By now, most of the agricultural and sportsturf machinery manufacturing companies have announced their end of year results. The vast majority of them have reported good results for 2021, showing profits from strong demand and increased sales.

When you read more carefully into the reports the words used are very interesting. Not only do they show the performance over the previous twelve months, but they also give an outlook for the year ahead. This is where the use of carefully chosen words is important. You may read CEO’s saying “The year ahead looks promising but challenges remain” or “We managed a profit during this difficult year and hope to continue this for 2022”.

Markets will react either positively or negatively to such comments. The critical number in the report is the earnings per share figure (EPS). Will it be ahead or behind of forecasts? Back in the old days it would take stockbrokers some time to sift through the long pages of company annual reports before the markets react. Now they are analysed electronically in a split second, with the software instantly picking out the EPS figure and words in the reports such as ‘we remain hopeful’ ‘disappointed’ or ‘exceeded expectations’. As an exercise it is worth looking at the live graph of a company share price on a stock exchange a few minutes before the company announces its results. The second the results are released you will see a sudden upswing or downswing in the share price. Some of the bigger companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google (collectively known as the FANG companies) announce their results after market hours to avoid such huge share price swings.

I have seen this year’s end of year results of companies in our own industry and they are almost consistent with each other. Profits and sales are up, which is great, but the big concern among them, at the moment, is the affect of component shortages. This is a great unknown for 2022. Other concerns include the price increase of raw materials such as steel; the extra cost of transport brought about by the huge surge in oil prices; the global supply chain of items such as semiconductors. These are all still a concern.

According to the European Agricultural Machinery Association (CEMA) their Business Barometer report for February says that more than half of the companies participating in the survey expect a production stop due to the shortage of certain parts in the coming months. It goes on to report “Even more critical appears the situation for combine harvester and tractor manufacturers, where again two out of three are forced to temporarily stop production in the coming four weeks”. You can visit cema-agri.org to get more details on this. 

There are a lot of ifs and buts that lie ahead but demand for tractors and equipment is still very strong with some companies reporting order books at record levels. If the supply chain issue can be soon addressed then 2022 should be a good year for our industry.

The farm machinery dealer network in County Wexford and around Ireland were saddened to hear of the recent death of Seamus Barron. Seamus passed away on the 7th of February last surrounded by his loving family. 

Seamus Barron

In his early career Seamus gained experience in the tractor dealership while working at Byrnes of Ballinaboola, County Wexford. In 1983 Seamus took the plunge of going on his own and set up Barron Machinery. Initially, the company provided used tractors until it eventually grew into a substantial franchise dealer of big brands such as Major Machinery, Kuhn, Mccormick, Stoll, Vicon, Rauch fertiliser spreaders and Quicke loaders.

Since then, Barron Machinery in Rathnure, Enniscorthy has been part of the farming landscape throughout County Wexford. In 2015, Seamus’ son Barry took over the family business.

Not only will the farm machinery industry mourn his death but Seamus will also be remembered among the general public as an accomplished sportsman, especially within GAA circles. He was an active and exceptional member of his home club, Rathnure St Anne’s GAA club. His outstanding hurling skills brought him to inter county level. In his early playing days he won Minor, Under-21 and Senior All-Ireland hurling titles with Wexford in the 1960s, not counting his numerous Leinster titles. After his playing days Seamus stayed active within the GAA. He was a selector on the backroom team, which helped Wexford win a long awaited All-Ireland senior hurling title in 1996.

Seamus will be sadly missed by his colleagues, friends and family, particularly by his loving wife Ann, children Barry, Shane and Mairead. May he Rest in Peace. 

Hogs Head Golf Club, based in Waterville, County Kerry say they have used Jacobsen mowers to deliver the highest quality for their members (the Hogs) since construction began in 2015. 

The course, which overlooks Ballinskelligs Bay was the first in Ireland to be designed by Robert Trent Jones II and is the vision of owners Bryan Marsal and Tony Alvarez II. 

Their aim was to create a premier golf destination in County Kerry that focused on delivering an experience that matched that of their membership's day to day clubs such as US Open host, Winged Foot Golf Club. Making Hogs Head a home away from home for the Hogs starts with the quality of the course, and to meet and exceed expectations, they enlisted the expertise of Waterville local David Daly as superintendent. 

David and his team maintain the 7,140-yard par-72 course for the enthusiastic membership, and since day one, say the quality of cut from the Jacobsen reels and customer service from Broderick Grass Machinery has contributed to the success of the links. 

"We set up our relationship with Jacobsen and Textron back in 2015/16 when we were putting an equipment deal for the course together," David explains. "We obviously looked at all the different options, but we built up a good relationship with our neighbours here in Waterville, who had a lot of Jacobsen equipment and were very happy with it.

"Our biggest thing where we are in South-West Ireland, way, way down the bottom corner of the country, is back-up, and Broderick assured us we would get the best service, and they have delivered that.

"From there, doing my research and talking to Mike Murphy at Waterville and other course managers, they only had good things to say about the equipment, the quality of cut and the whole experience. So with that, we went with Jacobsen, and the relationship has been brilliant for the last five or six years.

"Obviously, we're quiet at the moment with lockdown, but during the season, when we're busy, it's very important. I can't have machinery down, it's very important that those machines are rolling whenever I need them, and Broderick do a great job making sure that happens." 

STIHL has acquired almost a quarter of the Danish robot company TinyMobileRobots.

In an official statement the two companies said that STIHL’s robotic lawn mowers share a strong technical kinship with the line marking robots produced by TinyMobileRobots, intended for use in sports fields and road construction.

The statement continued that during the last couple of years, STIHL Group has been following TinyMobileRobots closely as the company has grown 100 percent per year. Therefore, the corporate venture arm of the STIHL Group, STIHL Digital, has now acquired 23.8% of TinyMobileRobots, thus buying out the company’s former venture capital company Borean Innovation.

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Jens Peder Kristensen, founder and CEO of TinyMobileRobots said, “We have been looking for a strong partner who can support our continued growth. Having STIHL as a partner is nothing short of a dream come true. Right from the outset, we will also benefit greatly from STIHL’s world-wide network of dealers. While maintaining our status as an independent company, we can draw on STIHL’s huge market experience to accelerate our growth further. To put it mildly, I’m very, very happy with this new development."

Benjamin Junghans, director of STIHL Digital added, "We have been in close contact with TinyMobileRobots for more than two years, and steadily, we have become more and more impressed with their growth rates and performance. So as the chance to acquire nearly a quarter of the company arose, we were quick to strike a deal. We feel convinced that our future collective efforts will lead to an even greater share of TinyMobileRobots’ fast growing and innovation driven market."

After investing more than 20 years of research and development, Toro have announced it has started field testing of its GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower.

The technology was previewed at the recent 2022 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in San Diego.

The manufacturer says the autonomous mower aims to alleviate the issues of labour shortages and budget constraints experienced by customers in the golf industry. They believe greenkeepers will be able to increase productivity and get more consistent results.

During the initial placement period in 2022, Toro say they will work with selected sites to test the technology. The test units will be closely monitored to better understand the operational benefits realised by golf customers, and Toro will believe they will gain valuable insight as the technology is optimised.

“As technology continues to evolve, the future of Toro’s autonomous product offerings is limitless,” Toro product marketing manager Josh Kravik said. “Our initial placement activities in 2022 will help us identify applications in which today’s technology can perform to the levels expected by our customers and where further development and additional capabilities are required.”

The Grounds Management Association (GMA) have revealed that almost 90% of SALTEX 2022 stand space has been sold. 

The Assoication says they believe early indications for SALTEX 2022, which takes place on 2 and 3 November at the NEC, Birmingham, are positive after what they described as a "hugely successful loyalty period."

Over 100 exhibitors have re-booked for November and according to the GMA many more continue to confirm their presence during the current discounted early-bird period which ends today (18th February). 

In 2021, the GMA say 93% of exhibitors generated new sales leads with many taking direct orders on the show floor. The 2022 floorplan already boasts a strong showing of renowned exhibitors.

Furthermore, 15% of 2021 exhibitors have also purchased extra stand space for SALTEX 2022.

Geoff Webb, GMA CEO, commented on the positive start, saying, “SALTEX continues to grow, and the sales team are receiving new enquiries every week alongside existing exhibitors investing in bigger and additional stands.

“We are also delighted to be welcoming back previous exhibitors who were unable to join us in 2021. There is extremely high demand at this period in the sales cycle taking us back to pre-pandemic levels.”

EGO have announced that customers in Europe buying their battery-powered outdoor power equipment will now be contributing to a global environmental initiative.

The manufacturer is partnering with the Eden Reforestation Project charity to plant as many trees as possible throughout the year. For every EGO product purchased in Europe, Eden will plant a tree in its global restoration network, spanning regions such as Latin America, Africa, and South-East Asia.

This initiative covers the purchase of all products in the EGO Power Plus range, including battery-powered brush cutters, mowers, leaf blowers, and chainsaws and in addition, Eden will plant a tree for each tool that is registered for extended warranty.

Steve Roskell, director of marketing (EMEA) at EGO, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with such an incredible charity. Our investment in reforestation and sustainable job creation demonstrates the depth of our commitment to fighting climate change. We believe that being a responsible, ethical company means going beyond selling greener products. We all have a duty to leave this world in a healthy and secure state for future generations.”

The Eden Reforestation Project does more than just plant trees - it is also creating livelihoods for thousands of people currently living in extreme poverty by empowering them to restore and protect forests on a massive scale. This helps reverse climate change, global deforestation, habitat loss for endangered species, and extreme poverty.

EGO’s partnership with the charity builds on the Challenge 2025 initiative launched by themselves in 2020. This campaign, say the company, aims to " . .educate and empower people to make batteries the principal power source for outdoor power equipment, leading to significant reductions in emissions and noise, whilst increasing tool safety." 

Steve added, “The COP26 climate conference made crystal clear the task that lies ahead of us if we are to keep global temperature rises to within safe levels. Research undertaken through our Challenge 2025 initiative shows the positive impact that switching to battery-powered outdoor equipment can have on both greenhouse gas emissions and air quality.

“Our new partnership with Eden Reforestation Project builds on the success of Challenge 2025. We will now also be helping to create new forests and new economic opportunities in some of the world’s poorest regions.”

Kubota and their partner Tevel have received the DLG Agrifuture Concept Winner 2022 award for their jointly developed automated fruit picking system.

The harvester unit can operate several wired drones for the picking process

The award was handed out by the German agricultural society, DLG - Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft - during a recent online session. 

Kubota and Tevel say they teamed up to address the challenge of labour shortages in fruit harvesting by developing an automated fruit picking system, offering a solution for any farm size through its modular approach. They say the modular concept of wired fruit-picking drones and flexible logistics allows " . .various configurations for individual farm requirements and enables full compatibility with established harvesting methods". 

President and representative director of Kubota Corporation Mr Yuichi Kitao, said, “Our vision for 2030 is to be an 'Essentials Innovator for Supporting Life'. This DLG Agrifuture Concept Winner 2022 award is an encouragement to continue our investments in sustainable innovations in the fields of food, water, and the environment, looking ahead to the post-Covid-19 society.” 

One possible configuration is the harvester swarm with small and lightweight picking units combined with different logistics solutions

Peter van der Vlugt, general manager of Kubota’s Innovation Centre in Europe, added, “We are particularly proud of our collaboration with Tevel. We partnered with one of the most advanced technology companies in fruit picking. Kubota is committed to help solve fruit growers’ problems in providing security for harvesting timing and quality and to deal with the increasing labour issues that growers are facing nowadays."