Author: National Ploughing Association

McAree Engineering

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McAree Engineering will have a vintage Farmall Super A from the late 1940’s (see photo)  which they believe is the only one in Ireland.  It has been restored by Benny McCabe in Monaghan.

McAree will be displaying their full range of V-Mac silos on their stand – with single and split silos along with legged, offset and enclosed options available to check out.  This year they will also have one of their feeder wagon storage solutions – their enclosed silo with feeder wagon augur fitted to it.  Their very popular tote bins will also be on display. The feed silos are constructed using Magizinc, a modern steel that provides the extremely high levels of protection against corrosion and with exclusive interlocked forming and are incredibly strong. 

McAree make their silos different from anyone else as the rolled body construction ensures a smooth inside wall helping excellent product flow and super-strength construction. Suitable for the agricultural, biomass, waste water treatment and plastics industries – V-Mac silos are available in a range of styles and formats. 

In addition McAree will be featuring the award winning SiloSpi feed silo monitoring solution, featuring Lvlogics software and monitoring application. This innovative technology is solar powered, with a lid fitted silo monitor, is easy to install and trouble free.

According to Peter Richardson, Sales & Marketing Manager “it is the easiest and quickest way to accurately monitor the volume and quality of the dairy, pig or poultry ration in your feed silo.

Visitors to Stand No. 40 on Block 2 (Row 2) also have the opportunity to win a V-Mac feed barrow valued at €400. McAree technical advisors on the stand will include Fergal Sherry, Noel Kiely, Peter Richardson along with Barry & Eileen Finnegan from Lvlogics Ltd . 

McAree Engineering has been helping farmers to protect their feed since the 1960’s when Vincent McAree designed and manufactured the very first V-Mac feed silo. V-Mac silos are constructed using Magizinc, a modern steel that provides the extremely high levels of protection against corrosion and with exclusive interlocked forming and are incredibly strong.

McAree now has one of the most modern manufacturing facilities in Europe. This family owned business has developed a reputation for Quality, Value, and Customer Service over the last 75 years. They focus on the design and manufacture of sheet metal fabrication solutions for the industrial and agricultural sectors.

Operating across three factory units in North Monaghan, they have an strong machine capability including a Trumpf 8000 Trulaser with 12m x 2.5m laser bed and a 7m wide, 600 ton EHT Press Brake leading their suite of Lasers and Press Brakes.

The modern manufacturing facilities are operated by a 180+ strong team of experienced professionals whose focus is on delivering quality products to all customers on-time, in full, all the time. They offer a  full outsource sheet metal service from design through to laser cutting, folding,  fabrication, dry powder paint coating and assembly in addition to the design and manufacture of V-Mac Silos.  

McAree Engineering are committed to achieving the highest quality of engineering – from design, to fabrication, delivery and project management. They are proud to have achieved the Certification of CE Marking (EN1090) up to and including Execution Class 2 (EXC2).

 The management system is accredited to ISO9001:2015 (Quality), ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental) & ISO 45001:2018  to ensure that everything manufactured is off the highest quality, with minimal risk to the Environment and in the safest possible way.

Check out the V-Mac range of market leading feed silos, tote bins etc on YouTube at www.mcaree-eng.com or at https://www.vmacsilos.ie . For more information please contact McAree Engineering, Ballinode, Co. Monaghan. Tel:  + 353 (0)47 79000 or Peter Richardson, Sales & Marketing Manager. Tel: + 353 (0) 872584584) or Email: peter@mcaree-eng.com

 

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World’s largest batch milking farm unveiled

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DeLaval has announced the largest robot batch milking farm is working well at Lønholm Agro near Kolding, Denmark. The 830 strong pedigree Jersey herd is being milked by 24 VMS™ V310 robots in a unique batch milking system which will enable owner Klaus Jakobsen to grow the herd to 1400 cows in the near future.

“We started milking in May this year and the cows adapted very quickly. Batch milking is the right system for our 700 hectare farm because we needed to reduce our dependence on skilled labour and have a milking method that could be scaled up easily and quickly,” he says. 

DeLaval launched the concept of batch milking in 2021 and there are now 150 VMS robots installed globally, with herd sizes ranging in size from 250 to 2000 cows. Batch milking requires only one unskilled staff member to milk a herd of up to 2000 which makes it attractive to markets where recruitment is difficult and skilled wages are high.

Commenting on the success of batch milking, DeLaval’s Jonas Hällman, Executive Vice President, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) says:

“The VMS batch setup is flexible and can easily be scaled up for a wide variety of farms, including very large ones. In addition, automatic milking requires little manual work, which can reduce labour dependencies and related costs.”

Batch milking has provided Mr Jacobsen with a system that can be managed from anywhere in the world. Using just a mobile device he can monitor the productivity and health of every cow using data sent by the robots.

“I can see milk yield, when and why it has fluctuated, monitor pregnancy using the robot’s progesterone testing module, and also use cameras to observe the cows being at rest and during milking,” he says.

DeLaval suggests that whilst herd sizes are growing worldwide as farms consolidate, batch milking offers a solution to managing growing herds with less dependence on labour and the benefit of more data to improve productivity.

Engineers Ireland

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About Engineers Ireland

Engineers Ireland is the trusted voice of the Engineering profession, with 26,000 members. They will exhibit at the National Ploughing Championships for the first time this year, with the theme ‘Engineering Your Future’.

Dr. Edmond Harty, President

Dr. Edmond Harty (ex Dairymaster) is President of Engineers Ireland and a well-known Engineer.

As you may know, Edmond previously won the prestigious title of Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Edmond will be on site throughout the event, being Engineers Ireland’s primary spokesperson and he will answer any questions about engineering.

President Michael D. Higgins – Honorary Fellow

President Michael D. Higgins is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Ireland. 

Key Focus Areas at Ploughing

Careers

Engineers Ireland will be joined by academic partners, including Heads of Schools of Engineering from universities across Ireland. They will showcase career pathways and opportunities in Engineering via third level and apprenticeship routes.

‘ENG-E’ the Robot, serving Ice Cream

One of the key attractions at Engineers Ireland’s stand is ‘ENG-E’, the ice cream serving robot, who has been created specifically for the National Ploughing Championships to demonstrate the innovation, creativity and potential of the engineering sector in Ireland. The Engineers Ireland robot will also showcase the talent and creativity of our third-level Engineering students.

ENG-E has been developed by a team of researchers at MTU Kerry. Team members will be on site to demonstrate how robots can work alongside humans, allowing us to solve more complex engineering problems-all whilst serving delicious ice cream! 

Formula 1 Type Student Racing Car

Engineers Ireland is collaborating with TU Dublin to showcase their Formula Student Racing car on site, which previously raced at Silverstone. This car was built by third level students in the Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering programme at TU Dublin.

Cyclone Machine

A Cyclone Machine will also be in the stand to engage visitors in the importance of sustainability and innovation, with the title ‘Our climate is changing and we all have a role to play’. Visitors will enter the cyclone machine and try to catch the coloured ball. This will be a fun and interactive educational experience, learning about the role of Engineers in developing innovative solutions to some of society’s more challenging issues.

 

Family firm joins global leader Hiab.

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One of Southern Ireland’s most established truck body manufacturers has been named as an official partner of a global leader in heavy lifting equipment.

Gleeson will already be a familiar name to many companies in the region having grown from a small agricultural equipment provider in 1968 to become a cutting-edge manufacturer of bodies.

Its five decades of market experience have now been recognised by Hiab, the world leading provider of load handling.

The Tipperary-based company will continue its growth as it becomes a leading Hiab sales and service provider in Southern Ireland. Gleeson will be showcasing its partnership at the National Ploughing Championships, taking place 19th to 21st September in Ratheniska, Co. 

Gleeson’s stand will be packed with the latest in Hiab’s product offerings including MULTILIFT and the brand-new HIAB iX 158 HIDUO crane which is set to hit the UK market later this month. The crane is designed to be lighter and stronger than previous generations of Hiab loader cranes and promises customers improved safety, cost efficiency, and performance reliability. 

PJ Gleeson, owner, said: “We already have a very strong reputation here in Southern Ireland having been in operation for 54 years. The partnership with Hiab will help take us to the next level, which is being well known nationally. Hiab is the biggest crane and heavy lifting operator in the world, their products are the best of the best. Customers across Ireland buy them because of the Hiab name. 

“Partnering with Hiab is the perfect fit: we have an established name here in Southern Ireland, and they are known globally so this is the best of both worlds.”

John Carnall, Vice President and Managing Director of Hiab UK & Ireland added: “Gleeson Truck Bodies are a valued partner, and we look forward to working with them to expand our service offering in Southern Ireland. This is yet another step forward for our ambitious plans to continue growing our authorised service centre and dealerships in both the UK and Ireland.

“We will continue to work closely with Gleeson, and other strategic partners, to grow the Hiab footprint so that customers can benefit from local access to our products and service engineers.”