The Farmers Mart Feb-Mar 2020 - Issue 67 | Page 48

48 RIPON FARM SERVICES
FEB/MAR 2020 • farmers-mart.co.uk
RIPON FARM OPEN DAY EVENT
STARTS THE YEAR IN STYLE
RIPON Farm Services’
New Year open day event
is always one to look
forward to. It is a major
event, both in size and
content. The Yorkshire
Event Centre is a perfect
venue having nearly
everything under cover,
which is very a welcome
break from the usual cold
and wet January weather.
However, the sun was
shining this year, which
meant even more farmers
taking advantage of the
outside display of tractors
for sale and the all-impor-
tant demonstration area.
The show is a big
undertaking and takes a
week from set up to close.
Dan Robinson is the man
responsible for all the
organisation. Every year
is that bit different, both in
layout and the machinery
on display. One thing that
doesn’t change is that
every franchise Ripon
Farm have is represented
at the show, including all
the parts, accessories
tools etc. Following their
popularity in 2019 for
the first time, there were
three training seminars
running on both days from
John Deere (Agriculture’s
Digital Revolution),
Bridgestone (Choosing
the Right Farm Tyres) and
KUHN (Achieving Quality
Forage).
Manufacturers are
encouraged to bring along
any new models etc. This
year it was the turn of the
mighty John Deere, with
both the new M Series
tractors plus and the
industry’s very first fixed
farm four-track tractor,
the all new 8RX. Kramer
also cut a dash with their
new KL55.8T Telescopic
Wheeled Loader and
their stunning Black
Edition Telehandler – this
caused a real stir, with
two being sold directly
after the show. Dalbo are
celebrating 10 years in the
UK with a competition
to win a 3-day trip to
Denmark in 2021, which
includes a factory visit and
gala dinner - this was on
display at the event. The
competition runs until 30th
September on any Dalbo
machine purchased.
They also had two special
edition rollers in black on
display.
Even though the event
always looks good and is
well laid out, it would be
no good without staff on
hand. Ripon excels here,
with every depot and
department represented,
specialist salesmen
for every brand are on
hand as well as technical
support staff from the
manufacturers. New this
year, were representatives
from all 11-service depart-
ments including managers,
Continued on page 50
technicians and appren-
tices who were on hand
to answer any questions
and queries. The parts
department were also on
hand, along with many
of the key suppliers such
as STIHL, Vapourmatic
and Draper. Groundcare
is an important side to
Ripon’s business and again
experts from all depart-
ments were there, as
well as a comprehensive
product display.
To complement the
myriad of experts and
technicians, Geoff Brown
was there from the start,
spending most of the entire
two days doing what he
enjoys most - talking to
customers old and new.