THE Republic's Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, has launched the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association’s (FTMTA) Farm Machinery Show, wishing the FTMTA every success as its event returns to a traditional winter staging.

Launching the show at Punchestown Event Centre, where it will run from Tuesday, November 12 to Thursday, November 14, Minister McConalogue said: “Today’s farm machinery is a testament to the innovation of the sector and provides solutions to efficient farming across the country.

"The Punchestown event is an ideal showcase for this innovation.

“I would like to offer my best wishes to the FTMTA and everyone involved in the organisation of such a large-scale event, which I am confident will generate huge interest amongst both the farming and wider rural communities.”

Since 1989, the FTMTA Farm Machinery Show has attracted Irish and international farm machinery specialists, displaying tractors, harvesters and tillage equipment in addition to autonomous farm technology and aftermarket products.

From this year on, the show will be held on a biennial basis, moving it out of sync with the Agri Technica Show in Germany. 

Moving the show into an end-of-year slot has clearly paid off for the FTMTA, given that the Show’s exhibition space was fully sold out over a month in advance of the event itself.