Today (12th April) I feel as if I have been released from prison, or rather released on bail. I am no longer confined to my 5km limit and can now travel within my county. This is one of the first stages of the relaxing of the Covid-19 restrictions. On April 26th golf courses and tennis clubs will be allowed to open their gates after being closed for over 5 months. This is much needed good news. Hopefully we will get back to living near normal lives. The timing is good as we are approaching the summer months. I do hope you are still in one piece. It has been very tough for some. For those of you who have been hampered by travel restrictions, make the most of your ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card.

I am amazed at how machinery technology has advanced in recent years. A few years ago I remember attending an open day that was organised by a well known machinery company. The company was introducing a new irrigation system that could be operated at any time of day from anywhere in the world using GPS technology. I was awe struck, as a greenkeeper, at not having to drive to the golf course on a hot Saturday evening to programme the watering schedule for the sprinklers around the greens, so that they would later pop up later that night. This new irrigation system meant that this could be done from home or even from the local pub if I wanted. I could even be on holidays in Spain and do it.  

The memories of that open day came back to me recently when I was reading about the development of robotic mowers. Today not only can groundsmen control their irrigation system from home but they can also programme a mower to start cutting the pitch from home. How amazing is that? However, I still believe that you should be on site, just in case something goes wrong. It is like being the successful company manager. He or she should be at the business premises to make sure that the company is running smoothly.

The advancement of all this technology, especially with electric vehicles and robotic mowers, comes from government pressure to try and reduce our carbon footprint - less fossil fuel burning and more green energy such as from solar and wind power. However, I still can’t get my head around the thought of a 100 horse power tractor, and bigger, being able to carry out farm duties such as ploughing a field or helping with collecting silage and using a battery as its source of energy. I’m sure that day will come. For now, every new electric mower purchased means less carbon emissions into our atmosphere. That has to be good news.  

Dealers are being trained to install robotic mowers on premises, especially in home gardens and I am very impressed at how quickly the installation can be done - all in less than a day. One of the things that we should be proud of, as dealers, is how good we are at keeping on top of new technological advancements. This will always be a challenge for us but is something we are well used to. 

Farmhand Ltd have announce that McMullan Agri have been appointed as main Krone and Amazone dealers.

L-R: Jonny McMullan; Laurence McMullan; Irwin McCook; Samuel Craig; Norman Knox, APS; Barbara McMullan; and David McMullan

"We are delighted to be partnering with Laurence, Norman and his team. They have proven that they can provide a first-class service in their area and with their experience and professionalism will be a great match for our brands,” commented sales director for Farmhand, Stephen Scrivener.

Laurence, md of McMullan Agri, said, “Krone and Amazone have always been brands we have admired. In our eyes, they are the best silage and tillage machinery that money can buy. We are looking forward to dealing with the farmers and contractors in our area and showing what these great brands of machinery have to offer."

Operating since 1962, Farmhand are the exclusive importers, for the Island of Ireland, of Krone, Amazone, Quicke, Zuidberg and APV.

Organisers, the DLG, have announced they are postponing the Agritechnica trade fair which was due to take place in November this year.

The new dates are from 27 February to 5 March 2022, in Hanover.

In a statement, the organisers said, "Because of the continuing Corona pandemic as well as the progress of vaccination programs, both in Germany and abroad, the DLG, VDMA Agricultural Machinery Association and Agritechnica’s exhibitor advisory board have concluded that insufficient certainty for planning currently exists for the world-leading exhibition in November.

"With the four-month postponement of the trade fair, the DLG, as organiser, as well as the members of the VDMA Agricultural Machinery Association, believe that the participating companies have the necessary certainty required for planning."

Massey Ferguson has announced it is to receive a Red Dot Award: Product Design 2021 for Product design, in the commercial vehicle category, for the MF 8 S Series of tractors.

An international jury selected the MF 8S from thousands of entries from more than 60 countries for the award.

“We are honoured the MF 8S has been chosen to receive this special award,” said Thierry Lhotte, vice president & managing director Massey Ferguson, Europe & Middle East. “With the MF 8S Series, we are defining a new era in tractor design, which the jury has distinguished with the Red Dot: Product Design 2021 Award.

“Developed for farmers by farmers, following seven years of thorough testing and extensive customer consultation, the MF 8S Series combines radical designs with a practical purpose. While equipped to a superb specification, it also introduces a completely new and enhanced user experience,” adds Mr Lhotte.

“The MF 8S launch was just the first milestone of our fully rejuvenated tractor range offensive. We are thrilled to have received such industry leading awards for the MF 8S together with farmers’ recognition through their choice for their new tractor. This is just the beginning. After the MF 8S and the MF 5S launches in 2020 we are now looking forward for new launches to come by the end of the year 2022, meeting farmers’ demand for straightforward and dependable smart and connected machines,” adds Francesco Murro, director marketing, Massey Ferguson Europe & Middle East.

Bobcat has announced that the company’s first new compact wheel loader (CWL) - the L85 model - is now in full production at their plant on the Dobris campus in the Czech Republic.

Jiri Karmazin, Loaders product manager at Bobcat

The first machine is heading to the Bobcat Institute on the campus, where it will be used to train Bobcat dealers and customers.

By entering the wheel loader category, Bobcat say they now have the largest loader portfolio of any manufacturer in the world. To meet demand, an additional fourth production line has been built at the company's plant in the Czech Republic. The capacity of the new production line is around 1000 machines per year and will be operated by 15 workers per shift. The overall new investment involved was worth over one million Euro.

Jiri Karmazin, Loaders product manager at Bobcat, said, “A product of the Bobcat Innovation Center on our Dobris campus, the L85 has been designed to set a new market-leading performance benchmark in this segment of the market. The L85 is built with proven components including the engine, structures, axles, electronics and hydraulics sourced either from Bobcat or our prestigious Tier 1 suppliers.

"Many components are already widely used in our market-leading compact loaders, mini-excavators and telehandlers, and the L85 undergoes the same final assembly and test procedures as these products."

Väderstad has announced that they have passed the milestone of producing 1000 of its high precision planter, Tempo L. 

Launched in 2017, the Tempo L hit the world farming headlines when it set a planting world record in Hungary the same year, planting 502ha of maize in 24 hours at a speed of over 20km/h. Väderstad say their patented PowerShoot technology enabled Tempo to deliver unparalleled precision, both in terms of the distance between every seed but also regarding the planting depth.

“The Tempo L has definitely pushed the limits regarding planting, capacity and precision,” says Väderstad senior vice president global sales and marketing, Mattias Hovnert. “Two months after the world record, Gödöllő University helped us analyse and measure 6808 plants on the world record fields. The results were clear, there were minimal deviations in planting depth precision, doubles and skips.”
 
Väderstad say they produce around 5500 machines in total annually. The Tempo L is currently available with 8-24 row units, and from June 2021 the new Tempo L 32 goes into production. It will be the biggest Tempo planter yet with 32 row units and an operating width of 12m.