The Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) is the representative body of the farm machinery industry in Ireland. Membership of the association comprises in excess of 200 businesses engaged in the manufacture, distribution, retail sale and servicing of farm machinery.

The association is one of the longest-established trade bodies in the country, having existed in one form or another since 1913. Ironically, the initial discussions about forming an association took place between a group of Irish machinery businesses at the Smithfield Show in London and the formal founding of an organisation was at the Spring Show in Dublin the following year – both shows are long gone from the calendar now.

On 6, 7 and 8 February 1989, the first Farm Machinery Show (as it was known until 2011) was held in the Simmonscourt Pavilion of the RDS in Dublin. The introduction of the show by the association was a reaction to growing dissatisfaction in the trade with the available existing exhibition facilities. The initiative was spearheaded by the shows committee of FTMTA which included Geoff Daly, Shay Lynch and Pat Keogh and was chaired by John Perry.

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Success

The introduction of the show was a big step by the association but the move was vindicated by the success of the event, which attracted an attendance of some 9,000 visitors and at which over 90% of available exhibition space was filled. The next show in 1991 built on the foundations that had been laid and the organisers were able to fill all available space, with the number of visitors increasing by 2,000. By 1993, the attendance rose to approximately 13,500 people and the event was firmly established in the machinery sector’s calendar.

The growth of the show over following years presented increasing challenges at the effectively city centre location of the RDS, with growing traffic congestion in Dublin making access more difficult for visitors and exhibitors alike. Rising demand for exhibition space from new exhibitors combined with the increasing size of machinery also presented logistical difficulties at the Dublin site.

In 2003, the show relocated to the then newly built Punchestown Event Centre at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas. Coincidently, FTMTA moved to a purpose-built headquarters near Naas in 2007.

Suitable home

The Punchestown venue has proved a very suitable home for the FTMTA Farm Machinery Show over the intervening years with the advantages of a large purpose-built event centre, plenty of permanent parking space, extensive tarmac area to facilitate the installation of marquees and to accommodate outdoor displays, and the infrastructural support of the racecourse facilities such as restaurants and toilets.

The addition of a second permanent exhibition building at Punchestown in 2011 with the construction of the Trackside Pavilion further enhanced the facilities available to the show as did the erection of the new Hunt Stand in 2018, which will provide the first stands seen by visitors to this year’s show.

The FTMTA Farm Machinery Show has now grown to become the flagship event of the Irish farm machinery industry. The show is a three-day indoor event and drew some 21,000 visitors to Punchestown in February of 2017.

The 2019 show will be the largest ever such event, with over 165 individual exhibitors across over 200 distinct exhibits including indoor stands and outdoor display areas.

The show will cover approximately 16,000 sq m of indoor exhibition space across four pavilions as well as a large area of outdoor display space.

Valuable service

The FTMTA views the provision of a dedicated, professional, machinery exhibition to showcase the products and services of the farm machinery industry as a very valuable service to the members of the association and the wider sector and is happy that the show has grown to fill this role during the last three decades.

The FTMTA Farm Machinery Show is underpinned by the ethos that it is organised by the trade for the farmer and the contractor and the association believes that this is what has driven the success and growth of the show over the years.

In keeping with this philosophy, exhibitors must be genuinely agricultural-focused businesses and there is no duplication of exhibits or subletting of stands permitted. Most of the leading national and international manufacturers active in the Irish market will have a presence at the show, with manufacturer personnel and product experts on hand to speak with visitors.