Lemken has placed a four-furrow EurOpal 7X plough at the college for student use during the college year.

With constant information and education direct from Lemken specialists, it is aimed to give the students training in correct plough settings, procedures and practice.

This will allow the student to gain the maximum from ploughing in terms of productivity and profitability.

As soil is the most valuable asset on the farm, the correct plough settings are key to maintaining soil structure, drainage and weed control.

The Lemken four-furrow EurOpal 7X plough will be available for each student to use throughout the season.

They will learn about its systems to reduce fuel usage, wheel slip and metal wear by using its true alignment. The hard-wearing DuraMaxx plough body will also be demonstrated during the season. Lemken claims that up to 75% more hectares can be gained from using DuraMaxx bodies.

At the end of the spring season, each student will compete against each other in a plough test/match where their knowledge of ploughing, in terms of safety, correct settings and procedures, will be put to the test.

The winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Lemken factory in Germany, a Waterford Crystal trophy and the title of Irish Lemken Plough Operator of the Year.

New Holland celebrates its golden jubilee

New Holland’s Basildon plant will celebrate half a century of continuous tractor operations in 2014.

To commemorate this important milestone, exclusive golden jubilee editions of the T7.270 Auto Command (pictured) and T6.160 Auto Command will be produced and a range of celebratory events will take place throughout the year.

These exclusive tractors were unveiled at the LAMMA Show. They will only be built during the jubilee year, limiting their number to create two future Basildon icons.

In addition to these two celebratory tractors, all models produced in Basildon in 2014 will feature a special 50th anniversary decal, which recalls the elegant lines of the T6 and T7 ranges.

Kubota funds Kverneland plans

The Kverneland Group plans to double revenues within the next few years. With financial backing from its new owner, Kubota, Kverneland aims to increase revenues from €550m in 2013 to a target of €1bn by 2018.

Kverneland is planning to invest in new products and factories. The company has earmarked an investment of about €100m for the group’s factories over the next three years.

Some €30m is being invested in the plough factory at Klepp, Norway. This factory produces between 4,500 and 5,000 new ploughs a year, with plans to push this to 7,000 units by summer 2015.

Kverneland Group’s sprayer and spreader factory in the Netherlands had a record turnover of €57m in 2013. The factory produced 5,500 fertilizer spreaders and 1,000 sprayers in Kverneland and Vicon colours.

FCI Ireland gets CEETTAR approval

Farm Contractors Ireland (FCI) was last week formally approved as the Irish representative group at CEETTAR, the European contractor’s association umbrella grouping.

The approval was confirmed to FCI chairman Timmy O’Brien who, along with FCI secretary Peter Farrelly and PRO Richie White, was in Brussels for a CEETTAR meeting with MEPs on the issue of the Rural Development Programme.

CEETTAR was established in 1983, the Confédération Européenne des Entrepreneurs de Travaux Agricoles, Ruraux et Forestiers (CEETTAR) and represents 84,000 independent contractors and 425,000 employees.