First up, you may have already read today that Service Dealer Annual Conference and Awards will take place in a new venue this year. It will be held on Thursday 30 November 2023 at the Crown Plaza, Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK. You should keep this date in your diary.

The Service Dealer Conference and Awards is always a popular event for dealers and distributors around the UK and Ireland. It brings people from our industry together where notes and experiences are shared as well as meeting friends and colleagues within our sector. The highlight of the day will be the gala Dealer Of The Year Awards dinner where dealers are recognised for their contribution to the industry. 

For those travelling from Ireland it is a good idea to book those flights early. If you leave it to the last minute, the flight costs could become more expensive.  

More details about the conference, including the speaker line-up and how to book, will be announced very shortly. 

Tractor registrations

CEMA recently released figures for agricultural tractor registrations for 2022. According to CEMA 165,000 tractors were registered across Europe. This is 8.7% less than 2021. However, 2021 was the best year for European tractor registrations for a number of years. Despite it being lower than last year, 2022 was the highest since 2017. Ireland had 3331 registrations in 2022, of which 64% were agricultural tractors. This is a decrease of 4.2% on last year’s total.

The number of tractors registered in Europe during 2022 would have probably been even higher were it not for the continuing disruption to global supply chains. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has not helped the bottlenecks in the supply of raw materials and components to manufacturers. 

Concerns still remain with continuing production delays. These disruptions are causing longer than normal delays to delivery lead times for tractors. At the start of this year, companies’ order books still had over six months of a waiting list. Before the pandemic this was between two and three months. Stock levels held by dealers are also lower than normal in most European countries.

Despite these delays, demand for tractors and agricultural equipment is still steady across Europe. This has been helped by the higher prices in agricultural commodities such as wheat and dairy, which benefits the incomes of farmers. Having said that, only last week some of the larger supermarket chains are reducing their milk prices, which doesn’t help dairy farmers. However, with fuel prices steadily dropping, this should also leave more disposable income for farmers.
 
As we enter the busy time of year when tractors and machinery are in full swing and lawns are back to regular summer mowing, now is a good time to remind our customers about the importance of operating equipment safely. 26 work related deaths were recorded in 2022 of which farming accounted for 12 fatalities. Let’s have a safe summer.

Service Dealer has revealed a new venue for the annual Conference and Awards.

This year's event will be taking place at the Crowne Plaza, Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK.

Also a Save The Date has been issued. 30th November 2023 is the day to mark up in your diaries.

Service Dealer and Service Dealer Ireland owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke said, "We strive to improve the event year on year and I am really happy with the way this year is shaping up. We'll be sharing further, exciting details of our 2023 event soon . . so watch this space!"

John Deere will hold an open day at its Apprentice Training Centre this May in a bid to recruit the next generation of technicians to work across its agriculture, turf and parts business.

The company says their apprenticeship programme has been running for more than 30 years, helping more than 1,200 apprentices qualify through on-the-job practical learning alongside classroom studies.

The Training Centre at Upper Saxondale, near Nottingham, UK opened last year, providing state-of-the-art facilities where apprentices complete their two or three-year course while simultaneously working within the John Deere dealership network. 

“It’s a really exciting time to be part of the agricultural and turfcare industries,” says Allan Cochran, John Deere branch training manager.

“It’s a highly technical and innovative sector, which means our apprentices get to work with some of the most advanced pieces of kit in the world.

“It’s not just servicing and fixing tractors. If you want to earn while you learn and be part of a huge, global brand with a reputation for ground-breaking innovations, then a John Deere apprenticeship could be the perfect start to your career.”   

John Deere and the scheme’s training provider, ProVQ, will provide a tour of the training centre on Wednesday 3 May and Thursday 4 May, offering those interested in becoming apprentices the chance to meet the instructors, see the facilities, learn about the John Deere brand, and hear how their careers can grow with the company.

Sessions will last up to two hours and will outline what the manufacturer can offer a prospective apprentice, the journey through the Ag Tech, Turf Tech or Parts Tech programmes, plus the John Deere career path once certified.

“This is a unique opportunity to view the learning facilities on offer and talk to those who know all about the programmes,” says Allan.

The three John Deere apprenticeship programmes include Ag Tech - focusing on agricultural machinery, Turf Tech - focusing on professional turf equipment, and Parts Tech - focusing on parts service and support.

The events are free to attend but you must pre-book a session as places are limited. 

Husqvarna Group have announced they are one of the winners in Symbiosis - an award that honours Swedish companies that combine responsibility with profitable growth.  

The manufacturer says the prestigious award is presented to companies that are able to achieve both profitability and consideration for the well-being of people and the planet. Alongside Tradera and Trangia, Husqvarna Group say they were celebrated ". .  for innovative solutions and an ability to clear the path toward responsible value creation."

The organisers of the Symbiosis Award say it is a reminder that businesses can have a positive impact on society and that it is possible to create real change while still achieving profitability - long-term solutions that make the world a better place.

On April 13th New Holland was a guest at Farm of the Future: Net Zero in Practice, a first-of-its-kind event dedicated to farmers, hosted by The Royal Agricultural Society of England and held at Harper Adams University.

The purpose of the event was to bring to life the Royal Agricultural Society of England’s 2022 Farm of the Future report, exploring, and understanding the farm level changes needed to undertake the challenge of Net Zero by 2040.

Mark Howell, New Holland Agriculture alternative energies global product manager, spoke to the delegates participating in the event, explaining the experience developed inside the plant at Basildon, which is a Centre of Excellence for alternative fuels.

The T6.180 methane power tractor with the recently updated Dynamic Command transmission - which is still the only methane fuelled tractor on the market - was displayed at the event, with participants having the opportunity to take it for a test drive.

New Holland and Bennamann contributed to the event giving an insight to carbon reduction on farms, with real solutions and products already available on the market.

Mark Howell said: “Having completed my engineering degree at Harper Adam's I'm personally pleased to be back here and to have the opportunity to share how New Holland is contributing to the objective of a carbon neutral future in agriculture. It’s an honour to bring the T6.180 methane tractor and represent the teams who have worked on this product, which we believe is a real gamechanger in the sector."

Inside Agri-Turf podcast is celebrating the publication of its 100th episode.

The podcast, aimed at those engaged in land-based engineering, was launched by Chris Biddle in July 2020. It has examined many of the important issues for those working in the agricultural and turfcare machinery industry including recruitment, well-being, succession, training and education, dealer profitability, new technology, environment and much more.

After a lifetime in the industry, Chris founded Service Dealer magazine in 1988 which he subsequently sold to Duncan Murray-Clarke’s Land Power Publications. He also edited Landwards, the professional journal of the Institute of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) for 12 years until 2020 and launched the podcast during lockdown.

The podcast is produced from his home studio in Salisbury, is independent and carries no advertising or sponsorship.

The 100th episode, published on 27 April 2023 features the remarkable career of Keith Christian, the recently retired Director of BAGMA (British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association). Keith started his working life in banking but soon ‘found’ the grass machinery industry working for a dealership (H Burlingham) and two suppliers (Spear and Jackson and Claymore Grass Machinery) before joining BAGMA in 2007. 

Keith has the unique experience of being President of the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) representing UK manufacturers and importers and heading the dealers’ trade association (BAGMA).

At the time of his retirement on 31 March 2023, Keith’s career had come full circle as AEA bought BAGMA in 2021. He was the winner of Service Dealer’s Outstanding Industry Contribution Award in 2022.

Keith describes retirement at the moment as like ‘being on holiday’ giving time for him to enjoy his newly acquired caravan with wife Katie, motorcycling and playing ‘vets’ rugby.