The Tractor of the Year competition is well underway, combining the digital programme that made up last year’s event, with a larger physical presence, hopefully culminating at this year’s EIMA trade fair in Bologna, Italy.
At the heart of the competition is the 26 jury members, representing 25 European countries. The jury works together to assess and judge each of the finalists, usually in field tests, as well as shaping the competition to fully represent ongoing trends in the agricultural industry.
To highlight this, chairman Fabio Zammaretti has spoken to each member of the jury in a special series of videos – A Chat with the Jury. Below you can see each episode on the Farm Contractor YouTube page.
Episode 1 – From Lithuania to Spain
In this episode, we hear from Lithuania’s Gitana Kemeziene (Mano Ukis), Finland’s Tapio Vesterinen (Koneviesti), Belgium’s Peter Menten (Tractor Power), Denmark’s Søren Jægerum Møller (Maskinstationen of Landbrugslederen) and Spain’s Borja Mendieta (Agro Technica).
Episode 2 – Serbia to Switzerland
Fabio Zammaretti speaks to five more jury members; Serbia’s Marija Antanaskovic (Poljoprivrednik), Germany’s Claus Mayer (Traction), Italy’s Stefano Agnellini (Trattori), Norway’s Per Magne Tosse (Bedre Gardsdrift) and Switzerland’s Roman Engeler (Schweizer Landtechnik Technique Agricole).
Episode 3 – Ireland to Holland
Bringing it closer to home, Mr Zammaretti speaks to another selection from the Tractor of the Year jury, with Holland’s Bas van Hattum (Trekker), Ireland’s Noel Dunne (Irish Farmers Monthly), Portugal’s João Sobral (Abolsmia), Poland’s Edmund Lorencowicz (RPT Rolniczy Przeglad Techniczny) and Austria’s Bernhard Weber (Österreicheische Bauernzeitung).
Episode 4 – The UK to Turkey
Featuring our very own Matthew Tilt, this episode sees Mr Zammaretti also speak with; Turkey’s Ömer Kuloğlu (Traktormetre), Solvenia’s Marjan Dolenšek (Kmetovalec), Sweden’s Anders Niléhn (Nilehnteknik) and Greece’s Teodoro Sdroulias (Agrotorama).
Episode 5 – The final episode
In this final episode of A Chat with the Jury, Mr Zammaretti is joined by Martina Karaskova from the Czech Republic (Mechanizace Zemedelstvi), Croatia’s Renata Prusina (Agroklub), Bulgaria’s Svetla Gurbeshkova (Agrocompass), France’s Jean-Paul Hébrard (Powerboost) and Germany’s Jens Noordhof (Lohnunternehmen).