Dealer update: Rejigs for New Holland, Case-IH and Massey

We take a look a the farm machinery dealership news across the UK and in Europe.

Find out what takeovers, mergers, closures or expansions are happening in your area.

See also: Revealed: Britain’s biggest farm machinery dealers

Big changes for RVT

Rea Valley Tractors (RVT), based in the West Midlands and mid-Wales, is to end its relationship with John Deere and take on the New Holland franchise alongside its existing JCB and Kuhn agreements.

From 1 November, it will sell New Holland tractors and harvest machinery across an expanded territory that includes Shropshire, part of Staffordshire, Cheshire, part of Lancashire, mid- and north Wales.

The dealership will also broaden its JCB area to include Cheshire from 1 January 2023, which will be managed through a new premises in the county.

Until that date, customers will continue to be served by John Bownes at Winsford.

RVT currently has depots at Shrewsbury and Newport in Shropshire, Welshpool in Powys, and Sudbury in Derbyshire, with new branch locations to be announced in due course.

It plans to expand its workshops in both Shrewsbury and Sudbury, with the latter becoming a dedicated JCB hub for sales, service, repairs and parts.

The company says it will also continue to support customers with repairs, routine servicing and parts for the John Deere products it has sold.

Sharmans acquires Louth Tractors

© Louth Tractors

Sharmans Agricultural has announced an agreement in principle to acquire Louth Tractors – a Case IH main dealer for the central and north-east Lincolnshire area.

Family-run Sharmans has its head office in Grantham, Lincs, and currently operates six depots from near Chesterfield down to the M25.

The business became a Case IH dealership in April 2020 after parting ways with John Deere.

Louth Tractors will operate as normal under the new ownership and all employees will transfer as part of the agreement.

The existing branch in Louth will initially be retained while new premises are developed.

JG Paxton & Sons grows

Case IH dealership JG Paxton & Sons is to take over J Wood & Son (Bilsdale Ploughs), expanding its territory in the North East and Yorkshire.

It has added J Wood and Son’s business in Kirbymoorside to the four depots it already runs, at Pity Me, Northallerton, Alnwick and Bentham.

Russells takes on RES

Russells has taken over neighbouring New Holland dealership RES.

The firm, which is based in Malton, North Yorkshire, currently has nine depots across Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire, and plans to retain RES’s Harby facility near Melton Mowbray.

New Holland rejigs Scottish territory

New Holland has made a handful of changes to its Scottish dealer network.

The first is Agricar, which is to expand on the east coast to cover the Fife area.

It will continue to offer the full range of products and parts from existing depots in Forfar, Stirling, Perth, Laurencekirk and Blairgowrie, and will open a new hub in the Fife region.

Ravenhill, based in Elgin, retains its territory in the north of Scotland.

Bryson Tractors will spread into Ayrshire and West Lothian, taking over the current Agricar site in Dundonald that it will run alongside its base at Lanark.

Lloyd has been charged with covering Midlothian and East Lothian, and has taken on the existing Lothian NH Ag depot at Macmerry Industrial Estate, Tranent.

It retains its existing New Holland depots in southern Scotland and the Borders region at Kelso and Dumfries.

RW Crawford adds Agwood

© RW Crawford

RW Crawford has acquired fellow Agco dealer Agwood, meaning the business now covers swathes of Essex, east Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

The three existing Agwood depots, at Swingfield and Linton in Kent, and Godstone in Surrey, will continue operating under the Agwood trading name.

But the acquisition of the multi-branch operation means Crawfords can expand within Agco’s brand separation policy for Massey Ferguson, Fendt and Valtra.

Grundy Agricultural closes

After almost 40 years of trading, Grundy Agricultural, based at Washingborough, Lincoln, closed its gates for the last time at the end of March.

The business had sold machinery from the likes of Amazone, Deutz-Fahr, Weidemann, Bomford Turner, Weaving and McHale.

Cornthwaite expands Strautmann offering

© Strautmann

Strautmann forage and feeding wagons are now available through Cornthwaite Group’s depots in Nantwich, Bispham Green, Kendal, Carlisle and Dumfries.

The John Deere dealer already had a long-standing agreement with UK importer Opico – in particular, with the sales and service of Maschio Gaspardo flail mowers, cultivators and precision drills.

Vicon extends network in Norfolk

Vicon has appointed Norfolk-based SAS Agri to strengthen its presence across East Anglia.

Based at Mautby, near Great Yarmouth, SAS Agri has been steadily expanding since new owners Richard Gay and Emma Davey bought the company from founder Alan Suffling.

The agreement takes the dealership into new market sectors with Vicon’s range of sprayers, fertiliser spreaders and grass harvesting machinery.

Highwood to sell Claydon kit

© Claydon

Dorset machinery dealer Highwood has taken on sales and service responsibilities for Claydon’s portfolio of drills and cultivators.

The outfit, which is based at the Grove Trading Estate in Dorchester and is already a main dealer for Kubota, has three machines to run in the demonstration fleet – a 3m Evolution drill with front cutting discs, a 7.5m straw harrow and a 6m Terrastar rotary cultivator.

AgVantage and Chantry Dammann join forces

© Dammann

East Anglian dealer AgVantage is now selling machinery from German sprayer maker Dammann after agreeing a deal with the Scunthorpe-based UK importer, Chantry Dammann.

It will offer sales and support to customers across Norfolk, Suffolk and the south-east of England, alongside its existing range of Dewulf and Miedema equipment.

Claas expands factory and ends forage wagon production

© Claas

Claas is to invest €40m (£34m) in its Bad Saulgau plant – the factory used to manufacture the vast majority of its grass harvesting machinery – with the aim of increasing capacity.

This should free up more production space for its Orbis maize header, and the 900 model in particular – for which it has reported particularly high demand.

The company also plans to update and expand its range of mowers, tedders swathers and balers over the next few years.

The changes involve the cessation of Cargos forage wagon production, which Claas says is motivated by declining global demand.

Owners will still be able to access spare parts and customer service for the Cargos series.

Big guns invest in AgXeed

© AgXeed

Dutch autonomous tractor maker AgXeed has been the subject of financial investments from Amazone and Claas.

Claas, through its Seed Green Innovations arm, first invested in AgXeed in spring 2021 and the two companies now plan to work more closely on product development, sales and service.

They have also penned a distribution agreement, under which selected dealers in Germany and Switzerland will sell the AgBot range of autonomous vehicles.

These include the 154hp tracked version, unveiled in 2020; the three-wheeler for orchards and vineyards; and the 74hp, four-wheeled diesel-electric model launched earlier this year.

Amazone has also taken a financial interest in the company and is now a “strategic partner”, with the aim of further developing its mounted implements to work on autonomous power units in the field.

The tracked AgBot has already been used in trials with the firm’s cultivation and seeding equipment.

New Holland snaps up Specialty spray booms

CNH Industrial has announced it has acquired Specialty Enterprises, one of North America’s largest manufacturers of premium aluminium spray booms for agricultural applications.

This deal will provide New Holland customers with access to wider booms and enable the brand to accelerate the development of new technologies.

Specialty, based in Wautoma, Wisconsin, US, had already been a supplier to New Holland for more than a decade.

Bobcat certifies used kit

Bobcat has launched “Bobcat Certified” through its dealers in the UK and Ireland.

With demand for new machines currently outstripping supply, the scheme offers customers the chance to buy used machines that have been through a rigorous two-step servicing and inspection process, involving safety and operational checks carried out by Bobcat dealers.

All approved machines get a 12-month/1,000-hour warranty as standard.

JOZ captures Fullwood

Dutch firm JOZ, which specialises in the production of slurry- and feed-pushing robots, has bought Ellesmere-based Fullwood Packo.

The deal includes its range of conventional and robotic milking systems, cooling equipment and herd management software.

Fullwood’s headquarters and factory will remain in Shropshire, with JOZ promising heavy investment in product innovation to refine the milking systems – primarily with developments in software and data collection.

Fendt gets new paint shop

Almost €18m (£16m) has gone into a new paint shop and logistics facility at Fendt’s Hohenmolsen plant near Leipzig, Germany.

The site is used to produce the firm’s Katana foragers and Rogator self-propelled sprayers, as well as components for its tractors, combines, round balers and forage wagons.