The relationship farmers have with their machinery dealer is a bit like with their doctor. They need someone who is not too far away, good at listening and really good in an emergency.

In fact, dealers play a vital part in the success of the agricultural sector. There have been several changes to dealership franchises over the past couple of months, including Burdens, Farol and R Hunt. 

See also: Ultimate guide to tractor tyre management

Farol takes on Kuhn responsibilities for central and southern England

Kuhn has appointed Farol as an additional dealer of its full range of agricultural and amenity equipment for central and southern England, joining the firm’s existing list of franchisees.

The appointment, which is effective immediately, will see all six of Farol’s depots – at Hinckley in Leicestershire, Byfield in Northamptonshire, Shefford Woodlands and Wokingham in Berkshire, Milton Common in Oxfordshire and Midhurst in West Sussex – become official stockists and service support dealers. 

Kuhn has also appointed Agricar as a new dealer for central Scotland, which means all six Agricar depots will be stockists and support dealers for the full range of Kuhn kit.

Battlefield Machinery to be parts and service centre for Standen Engineering

Spud specialist Standen Engineering has appointed Shrewsbury firm Battlefield Machinery as its service and parts centre in the west of England.

The east of England, northern England and Scotland are covered by service depots at Standen’s head office in Ely and Burrelton in Perthshire.

In addition to the Standen range, Battlefield also sells Kubota and Kverneland implements, Vicon sprayers, Marshall trailers, McConnel hedgecutters, Pichon spreading equipment and the range from Browns Engineering.

New Holland dealer Burdens Group acquires Lincolnshire Motors  

New Holland dealer Burdens has acquired Lincolnshire Motors – a deal that increases Burdens’ coverage to nearly the whole county of Lincolnshire.

The former Lincolnshire Motors territory in north Lincolnshire will be managed from the existing Louth and Brigg depots, and will continue to use the Lincolnshire Motors trading name. The Burdens Group will retain its depots in Sutterton, North Kyme and Wrangle.

Bauer appoints Burdens for crop irrigation solutions in Lincolnshire

Burdens will also handle the Bauer irrigator range of hose reels, centre pivots, rainguns and sprinkler booms for local customers throughout Lincolnshire, east Nottinghamshire and north Cambridgeshire.

The Bauer appointment comes during a period when Burdens is rejuvenating its presence in the specialist horticulture sector, having successfully handled the transition to the New Holland range of tractors and combines and other agricultural products.

Hunt and New Forest agree John Deere dealership merger

The family owners of John Deere dealerships R Hunt and New Forest Farm Machinery have signed an agreement to merge their two businesses under the new name Hunt Forest Group. The agreement will take effect on 1 January 2019. Until that time, the two dealers will continue to trade as normal.

Hunt Forest Group will operate from the same outlets across southern England, with the same staff.

R Hunt has four outlets covering Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey and the Isle of Wight, while New Forest Farm Machinery trades from two outlets – one in Hampshire and one at recently opened turf premises in Somerset.

RW Crawford opens new state-of-the-art depot at Writtle

RW Crawford has relocated to a purpose-built, state-of-the-art depot at Writtle, on the outskirts of Chelmsford, Essex.

Built on a three-acre greenfield site at a cost of about £3m, the new depot has taken four years from design to completion and includes a six-bay workshop.

With space for 12 tractors and tall enough to house combine harvesters, the workshop also offers room to support neighbouring Writtle University’s engineering department.