Naturally, for a company with strong Irish roots, Massey Ferguson has an enthusiastic following in Ireland, so any event that draws its fans together is bound to be well supported.
This was certainly the case earlier this month when Michael Ford and his daughter, Marie, who own and run The Farm at Grenagh, Co. Cork, held a heritage evening in honour of the manufacturer’s past and present achievements.
Open farm
Michael Forde is well known in the world of classic tractors as an enthusiastic collector of Massey Ferguson machines, and not just the tractors, he also has a passion for the implements and the Ferguson system as a whole.
He houses his growing collection at Grenagh, where he has established a museum and farm visitor centre created not only to show off his collection, but also bring farming into the lives of youngsters who may not have been brought up in the countryside.
However, the focus of the evening was firmly on the red and grey of perhaps the most iconic tractor brand out there.
Viewing the collection of tractors was a major part of the evening with double the expected numbers turning up to enjoy the event and reminisce over the tractors and the days that many would have spent driving them.
A meal having been served, three speakers took to the floor, each to give some account of the past and present of the company from three different angles, and it is to Michael’s credit that he invited such a complimentary trio along.
An uncomfortable fit
First to address the group was John Burron who has written a good deal on the history of Massey Ferguson and works to collate and document information on the company’s roots as it becomes available.
The theme of his talk was the union of Massey Harris and Ferguson tractors, and while Harry F. preferred to talk of it as a merger, John made it quite clear that it was a complete sell-out to the Canadians who indulged Mr. Ferguson, and the pride of his team, by using the same term.
Whatever it was called, the marriage was not the happiest at first with the two main figures, James Duncan, CEO of Massey Harris, leaving soon after the event, while Harry Ferguson himself fell undervalued and also left the following year.
Yet the antagonism went deeper still, for there was something of a stand-off between the sharp suited managerial style of Massey Harris and the more rustic tweeds of the Ferguson company.
An impasse which simmered on well into the 1970s, and even into the 1980s according to those within the company.
Massey Ferguson enters the doldrums
Whatever the problems in the boardroom there can be no doubting the success of the company during that era with the 100 series breaking all records and the 500 series building upon it, although the single doored cabs on these were not always popular with customers.
However, turmoil lay ahead as machinery sales took a hit in the 1980s and it was during these trickier years that Scott Campbell joined the company and was immediately set to work on marketing the new range of combines which Massey Ferguson had just started buying in from Sampo and Dronningborg.
His talent and ability was such that he rose to become head of marketing for Europe and the middle east. Although he has now retired from the company and is active in other spheres, he remains well known throughout the industry for his energy and enthusiasm.
Both these were on full display as he briefly took us through the difficult years of late last century and up until the present day, including his time with AGCO.
AGCO enters Europe
This was an incredibly interesting period, both for Massey Ferguson and agriculture as a whole, as farms and tractors grew bigger, but fewer in number.
We can only hope that his unmatchable experience and many anecdotes are set down in print for future generations to study.
Scott was with the company during the AGCO purchase and noted that it was the original intention of AGCO, which was then new to the European tractor scene, to create one super brand for all its machinery.
Thankfully, this did not come to pass and we now have three vibrant and distinct companies competing with each other under one umbrella, and there is no doubt that they do compete, and drive the development of tractors forward, to the benefit of us all.
Sean McAvoy rounded off the evening with a look at the Beauvais plant in France and a quick guide to how it operates.
Massey Ferguson factory
Given the range of models and number of options for each, the number of combinations available is vast, yet the factory manages to bring together the various components for both Massey Ferguson, and other brands, in a controlled and efficient manner.
Although remaining tight lipped on the details, Sean did suggest that we can expect some major news on the Massey Ferguson range at this year’s Agritechnica; the company is keeping its powder dry until then.
He also peered into the future a little further and suggested that we will see autonomous machines working in tandem with manned tractors, and that AGCO Power was readying itself to deal with a much wider variety of fuels going forward.
It was this last point which provoked a lively discussion on the merits of AdBlue, and alternative fuels in general, with it being agreed that there is no certainty as to what will emerge as the dominant fuel over the next few years, only that batteries are unlikely to be involved.