Farmers and vendors buoyant, says organiser

Darren Pritchard, business Development reports that business has been good as the annual Spring Farm Machinery rolled into Cavan Town’s equestrian centre for two days last week.

“Booking the show before Christmas the mood was low, but this year everybody seems to be positive - you have to be positive given just the way things are going,” says the Omagh man.

“We have 22% more stands this year as compared to last year and more brands coming in showcasing what they can do as opposed to having dealers book it in - do the dealers are coming in under the brands’ stands.”

Darren notes the machinery suppliers “need farmers on board”.

“The three shows we have done - Cork, Balmoral and here have all been really positive - positive from the people who have been here, and positive from the exhibitors.

“In fact in Balmoral we had our biggest ever sale - one machine [a New Holland] sold for over half a million pounds on the day.

“That’s been the talk of this show - there’s been a lot of deals done on the day which is great, and lot of good quality leads coming from the show.”

Darren is content that the show, which has been going on for more than 20 years has found a good spot on the agri-calendar. “Our show’s at the perfect time of year - just before the slurry ban, it’s at a time of year when it’s a wee bit quieter for farmers, so they have a bit more time and they’re thinking about the year ahead and what sort of machinery they need.”