place to be in. The mental health and morale of your staff is just as important as their physical well being.

I hope you enjoy the long days ahead and wish you a profitable, and hazard free, spring and summer season.

Nearly 230,000 'tractors' were registered across Europe in the full year 2021, according to numbers sourced from national authorities.

Of these registrations, just under 30% were of vehicles of 37kW (50 hp) and under and the remainder were 38kW and above. The European Agricultural Machinery Association (CEMA) considers that just under180,000 of these vehicles are agricultural tractors. The rest are made up of a variety of vehicles, which are sometimes classified as tractors, which includes quad bikes, side-by-sides, telehandlers or other equipment. 

Agricultural tractor registrations for the full year 2021 increased by around 17% in comparison with 2020. Even allowing for the fact that the market in 2020 was disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in the second quarter, this growth represents a significant improvement in market conditions. Indeed, the number of tractors registered was the highest recorded in comparable data, which date back over a decade. These strong results were achieved despite widespread disruption to global manufacturing supply chains and staff shortages due to high Covid-19 infection rates.

Agricultural machinery manufacturers underline that disruptions to the smooth running of their production activities have multiplied over the last few months. Across the board, the situation has been worsening since the summer of 2021. Even before the crisis in Ukraine, in the February 2022 CEMA Barometer, 51% of the responding manufacturers said they expected some production stoppages due to supplier side shortages in the next four weeks. The issue is even more widespread among manufacturers of tractors and harvesting equipment, with respectively 64% and 71% of respondents reporting that they expected production stoppages. The war in Ukraine has triggered even more supply bottlenecks, as already apparent by early March in the latest CEMA Barometer.

Watch Service Dealer gauge the thoughts of a selection of industry experts at the BTME exhibition in Harrogate recently, on how long they believe petrol engines have left in the turf industry.

At Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, presentation is everything. With breathtaking views out over Lough Leane and the undulating Killarney National Park beyond, players come from all over the world to experience the two, 18-hole Killeen and Mahony’s Point courses.

From left. Richard Charleton, turf strategic account manager at John Deere. Enda Murphy, golf course superintendent at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club. Mike Weldon from Seamus Weldon dealership, which supplied the new machines.

With rich heritage and high expectations, the greenkeeping team has to maintain the highest possible standards to satisfy the 500-plus golfers who could arrive to play at the complex during its busiest days of the year.

Enda Murphy is in charge of the 18-strong team responsible for presenting the course. He’s in his 30th year working at the club after joining as an apprentice from school.

Enda said, “We have a high level of play which creates compaction, wear and tear. Having lots of rain on a busy course is also a challenge but we have to keep golfers happy - we have strong competition from the other fantastic courses in Ireland.”

Last year Killarney’s members’ council - with the support of the membership - put pen to paper on a new fleet deal to replace its aging mowers and other course machinery.

“It came to a point last summer when greens mowers were breaking down on the morning of a competition, and the back-up machines were cutting tees because the tees mowers had broken,” Enda said.

“We were working on fairway mowers that were 10 or 15 years old and the repairs were starting to cost more than what the machines were worth, so a change was definitely needed.”

Enda and his team are familiar with a number of brands and researched prices and specifications as part of the purchasing process, but decided to stay loyal to John Deere as their mowers and utility vehicles had served the course well for a long time.

For cutting they purchased two new 7700A fairway mowers with rear roller power brushes, two 2750E hybrid greens mowers with tender conditioners and 14-blade reels, and two 2750PC mowers for tees and surrounds. The club also took a new 1570 front rotary mower with 72-inch deck and a 9009A for tackling the rough.

For full course maintenance the new fleet also included a 2030A with ARC HD200 sprayer, three TS Gators and a 4066R compact tractor.

“A big factor in the decision was that we have a dealer on the doorstep in Seamus Weldon so parts, sales and servicing is right here which is really convenient,” Enda said.

“They are good machines but if something goes wrong I can get a new part in 10 mins and get the machine back up and running in no time. That’s really important for us here on a busy course where we need to get the job done and be out of the way so golfers can enjoy their game.”

So far Enda says he is delighted with the new fleet - purchased using John Deere Finance - and so is his team.

Service Dealer heard from a selection of visitors and exhibitors at BTME recently, regarding their feelings on a return to real-life exhibitions.

Husqvarna Group's Sustainovate Progress Report is now available to download.

The manufacturer says Sustainovate is their way of combining sustainability with its innovation capability.

Henric Andersson, CEO and President of Husqvarna Group, said, "Sustainability is at the center and fully integrated into the Husqvarna Group strategy and business. Electrification encapsulates our ambition to lead the industry transition into low-carbon, resource-smart solutions. Through innovation, collaboration and driving the transition together with our customers we can really make a difference and contribute to the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5° C."

Growing the market for electrified products is what the company say is key for the Group’s aspiration to reduce absolute CO2 emissions. During the year the Group raised its ambitions for electrification to reach 67% of (motorised) sales within five years including double the sales of robotic mowers.

The company's Sustainovate 2025 project encompasses three main opportunities - Carbon, Circular and People. Some of the year's highlights:

Carbon: The group has achieved a -27% reduction in CO2 emissions since 2015 and stays committed to reducing another 8% over the next four years to reach the target of –35% by 2025. Two key battery solutions were launched, the CEORA professional robotic mower and K 1 PACE power cutter, marking the start of electrification in two professional segments.

Circular: The Group stays on track to achieve the target of launching 50 circular innovations before 2025. This year, the Group launched two circular innovations and nine are under consideration. EcoLine – Gardena Division’s range of garden tools made with recyclable material – received the German Sustainability Reward for sustainable products.

People: By 2025 the Group will have empowered 5 million customers and colleagues to make sustainable choices. This will be achieved through partnerships, learning from others and engaging in issues with an opportunity to affect change.

CNH Industrial has announced that it has opened a new engineering centre in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company says this facility will support the growth of their Raven precision agriculture technology business.

“Our industries are undergoing a significant tech transformation and CNH Industrial wants to attract a growing talent pool of engineers and digitally-focused professionals that will shape this future,” said Kevin Barr, chief human resources officer, CNH Industrial. “Our new Scottsdale hub will be an attractive, dynamic and innovative workplace where we will accelerate progress in the digital, automation and autonomous spaces.”

In addition to the new Scottsdale location, CNH Industrial also say they intend to invest in the expansion of Raven’s existing Innovation Campus in Baltic, South Dakota, located minutes away from its headquarters in Sioux Falls. These facility upgrades will provide more space and resources for engineering, testing and research. They say these investments in Scottsdale and Baltic will bolster their engineering talent base, support the demand for aftermarket solutions, and further Raven’s technology integration and advancements for the Case IH and New Holland Agriculture brand platforms.

These sites complement CNH Industrial’s current footprint in Arizona, which includes its nearby R&D facility in Casa Grande and proving grounds in Maricopa.

“Our integration with Raven is rapidly accelerating technology delivery to customers. It allows our engineering teams to efficiently go from ‘code to cab’ to develop and deploy new technologies. These sites combined with our existing activities will reinforce our commitment to have engineers work closely with our customers,” said Parag Garg, chief digital officer, CNH Industrial.