A week after Brexit and life goes on. The machinery trade continues to do business and the grass has still to be harvested. The disagreeable weather has halted the progress of the silage harvest in some areas across the country. Some second-cut grass is already on the cards for the early farmers down south. It also seems likely from looking into the fields that the combines will not roll for another while as the weather has not helped the crop in the later stages of development.

Recent tractor sales reports from the FTMTA show that 1,335 new tractors were registered for the first six months of 2016, which is 5% ahead on last year’s year-to-date. The impact of Brexit is not really shown in these figures. The June figure is more of a concern, showing a 20% decline.

The future could point to an increase in imports from the UK, especially if sterling weakens. Registration of used imported tractors, mainly from the UK, showed a significant increase as 227 used tractors were registered in June this year compared with 146 used tractors in June 2015.

This week’s machinery pages highlight developments from New Holland on methane power. Part 2 of Darren Bailey’s American adventure follows the 2,000-mile harvest journey of Demaray Harvesting. For the readers with a lower budget in mind, there is a round-up of some of the sale items in Portlaoise. Older trailers were on offer and still making good money. Michael Moroney takes to the hills of Wicklow for the first-ever drive of the Renault Megane diesel in Ireland. Michael also looks back at Teagle’s combination silage harvester, the Toucan.