The organisers of the EIMA International agricultural machinery exhibition announced this week they have shifted the 2021 edition to October 19th-23 at the Bologna exhibition centre.

Due to the pandemic the event had already been moved from November this year to new dates in February 2021.

This latest move though, now has the show ending just three weeks before the start another major European agricultural machinery show, Agritechnica, which takes place in Hanover, Germany from 14th to 20th November 2021.

The organisers of EIMA in an official statement said the decision was made to shift to October 2021 due to ".. availability of the Bologna exhibition centre, the seasonality of agricultural processing, but above all on the basis of the projections regarding the Covid 19 pandemic."

The shift to taking place just in front of Agritechnica has met with some criticism online.

“Trying to accommodate the three major biennial European farm machinery shows in the space of two years was already proving difficult for the respective organisers,” notes Martin Rickatson, Service Dealer’s agricultural machinery editor.

“Even before coronavirus, the decision of the SIMA organisers to move their show from February to November in odd years, to space it a year apart from Agritechnica, had caused issues with its proximity in the calendar to EIMA’s traditional slot. Now EIMA has been forced to move dates because of the virus, it clashes with Agritechnica rather than SIMA. That’s a bold move, given the German show’s dominant position in European - and even global - farm equipment exhibitions.

“But all exhibition organisers are having to commit to fixed dates at some point in the next year or so in order to begin trying to get exhibitors to sign up. It must be hard for all, given that they’re working to a theoretical idea of when the pandemic may be under control. Italy’s farm equipment manufacturing industry is a strong international player, and its domestic market is a significant one for global players. It will be interesting to see how makers choose to spread or focus their show commitments.”