This year’s FTMTA Grass & Muck will be the biggest event of its type ever held in Ireland, with the largest display of working machinery.

The range of silage-making systems will span silage wagons, baled silage systems and self-propelled machines. The only exception will be the lack of a direct cutting system, which now seems to account only for a relatively small portion of the national silage harvest.

The plots will be cut by a selection of mowers, from mounted to trailed units, typical of the types of mowers used on Irish farms. Upwards of 12 different mower brands will be in action, ranging from smaller Irish-made machines from Malone and Major, to the large Krone Big M self-propelled mower.

There will be significant interest in the large butterfly-type mowers this year and a number of different makes will be seen in action on the demonstration plots. New this year will be models from Claas, JF, John Deere, Krone, Kverneland, Kuhn, Lely and Pöttinger, all with something special to offer.

Depending on the company preference, the grass on the demonstration plots will receive a follow-up tedding and rowing treatment.

There will be a number of new tedders and rakes at Grass & Muck, with varying degrees of sensitivity and ability to adjust to ground conditions.Visitors at the event will rank these on their ability to clear the ground while minimising soil contamination.

Tedding is back. Farmers strive to achieve a level of wilting that will help reduce loads in the form of silage trailers or bales.

The aim is to harvest and transport for maximum silage dry matter per run and that can be achieved best where conditions are right, eg with field wilting.

On the harvester front, Claas will be showing its lower-power Jaguar 800-series models. New Holland will have the FR-series machines on display, while Krone will have a model of the Big X harvester on show.

JF and Lely will have trailed precision-chop silage harvesters in action, with JF offering its new large-capacity FCT 1460 model for the first time on Irish silage fields under the new Kongskilde banner. This is a new harvester which is claimed to challenge the output of the smaller self-propelled machines.

Silage wagon choices to see

There will an interesting range of up to seven self-loading silage wagons on display, including the new Bergmann model from Irish importer HLR Machinery. Pöttinger will be showing its latest model which includes the patented double knife Twinblade system, with individual knife protection.

Claas, Krone and Strautmann will have new SVCFS 3101 and 3501 models on show, fitted with a gear drive main-intake rotor. Lely will be showing its new Tigo PR models with a movable bulkhead to give additional loading capacity. Irish manufacturer Malone Farm Machinery will also have its models in action.

New baler designs

There have been significant advances in round baler design in the two years since the last FTMTA Grass & Muck.

There will be new round balers on display from McHale Engineering in the form of the variable chamber Fusion 3 baler and wrapper and the Fusion 3 Plus machine which has scope to use net-replacement film instead of net wrap. Farmers and contractors will be keen to see the system up close and get a chance to see the bales produced.

New Holland is also offering the net-replacement film option on its new round baler range.

Welger will be demonstrating its latest generation machine, while John Deere will have its new round balers in action (launched in 2013 for the 2014 market).

Claas and Krone will both have new and upgraded models in action, as will Kuhn, under the Cork Machines flag. New to the sector will be Case IH with a round baler range that is almost identical to that of New Holland.

Wrapping systems will be provided by Lely Goweil, McHale and Tanco. They will be supported by a number of plastic film suppliers showcasing the latest net-replacement film in action.

A new player on the film market, Coveris, is offering transparent film and will be working exclusively with Tanco in the demonstration area.

There will be a host of bale-handling devices on show, including the Keltec range and the new Hustler range, imported by Johnston Farm Equipment from Longford.

Loaders in action

There will be some interesting action in the silage pit on the yard at Gurteen College, as a number of loaders will be seen loading and consolidating the silage from the demonstration plots.

JCB and Komatsu will each have large-capacity loaders in action, showing their ability to handle large trailer loads of grass from high-output systems.

There will also be telescopic machines from JCB and Caterpillar in the silage plot. Claas will have its new generation Scorpion telehandler on site, as will Merlo with its versatile linkage mounted unit.

Weidemann loaders will form its own special display, while Schaffer loaders will be on-site during the day. Northern Ireland-based NC Engineering will have its new FH225 telehandler in action and farmers and contractors will be keen to see how the articulated steering telehandler will cope with the conditions as it loads farmyard manure into a number of spreading machines – a typical farm application.

Muck and slurry to view

The event title, FTMTA Grass & Muck, implies that there will be some slurry and muck-spreading machinery in action. Bergmann, Cross, Hi-Spec, NC and Teagle will all present their muck spreaders.

Teagle will show the new Titan range, while the heavy-duty Bergmann machines will be going through their paces. Cross will show its latest generation machines, while NC will also have its rear-discharge spreader in action. All machines on the day will be rear-discharge machines apart from Keenan’s, which will have its rotary machine present.

There will be a new slurry-spreading system from Tipperary farmer Dermot Tobin on show, while contractor and designer John Kennedy, Nenagh, will discuss his latest slurry-spreading concept.

Grass to sow

There is growing interest in the grassland reseeding and management section for this year’s FTMTA Grass & Muck, which will provide a worthwhile update on the latest seeding systems available. There will be a wide range of direct and indirect systems on show.

JC Machinery will have the latest Vredo overseeder in action. GF Coyle has recently been appointed as the Irish agent for the Hatzenbichler Vertikator pasture seeder and will have a 3m unit on display. PJ Callan, Ardee, will show the well-established Einboch range.

Farmhand will show the Irish-made Rakeman seeder and harrow for grassland.

The Aitchison grass seeder unit will be shown by Hayes Agri, while Cross Agricultural Engineering will have its roller and seeder unit with a Stocks seeder in action.

There will be a number of new aerators in action, including the Alstrong unit.

Alstrong, the makers of the Alstrong aerator, will also show its new Auctus grassland seeder, which combines some of the aerator technology in a robust and high-speed grass seeding machine.

Chain harrows will be on show from Johnston Farm Equipment, with models from the Hackett range, while DH Farm Machinery will show the Mandam chain harrow range.