The great showpiece for the European machinery business that is Agritechnica, is once again in full swing, with over 2,800 exhibitors filling the 96 acres of exhibition space at Hanover in Germany.

Of those, 960 were German and 15 were from the Irish Republic, with 59 from the United Kingdom.

It is a show dominated by German companies, although its influence spreads worldwide with a good smattering of visitors from all over the globe being present.

After a four year break, this year saw many of the companies involved launching their new products before the event which, as one exhibitor explained, was a triumph of marketing departments over their engineering colleagues, who always tended to work on a cycle dictated by the show.

This has meant that there were few, if any, great shocks at the show; yet it was not at all without interest, and there was plenty that was new, but the developments were incremental rather than ground breaking.

As has already been reported, it was the Claas Xerion that walked away with the Tractor of the Year (TOTY) award. Even at 656hp it was not the biggest at the show, that honour went to the Case 715 Quadtrac which can pump out a massive 778hp at its peak.

Massey Ferguson was showing off its new flagship 9S range with the 425hp 9S.425. There are to be six models in this range covering running from 285hp up to 425hp, and it is the top model that had been brought along.

All six models are equipped Dyna-VT transmission and have with MF Guide and MF Connect fitted as standard. There are also a selection of new options, including MF AutoTurn and AutoHeadland.

What was of equal interest to industry watchers at Agritechnica, was that Fendt took up around half of the AGCO stand, with Valtra and Massey Ferguson having to share the rest.

There were few regular-sized tractors that genuinely stood out from the crowd this year, but a couple that did catch the eye were the McCormick X5 HC and the TAF 690 S5.

The McCormick X5 HC is a speciality tractor equipped with narrow wheels of equal size that renders it somewhat reminiscent of County tractors circa 1970.

Being restricted to working between crop rows and rice plantings, the only way to gain traction on skinny wheels is to increase their diameter, however, the turning circle does suffer as a consequence.

The other machine is the TAF 690 S5 from Romania which is a forestry tractor, and while many tractors from Eastern Europe do not meet the emissions standards set by the EU, this one is powered by a 136hp Perkins which meets the Tier V thresholds, enabling it to be sold throughout Europe.

We have been hearing a great deal about digital technology over the last few years, with full autonomy being the goal of many tractor manufacturers; yet that still appears to be someway off despite the initial optimism.

Lemken and Krone have clubbed together to in a research project that has resulted in a robotic tractor which is autonomy ready, but there is still the question of just what level of supervision is required.

This is proving a difficult one to answer, but in the meantime both companies brought their respective machines along, which are bigger in life than the photos so far released suggest.

New Holland were also amongst the prizes at Agritechnica with Farm Machine 2024, being awarded to its T7.270 Methane Powered tractor, which is its new entry in the brand’s alternative fuel tractor portfolio.

It features an evolution of the methane-fueled engine currently used on the T6.180 Methane Power. Production of the T7.270 is set to start in second half of 2024 at New Holland’s factory in Basildon, Essex.

Case are celebrating the centenary of the Farmall brand this year, and to help mark this milestone the company brought along a Farmall FC from the fifties to Agritechnica.

These tractors would have have been the major source of power on many American farms of the time, but it is doubtful that any left the factory in as super smart a condition as this example, a credit to whoever undertook the task.