The long-awaited FTMTA Farm Machinery Show is finally here. The farm machinery highlight of 2017 is running at Punchestown Racecourse from Thursday to Saturday, 9 to 11 February. The show opens at 10am each day and closes at 6pm on Thursday and Friday with a closing time of 5pm on Saturday. It is now too late to purchase tickets online but tickets on admission are available at €20 each, with children of 12 years and under – who must be accompanied by an adult – admitted free of charge. To cater for younger visitors, an indoor supervised play area with a variety of attractions will be available free of charge on Saturday only and can be accessed from the covered walkway linking Pavilion 4 to the restaurant in the racecourse buildings.

The Future of Farming, looking at the application of new technology in farming and the costs and benefits for farmers, is sure to be a popular area and will feature demonstrations and discussions on a range of innovations. The discussion forums will take place at 11am and 3pm each day and this area can be found on the ground floor of the grandstand and will be the point at which visitors will enter the show from the parade ring area. This area will include presentations on the Thursday and Friday in relation to the application of drone technology in farming and there will be a live drone demonstration on Friday morning from Ian Kiely of Drone Consultants Ireland.

Listen to James Maloney's highlights of the show in our podcast below:

Listen to "A preview of the 2017 FTMTA show" on Spreaker.

The Motor Arena at the FTMTA Farm Machinery Show will be located next to the parade ring and is the route by which all visitors to the show access and depart the event. The arena will focus on certain segments of the motoring trade, specifically the light commercial and commercial 4x4 categories, for which the farming user is a significant customer. Mitsubishi, Fiat, Toyota dealer Crossings Motors Centre and Volkswagen dealer Sheehy Motor Group will exhibit in this area.

This year sees the largest-ever FTMTA Farm Machinery Show and FTMTA is confident that the event features exhibits of relevance to all types and sizes of farming enterprises.

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Special focus: FTMTA Farm Machinery Show