The Irish farm machinery market is being shaped by a shortage of labour and the cost of fuel, according to Michael Farrelly, executive director of the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA), who spoke to Agriland at the National Ploughing Championships.

Farrelly said grass machinery "has been doing very well this year because we're dairy-based; dairy is the biggest part of the agricultural sector". The broader trend is towards higher-horsepower tractors that do more work: "It's a challenge to get people to work these days, so you want a bigger machine that'll do more work rather than more machines doing less."

Yet in the past year FTMTA has also seen more interest in smaller-horsepower tractors, which Farrelly linked to the performance of the beef sector and to fuel costs. Four-cylinder tractors are increasingly sought after because they combine efficiency with the ability to handle heavy workloads and compete with some six-cylinder machines.

Whatever the size, he said, the deciding factor is reliability. Many operators struggle to find help or work off-farm and come home in the evening to farm: "What's really important to all those people is when they go out and sit up in the tractor and turn the key is that the tractor starts. I think that's why people are constantly investing in new and quality machinery."

Farrelly called contractors "very important to our sector" as the people investing most heavily in machinery, and said this year is a huge challenge for them. He also praised Ireland's own manufacturers as "a great unsung success story" of the industry, and described the Ploughing as a gathering of everyone involved in rural Ireland and a key showcase for putting machinery in front of buyers. Joshua Kelly reported for Agriland.

Source: Agriland