In this week’s machinery section, we look at a serious outfit cutting wholecrop on the Kildare-Wicklow border with a new-for-2018 Claas Jaguar 970 harvester and an impressive fleet of tractors and trailers to keep the machine moving. On the vintage page, Peter Thomas Keaveney was invited along to the Irish County Tractor Club working day and saw some seriously rare and valuable machines at work.

Despite there being some rain across the country, there is still a major risk of fire when harvest machines are at work. Major care should still be taken to keep all maintenance up to date and keep machines clear of all flammable material by blowing them down at least once a day.