Season 3

IN the first part of this two-part episode, I look at the advances in farm machinery during the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 year reign – from 1952 to 2022. From an age when horses were still at work on many UK farms but trac...

AFTER spending much of his early life in Canada, Ben Matthews moved to Scotland where he initially worked in Health and Social Care. But approaching his 40th birthday, he decided he needed a change of career. One day, passing...

After a summer break, Season Three recommences on 15 September, so I thought I'd compile a compendium of snippets from earlier episodes for the 6 months from February to July 2022. There are 20 voices shoe-horned into this ep...

A year after the eye-catching acquisition of the British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association (BAGMA), the dealer trade association by the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA), representing manufacturers, distrib...

Earlier this year, it was reported that tractors and combines worth more than $5m stolen by Russian troops from a John Deere dealership in Ukraine had been remotely disabled - and could not be used. It was a feel-good story i...

Jason Booth made the move from aspiring professional cricketer to grounds management. He is now Chief Operating Officer of the Grounds Management Association (GMA) and has responsibility for the Pitch Advisory Service (PAS), ...

The large scale growing and harvesting of natural turf only really began in the 1980/90s, but with the advent of high capacity machinery is now a year-round operation by specialist growers to meet an ever-growing demand from ...

Jimmy Broadhouse runs a contract grass cutting business. In 2019, he posted a photograph on social media of a council owned grass open space he had just cut with a comment "To the kids around here playing football, they think...

Keith Kent has scaled the heights of his profession. He has presided over the preparation of pitches for the English Premier League, England football internationals, England Rugby internationals and the 2015 Rugby World Cup F...

Returning from a mid-season break, Chris reflects on some of the stories that have made news in recent weeks. 01:01 SHOWS: Reflections on the ever-changing show scene, and delightful memories about the origins of LAMMA by fo...

Earlier this year, the Farmers Weekly published a list of the UK's biggest farm machinery dealers ranked by turnover. Compiled for the FW by freelance journalist Peter Hill, the report makes for fascinating reading and confir...

After a long career with Honda, Martin Sanders is now assisting small businesses by providing business coaching and mentoring. In this podcast he explains the difference. For many years, Martin headed Honda's Power Products D...

How do you go about finding new staff for key roles in your company? Finding the best people with the right qualifications and experience can be extremely time-consuming. You can either ‘do-it-yourself’ through advertising in...

I'm delighted to welcome as my guest, Mark Daniel, the Machinery Editor of New Zealand’s leading agricultural journal, Rural News Group. Many in the British agri-turf industry will remember Mark from his time representing Rus...

Do hire and sales mix - or are they different business models? Dealers often stock a few specialist machines to hire, or loan machines to cover breakdowns. However, they tend to view hire as time-consuming and risky with exce...

QUOTING former Russian Agricultural Minister, Alexander Tkachev, the organisers of YugAgro, the largest Russian farm machinery exhibition, say that Russia needs ".. at least 180,000 new tractors and 80,000 new combines" to f...

The agri-turf machinery industry will always be stronger with manufacturers and dealers working in harmony to provide customers with the best possible buying and support experience. But as the industry and technology evolves,...

How well does the agricultural engineering industry present its Environmental Credentials? It is an industry that spans many disciplines aside from tractors and farm machinery. It encompasses horticulture, soil science, water...

The annual Doe Show, staged by the multi-branch dealership, Ernest Doe Ltd has been held every year since 1960. The 2020 show, and always held during the first week of February, was staged a few weeks before the Government a...

For the third in this series of Agri-Turf Talks , a panel drawn from across the agri-turf sector discuss the issues they face recruiting new talent into the industry. The panel is: Richard Charles : After Sales Customer Care...

Season Three of Inside Agri-Turf launches on 2 February 2022 with a new episode of Agri-Turf Talks comprising a panel discussing the recruitment of new talent into the industry. Chris Biddle provides an overview of the forthc...