Agromek, the main farming and machinery show for farmers and contractors in the Nordic region, recently took place in Herning, central Denmark. With the event returning after a four-year absence, some 45,015 visitors attended to see products from 542 exhibitors spread across 12 halls in the impressive venue.
There was a sizeable presence of Irish manufacturers. Enterprise Ireland (EI) played a big role in this, facilitating five Irish machinery manufacturers to exhibit on its stand: Cashels, Wakely, Mastek, Quality Tractor Parts and Dromone.
Meanwhile, Easyfix, McHale, Major and Keltec were all represented by their Danish importers/distributors.
Danish agriculture
Denmark is home to 5.857m people (Ireland’s population is 5.028m). The country has an average farm size of 70ha (over double that of Ireland). In October the milk price in Denmark was 57.7c/l compared to 57.5c/l in Ireland.
According to EI, there are many similarities between Irish agriculture and that in Scandinavia, making it a good export market for Irish manufacturers and agritech companies.
EI estimates the Scandinavian market to date has generated sales of over €6m for the five companies on its stand alone. It says the ambition is to grow this figure further in the coming months and years, with feedback from the show suggesting that this will be eminently achievable.
Direct feedback from the farming community praised Irish manufacturing designs and build quality. For example, McHale is the leading combination unit in Scandinavia, with immense popularity in Sweden. The 24 hours of sunlight in northern Scandinavia during the summer may be dangerous for over-enthusiastic contractors.
L/R- Patrick Briody and Patrick Duffy from Dromone Engineering explain to Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, how a pickup hitch works.
The Agromek show this year also coincided with a trade mission to the region led by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar.
Wakely Engineering from Co Louth
Major Equipment from Co Mayo
According to EI, since it opened its office in Copenhagen in 2019, 20 of its client companies have established new presences in Denmark. Irish innovation, particularly technology, high-tech construction and agribusiness exports are in high demand in Denmark and across the Nordic region, with EI client exports to the region were at a record high at €1.24bn in 2021, up 31% on 2020. The Irish body says 560 of its client companies are exporting to the Nordic region, with 328 exporting to Denmark alone.
Paul McHale, McHale
McHale, also from Co Mayo
“Agromek has been a good show for McHale. We were well represented by Helms, our importer, and the McHale Scandinavian representative Bo Wallin. A number of orders were taken on the stand for next season and a number of strong enquiries are being followed up. There was strong interest in the new Fusion 4 plus machine which was shown for the first time in Denmark.
“McHale has been active in Denmark since 1995. The first product sold there was the 995 SE Square Bale Wrapper. Denmark was then and still is a market which mainly makes large square bales. In recent years we have seen strong demand for our Fusion range as farmers and contractors try to reduce their capital outlay and improve running costs by moving to combination units. Like all markets in Europe, labour supply is an issue.
“The region is very important to McHale. Integrated baler wrappers would be our main products sold there. The trend in the Nordic countries has been a strong move towards plastic to bind bales. In Scandinavia, we would estimate the average number of bales would be between 3,500 and 4,500 bales per year – some customers would do more or less than this number.”
Paul Quinn, Mastek
“We were very happy with the show. Unusually for this type of a show, we sold three 12 metre dribble bars to a farmer in Slovenia which will be retrofitted to three tankers he bought new in Italy last year.
“We also have quite a few other solid leads to follow up on. Norway would be our best market in the Nordic region, we have a good dealer there.
“It’s like Ireland, there’s a lot of small farms, many of which are wet or hilly. Denmark is a more difficult market for our products. It’s all big tankers and trailing shoes – our 12m trailing shoe is just about big enough.
The Nordics would account for 8-9% of our annual production”.
Thomas Sheedy, Keltec
“Denmark is a new market for us. We had products successfully on test there during the summer and as a result were present at Agromek through our new dealer. Our products were well received at the show and we are currently finalising a new order with the distributor.
“In terms of the Nordics, we have dealers across Sweden, Finland and Norway. The bale slice would be our bestseller across the region, followed by the bale chaser and the mowers. We will soon have more mowers working in Sweden than we have in Ireland. We sent a set of butterfly mowers out there last year and we have gotten great feedback on it. The Nordic region currently accounts for about 10% of our annual production, but we see this going to 15% in 2023 with potential for even more growth in the future.”
Agromek, the main farming and machinery show for farmers and contractors in the Nordic region, recently took place in Herning, central Denmark. With the event returning after a four-year absence, some 45,015 visitors attended to see products from 542 exhibitors spread across 12 halls in the impressive venue.
There was a sizeable presence of Irish manufacturers. Enterprise Ireland (EI) played a big role in this, facilitating five Irish machinery manufacturers to exhibit on its stand: Cashels, Wakely, Mastek, Quality Tractor Parts and Dromone.
Meanwhile, Easyfix, McHale, Major and Keltec were all represented by their Danish importers/distributors.
Danish agriculture
Denmark is home to 5.857m people (Ireland’s population is 5.028m). The country has an average farm size of 70ha (over double that of Ireland). In October the milk price in Denmark was 57.7c/l compared to 57.5c/l in Ireland.
According to EI, there are many similarities between Irish agriculture and that in Scandinavia, making it a good export market for Irish manufacturers and agritech companies.
EI estimates the Scandinavian market to date has generated sales of over €6m for the five companies on its stand alone. It says the ambition is to grow this figure further in the coming months and years, with feedback from the show suggesting that this will be eminently achievable.
Direct feedback from the farming community praised Irish manufacturing designs and build quality. For example, McHale is the leading combination unit in Scandinavia, with immense popularity in Sweden. The 24 hours of sunlight in northern Scandinavia during the summer may be dangerous for over-enthusiastic contractors.
L/R- Patrick Briody and Patrick Duffy from Dromone Engineering explain to Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, how a pickup hitch works.
The Agromek show this year also coincided with a trade mission to the region led by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar.
Wakely Engineering from Co Louth
Major Equipment from Co Mayo
According to EI, since it opened its office in Copenhagen in 2019, 20 of its client companies have established new presences in Denmark. Irish innovation, particularly technology, high-tech construction and agribusiness exports are in high demand in Denmark and across the Nordic region, with EI client exports to the region were at a record high at €1.24bn in 2021, up 31% on 2020. The Irish body says 560 of its client companies are exporting to the Nordic region, with 328 exporting to Denmark alone.
Paul McHale, McHale
McHale, also from Co Mayo
“Agromek has been a good show for McHale. We were well represented by Helms, our importer, and the McHale Scandinavian representative Bo Wallin. A number of orders were taken on the stand for next season and a number of strong enquiries are being followed up. There was strong interest in the new Fusion 4 plus machine which was shown for the first time in Denmark.
“McHale has been active in Denmark since 1995. The first product sold there was the 995 SE Square Bale Wrapper. Denmark was then and still is a market which mainly makes large square bales. In recent years we have seen strong demand for our Fusion range as farmers and contractors try to reduce their capital outlay and improve running costs by moving to combination units. Like all markets in Europe, labour supply is an issue.
“The region is very important to McHale. Integrated baler wrappers would be our main products sold there. The trend in the Nordic countries has been a strong move towards plastic to bind bales. In Scandinavia, we would estimate the average number of bales would be between 3,500 and 4,500 bales per year – some customers would do more or less than this number.”
Paul Quinn, Mastek
“We were very happy with the show. Unusually for this type of a show, we sold three 12 metre dribble bars to a farmer in Slovenia which will be retrofitted to three tankers he bought new in Italy last year.
“We also have quite a few other solid leads to follow up on. Norway would be our best market in the Nordic region, we have a good dealer there.
“It’s like Ireland, there’s a lot of small farms, many of which are wet or hilly. Denmark is a more difficult market for our products. It’s all big tankers and trailing shoes – our 12m trailing shoe is just about big enough.
The Nordics would account for 8-9% of our annual production”.
Thomas Sheedy, Keltec
“Denmark is a new market for us. We had products successfully on test there during the summer and as a result were present at Agromek through our new dealer. Our products were well received at the show and we are currently finalising a new order with the distributor.
“In terms of the Nordics, we have dealers across Sweden, Finland and Norway. The bale slice would be our bestseller across the region, followed by the bale chaser and the mowers. We will soon have more mowers working in Sweden than we have in Ireland. We sent a set of butterfly mowers out there last year and we have gotten great feedback on it. The Nordic region currently accounts for about 10% of our annual production, but we see this going to 15% in 2023 with potential for even more growth in the future.”
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