On what was a cold first day for patrons, dealers were quick to report that the mood among farmers was anything but cool.

Abbey Machinery sales marketing and business development manager Mike O’Grady felt that there was a general positivity among farmers at the show. “People are starting to see the other side of the tunnel,” he said, “Farmers want to save time. Efficiency is driving the whole thing.”

Bateman sales rep Piers Van-Mol was also very enthusiastic about the interest shown by farmers on Thursday. “Trade at the moment is very strong,” he said. “We have been at the show for the last three years and today has seen the most interest from farmers out of any day so far,” he claimed.

Dairy boost

Dealers pointed out a number of reasons for the increasing interest. It is well known that the small rise in milk price has come as a welcome boost for dairy farmers across the country. However, machinery dealers say that they too are reaping the benefits of the price rise. Many have reported that dairy farmers are beginning to show a lot of interest in machinery again after what many agreed was a “very quiet time for them”.

We have seen a demand for tankers 500 gallons higher than normal

Efficiency was also one of the big incentives which have driven up interest in machinery, according to both farmers and salesmen. The larger machines at the event were attracting most of the interest among farmers, citing the speed and quality of the work done by these machines as a major attraction.

“We have seen a demand for tankers 500 gallons higher than normal,” said O’Grady. "There is a big trend towards two-auger feeders instead of the traditional one-auger feeder, for example. One hundred horsepower pumps are now more popular than the 75 horsepower versions also.”

Outlook

For many farmers, however, the prices of these of the machines were simply too far out of reach and despite the very strong interest being shown, farmers agreed that purchasing them would be a much different ball game.

Brexit looks to be the only cause for concern, with the uncertainty of the situation worrying many. Others positively chose to ignore the Brexit situation, stating that it would be “a long run-thing which wasn’t worth worrying about”. One sales rep exclaimed: “We just have to plough on.”

The show continues until Saturday.

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Special focus: the machines showcased at the FTMTA Farm Machinery Show