Storm scuppers most striking, eye-catching exhibit at the ‘Ploughing’

One of the most eye-catching machinery exhibits at this year’s National Ploughing Championships (close to Tullamore, Co. Offaly) has fallen victim to Storm Ali – amidst fears over potentially dangerously windy conditions.

Well-known (Dublin-based) farm machinery distributor Farmhand caught show-goers’ imaginations with its daring display, whereby an imposing self-propelled forage harvester and self-propelled sprayer were hoisted up onto a big, impressive, purpose-built structure.

Striking exhibit

The two machines were effectively elevated into a lofty position – towering over the surrounding exhibits. It certainly resulted in a striking show-stopper.

The onset of Storm Ali, and the ensuing threat of high winds and potentially dangerous gusts, was clearly a cause for concern – so much so, in fact, that a crane was brought back to Farmhand’s stand last night to lower the machines down to the ground (despite the fact that the show runs until Thursday evening).

This video footage (below) – from Seamus Duggan’s Facebook page – shows the forager being lowered amidst increasingly gusty conditions.

In related news, Krone unveiled its biggest forage harvester yet at a recent event in Germany.

The new BiG X 1180 (pictured below) has no less than 1,156hp under the hood. This machine is also home to a new kernel processor (corn cracker) – known as the OptiMaxx.

Image source: AgriMacFan (NOtrattorist)

As always, the National Ploughing Championships are home to a wide and varied display of farm machinery. AgriLand was on-site in the run-up to the event – to photograph the array of equipment before the show opened to the public.

Stay tuned to AgriLand for further reports from this year’s event.