Ploughing 2022

timple23

Positives of the show was that the stands were grouped according to their business. And all the rubbish was in one corner. Some people treat the ploughing like a shopping trip Kildare Village or Dublin. Walked into one stand and was half thinking of buying something, saw the queue of people waiting to pay for stuff, turned around and left.

Realistically what business has any company bringing big 300hp tractor to the place with the hope of generating a sale. Most companies already have enough orders on their books or else are struggling to get raw materials. TFM had one of the biggest stands at Tullamore but not there, wonder why? I would say a lot of big machinery companies write the ploughing off as a business expense as I doubt they turn a profit. A 2500gal tanker with a dribble bar/trailing shoe costing over 45k, people are not spending.

Only one supermarket stand this year. The government and political parties filled up a large hole in the middle of the ploughing. After leaving the ploughing in 2019 I was looking to go a second day. This year, I wouldn't be bothered.

I'd like to know are there committee meetings where people voice their concerns or is it a dictatorship? No sign of Mchugh jr this year?

TheRiverman

Too much emphasis on Trade and Junk stands. A big rethink needed.

_Brian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652311#Comment_119652311

The failure is the drive to have bigger and bigger footfall each year rather than a better and better show.. The exibitors are the product and if you gouge into them your on a loosing streak and rightly so.. We had good crack anyway..

farmertipp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652255#Comment_119652255

look at the structure and that will tell you if ots a dictatorship or not.

farawaygrass

I enjoyed the day but from reading here it’s reminding me of all the big stands that were missing this year. I remember standing at that lely robot stand a few years back for ages, along with the chainsaw stand that had displays. Really missed the livestock. The quality of the Angus there was exceptional, both dairy bred and suckler bred. Although they had serious growth weight for their age!!

thoufht the toilets were good and saw workers kept them clean.

also thought the price of food wasn’t over and beyond.

I said it here before but the students are a big turn off. The attendance numbers might be high but if they were broke down and analysed, the target audience of the companies displaying must he low enough. You’d hope the organisers will pull it back and save it from ruin.

tullamore is really good alright, it’s some effort they go to to put it all together for one day though, two days wouldn’t be a big stretch id think.

on a lighter note, do any of ye buy them sticks for working cattle, or are they just a ploughing accessory!

any word where the ploughing is next year?

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652453#Comment_119652453

Some amount of sticks sold! Everyone seemed to have them. They looked like ski sticks?

I think it's in same spot next year?

1373

Regarding some machinery dealers not being there , surely if your interested in a certain machine , wouldn't it be more useful to contact them to organise a demo/viewing

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652453#Comment_119652453

Financially the 2022 Ploughing has to have been a qualified success, why change it.

Would it be sustainable if you took out the funfair and non farming stands, I don't think so. Farmers alone wouldn't justify the event.

As for Tullamore, they wouldn't be able to tap into about 30 county organisations for volunteers same as the NPA do to run the second day,

Doe Tiden

Have to agree with wrangler, definitely it was a profitable year for the ploughing and no way they’ll change much until the profit curve starts dropping

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652714#Comment_119652714

I’m sure it would have been profitable too but if the same number of exhibitors drop out for next year as what dropped out since the last ploughing the profitability will drop too. They need to be ahead of the curve.

patsy_mccabe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652703#Comment_119652703

How are the volunteers looked after? Are they paid? They always seem to be fierce sound types. I asked one where I'd get a map of the event and he handed me the one he had in his hand.

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652812#Comment_119652812

I really don't know, and I wouldn't ask too many questions in case I'd get a job. My brother in law was tullamore show chairman for a few years and I kept well outa the way. He'd say there was no way they'd do a two day show

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652812#Comment_119652812

I know from when it was in Tullamore all the local gaa clubs were asked for volunteers in return for a donation to the club. So the majority of the workers in the roles like car parking etc. would be getting nothing personally but a donation to their club.

Finty Lemon

Anyone an idea of cost for a commercial display for the 3 days ploughing? I heard 120k plus including staff/overheads for one of the larger outfits? If true no wonder people are beginning to drift away.

road_high

Could easily be that- think of the overheads like energy, the marquee hire, insurance, staff, travel costs, merchandise- could be much higher depending on the size and what you’re doing.

Money much better spent targeting your customers directly rather than a useless scatter gun approach ala Ploughing.

Agree with all that long term protection of the brand should be at the forefront and feedback here from this years show is negative.

just for some balanced perspective, taking the article below at face value, they are trying to recoup their covid losses and hosting the world championship is costing €1.5m this year so their projections are that they won’t make a profit. Take the €1.5m once off out it sounds like it would be a €1m plus profit in a normal year which does seem excessive if it’s archived through charging exhibitors too high a fee and aiming for record breaking crowds which both come at a cost of alienating the original target market of farmers is not a good long term plan.

Saying that maybe the board have been smart to recognise that machinery manufacturers will focus on punchestown (and these companies are only willing to attend one Irish show due to cost) and livestock at tullamore (as outlines a 3 day show for animal exhibitors is not always practical) and they are changing their target market to ensure longevity.

https://m.independent.ie/business/farming/agri-business/finance/national-ploughing-set-for-2022-loss-after-combined-losses-of-125m-during-two-pandemic-hit-years-41915094.html

have to laugh at the comment about state support, considering this years show had a huge number of government tents are getting a lot of indirect funds from government

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119653395#Comment_119653395

I wonder did they draw down salaries?!

international xl

Neighbour said last time he was the show 2019 his phone show 23km of walking this time 14km and there was not that much made him want to buy anything as well

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652311#Comment_119652311

Went for the first time and not a farmer. I left with the same opinion. Overpriced junk on most of the stands.

I'm on the horticulture side and found nothing of interest. Even the horticultural companies didn't have any equipment.

Wouldn't bother going again.

dominatinMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652703#Comment_119652703

If the anecdotes here are anything to go by, the reaction to this years event has been overwhelmingly negative - despite what way the press will spin it. I think posters on Boards are a microcosm of the wider audience and, as such, I would be expecting numbers to drop off next year, and the year after, etc. The ploughing may still retain the casual event junkies, but if more and more of the core audience start dropping off (as has been expressed here), agricultural vendors will stop paying a substantial fee for displays - after all, they're not going to make any money from 18 year old students.

It's certainly not a crisis or anything, but a tipping point is approaching where the NPA will have to decide if they want to return to their core values. If not, they may as well pack up and move to the RDS.

roosterman71

School day idea is a good one. They have to pre-book anyway so easy to organise

Volunteers, especially the car parks are local GAA lads. They get €100/man/day to their club. Volunteers themselves get fed and watered.

FTMTA at Punchestown are gouging too. €20 entry and hen I heard from 2 of my local dealers that were there it cost €4k for the pitch which was limited in size.

A lot of dealers/manufactures are going to smaller shows and putting on their own days (e.g. Pottinger having a tillage demo day on 30th)

Ploughing is expected to be in the same place next year

Siamsa Sessions

I'd be guessing the likes of DAFM and other office-based staff would be pushing their bosses to keep attending. It's a grand little distraction for a few days and they squeeze weeks of prep work out of it (much easier than the real work they should be doing). Same for the media, it gives them loads of content for a week or two.

I'd include the likes of ABP and the banks in this category too, or any big organisation where the managers wear suits and want an excuse to wear wellies/boots and see what kind of presence the other manager types have at their stand.

But for smaller private companies like machinery dealers, milking machine suppliers, etc. - they have a decision to make alright if the entrance fee continues to be increased by Ana-May and the other cute directors of this company that makes €1m profit per year.

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119654195#Comment_119654195

€1m wouldn't be much profit, I don't know the figure but I'd bet that if they reduced the admission charge and exhibitor charge by 10% they'd be in the red and that'd be a very small reduction.

I'd love to see what it's costing to run it.

I see it's costing about €7m to run it , I thought it'd be more but my point still stands, it has to have a profit to allow for the likes of COvid and wet weather

patsy_mccabe

Plus, the expertise required an event that big is mind blowing. One thing goes wrong and the whole thing is a mess. Totally weather dependant also.

I was involved in organising a small public event once and got the feeling I was annoying the main organiser when it came to public safety. The event was held on a public road. I suggested they close the road while it was on, but was told there was no need. A boy racer tore tru it at high speed while the local TD was giving a speech. Kept my mouth shut after that.

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119654419#Comment_119654419

How much did you pay him

K.G.

I had chat about the ploughing with a fella 8n the machinery trade and he suggested a different reason for lower participation, he said ain't much point going pushing sales if you can't deliver on them.orders taken now might not land until the next ploughing due to supply line issues and companies are gone slow to commit to long lead in times on orders as things could change very quickly

cjpm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119655483#Comment_119655483

Precisely. How are companies going to take orders for products that they mightn’t have for 3 months plus. And where there could be multiple price rises in the meantime

blue5000

For a young person it’s still a great day out, they’re not old enough to know how it was 10~20 years ago. I think they are the target audience, look how much they would spend in a day compared to us older people.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119652453#Comment_119652453

On the sticks they are handy if you want one in the car. Easy to keep clean. They are an insulator so handy if you are climbing over a electric fence. Hand when moving cattle as you prod them rather than tap them.

Bass Reeves

Met virtually no farmer that had anything positive to say about it. I have no problem with any business making a profit but you have to supply the product. If farmers stop going the business will stop. Heard of figures of 50k fir some of the larger trade pitches. Add the cost of being there and it could be another 30-50k in costs.

Maybe more for the dairy, tillage or intensive beef farmer but very little for the smaller beef farmer. Yes some of the exibitors will be funded by there trade suppliers but the smaller businesses will drift away over coat. I was not there I. Ten years and it will be another ten before I go again