Agricultural mechanisation degree course

There has already been strong interest in the new bachelor of science in agricultural mechanisation course, which will start in IT Tralee in September. Entry to the course is based on direct entry to IT Tralee and, to apply for a place on the course, potential students must have been accepted by a sponsoring farm machinery business, who will provide the required work placements during the course.

Potential students should obtain the application form from their sponsor firm and return it to IT Tralee no later than Friday 7 August. The form includes a section, which must be completed by the sponsor firm before the application form is submitted to the college.

FTMTA is pleased to announce a prize fund to reimburse an element of the first year fees of the best-placed students at the end of the inaugural year of the course.

The FTMTA Student Agricultural Service Technician Award will be made as follows, based on the results for first year:

  • First ranked student: €3,000 (the full year’s fees, kindly supported by the Irish Farmers Journal).
  • Second ranked student: €2,000.
  • Third ranked student: €1,000.
  • Tractor registration

    The figures prepared by FTMTA in relation to the registration of new tractors show a relatively positive result for the first six months of the year. A total of 1,276 units were registered in the January to June period, which is a drop of only 3% on the same months of 2014. This should be seen in the context of drops in the order of 15% and 20% in some major European markets.

    As always, Cork continues to be the county with the highest level of registrations with 172 units, followed by Tipperary with 106 and Wexford with 79.

    As would be expected, January saw the highest level of registrations with 352 units, followed by 221 in March and 220 in May. There were 93 registrations in June, which was an increase of 35% on June 2014. With the introduction of the split registration year in 2013, July has become a significant month for the registration of tractors as well as cars and it will be interesting to see what this month holds for the trade.