Awards for ingenuity and inventiveness in agricultural equipment at the RDS Spring Show.
There are two awards categories sponsored by the FBD Trust this year. The Prototype Awards are presented for designs which have potential for commercial development, and The Premier Awards are for machinery and equipment which is commercially available, but not necessarily manufactured in Ireland.
Many of them are the brainchildren of farmers themselves.
There are seventeen entries on display that are vying for the Premier Awards. Among them are a six-furrow semi-mounted plough whose design reduces fuel costs, and the Fleming Stockmaster, which incorporates tasks such as placing silage accurately into feeding troughs and spreading slurry.
Richard Butler of Danesfort in Kilkenny received a Prototype Award for his ewe cradle, which he designed and constructed himself. It allows the farmer to safely restrain ewes during veterinary treatment or inspections.
Pat Comerford is one of the experts who adjudicated on this year's Premier Awards which are designed to
Highlight new and interesting machines.
The Prototype Awards have a slightly different focus, as they
Encourage inventors to come forward because they are really the basis of a sort of viable manufacturing industry.
This report for 'Landmark’ was broadcast on 6 May 1984. The reporter is Kieran Kissane.
'Landmark' was a series which dealt with farming and environmental issues throughout Ireland.
