The ‘Conference and Exhibition’ (Confex) of the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) is set to kick off on Wednesday, January 10.

The venue is the National Show Centre, Cloghran, Swords (adjacent to Dublin Airport).

The association is inviting contractors and their operators to the event; it costs €20 to attend. Interested parties are asked to book in advance – by calling: 087-7551111 or by emailing: [email protected].

Gannon silage FCI

According to the FCI, it has a database of 1,100 farming and forestry contractors – dotted all over the country.

The event will run from 12:00pm until 9:00pm, with a series of half-hour seminars on a range of topics during the day.

The Confex theme will be ‘Contracting – A Vision for the Future’ and it will focus on “providing Irish farm and forestry contractors with a one-day event that will incorporate a series of information seminars coupled with a machinery exhibition”.

FCI

The association has welcomed the support of FBD Insurance as the lead sponsor. It says that it has worked closely with the insurer to provide a “tailor-made insurance support service to suit the needs of Irish contractors”.

Contractor-Focused Events

Confex 2018 has apparently been modeled on the success of similar contractor-focused events run by other associations across Europe.

Through its membership of CEETTAR – the European contractors’ association – the FCI says that it has been able to call on the “support and expertise” of contractor associations in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands – all of which run similar biennial events.

Speaking previously about the conference, FCI national chairman Richard White said the event “will provide Irish contractors with new information and advice in a structured way to help them to enhance their business to meet the needs of a changing agriculture”.

silage fci

Elaborating, he said: “We want to see our FCI members play a full part in the future development of the Irish agri-food industry and this can be achieved through access to the best information in order to make the best decisions for their contracting businesses.”