FTMTA Grass & Muck returns in 2018

Following the very successful FTMTA Farm Machinery Show 2017 in February, FTMTA has received numerous enquiries about future events. FTMTA holds two public farm machinery events on alternating years; both events are run in accordance with the ethos that they are “organised by the trade for the farmer and contractor”.

The next public event to be held by the organisation will be FTMTA Grass & Muck in May 2018, and the FTMTA Farm Machinery Show will return in February 2019.

The exact date of FTMTA Grass & Muck 2018 has yet to be confirmed but the event will return to Gurteen College near Birr in May of next year.

The Gurteen site is in a very central and accessible location and, with the excellent facilities of the college on hand, it has proved to be a successful venue for this event, which has become very popular with exhibitors and the Irish farming public alike, attracting approximately 11,000 visitors in 2016.

The focus at FTMTA Grass & Muck is on working machinery with ongoing demonstrations throughout the day in the grass harvesting, reseeding, silage pit, slurry spreading and farmyard manure spreading areas.

A large trade stand area for non-demonstrating exhibitors will also be provided in a central position at the event and this is a dimension that has grown substantially over the years.

FTMTA Grass & Muck is sure to be the farm machinery highlight of 2018 and the exhibitor application packs in relation to the event will be issued after the summer.

Any firm interested in exhibiting at the event for the first time can register their interest in advance by contacting the FTMTA office on 045-409 309 or at admin@ftmta.ie

Previous exhibitors at the most recent FTMTA events will receive the application pack as a matter of course.

UK machinery exports slipped in 2016

A recent report from the Agricultural Engineers Association in the UK states that total exports of agricultural machinery (not including used tractors) from the UK in 2016 slipped marginally to £1.53bn.

Interestingly, in light of ongoing developments, the EU was the destination for 62% of these exports.

In 2016, Germany became the leading market for UK machinery exports, displacing the US, which had held this position for seven of the previous eight years.

Six of the top 10 exports markets for UK agricultural machinery in 2016 were other EU member states.

The Republic of Ireland is a significant market for UK exports, accounting for £134m and 9.5% of exports in 2016, which was effectively an unchanged position from 2015.

The UK is of course also a very significant market for Irish machinery exports and has tended to be the first export market explored by many Irish manufacturers.