Jim Breen

Jim Breen Profile Picture

Jim Breen is from a farming background. He studied Engineering in University College Dublin. He worked for agricultural media outlets and, most recently, was the mechanisation advisor for DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs) and engineering programme manager at CAFRE (College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise). He now lives in Offaly.

Finnish firm launches 400hp flagship tractor
Finnish firm launches 400hp flagship tractor

Valtra recently expanded its 4th generation S Series upwards, with the addition of the new S394 model. Producing 405hp and...

Video: Need to feed your silage faster? Check out this monster shear grab
Video: Need to feed your silage faster? Check out this monster shear grab

Dutch firm AP Machinebouw recently designed and manufactured what is being described as the world’s biggest shear grab. The grab...

Pics: Deere fleet tackles into silage campaign in Kilkenny…in April
Pics: Deere fleet tackles into silage campaign in Kilkenny…in April

Multi-depot John Deere dealer TFM sent in these pictures, showing one of its customers tackling into the 2017 silage campaign...

874 miles and almost 5 days on a ‘lawn’ tractor…but why?
874 miles and almost 5 days on a ‘lawn’ tractor…but why?

Prison officer Andy Maxfield from Lancashire, England, is aiming to break a six-year-old Guinness World Record by driving from John...

Chart: Fendt holds 4 of the 5 top positions in German tractor rankings
Chart: Fendt holds 4 of the 5 top positions in German tractor rankings

Registration statistics in Germany, for 2016, show that four Fendt tractor models are among the top-five models (of all brands)...

Global farm machinery ‘giant’ passes away
Global farm machinery ‘giant’ passes away

Robert J Ratliff, who founded agricultural equipment manufacturer AGCO, has died. AGCO is the parent company which owns iconic brands...

Amazone opens new €20m ‘state-of-the-art’ paint facility
Amazone opens new €20m ‘state-of-the-art’ paint facility

German machinery manufacturer Amazone – represented here in Ireland by Farmhand – has opened a new €20 million paint facility...

Video: Hook up your hitch, hydraulics, electrics and PTO – without leaving the seat
Video: Hook up your hitch, hydraulics, electrics and PTO – without leaving the seat

Danish company Siwi claims to have the ultimate quick-hitch for a tractor. Its system incorporates not only a quick-coupling hitch, but...

Tractor ‘ball and spoon’ gets hitched…to a growing network of Irish dealers
Tractor ‘ball and spoon’ gets hitched…to a growing network of Irish dealers

Ten prominent farm machinery dealers have lined up behind Fastparts – the parts and components division of farm machinery distributor...

Video: Pulling a set of discs…with your combine
Video: Pulling a set of discs…with your combine

Disc harrows and cultivators typically need to be worked relatively fast, in order to do their job. This is because...

Miniature loader is a ‘Dapper’ addition to the market
Miniature loader is a ‘Dapper’ addition to the market

There is growing interest in miniature wheeled loading shovels, as farmers seek costs-effective and flexible options for feeding, clearing out...

New ‘compact, professional-spec’ silage wagon hits the market
New ‘compact, professional-spec’ silage wagon hits the market

Austrian manufacturer Pottinger has extended its Torro Combiline series with the new 5510 Combiline self-loading silage wagon. This “professional-spec” model’s key selling...

Video: A high-spec Deere ‘talks’ to a spreader…to boost accuracy
Video: A high-spec Deere ‘talks’ to a spreader…to boost accuracy

ISOBUS is an international technology protocol, that allows tractors to communicate electronically with compatible implements, regardless of brand or manufacturer....

Plans confirmed for next year’s Irish ‘Grass & Muck’, as UK version opens next month
Plans confirmed for next year’s Irish ‘Grass & Muck’, as UK version opens next month

While there is no FTMTA (Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association) Grass & Muck event this year, the association has...

‘Blue’ tractor marathon to stop in Galway…on an overseas adventure
‘Blue’ tractor marathon to stop in Galway…on an overseas adventure

The Blue Force tractor club is currently undertaking a ‘Coastline Tractor Challenge’ to celebrate a century of blue tractor manufacturing. The...

Pics: Growing tally of tractors and machinery booked in for major Portlaoise auction
Pics: Growing tally of tractors and machinery booked in for major Portlaoise auction

Hennessy Auctioneers is hosting its monthly farm and plant machinery auction on Saturday, April 22 in Portlaoise Mart at 11.30am. Several...

Pics: Cork man builds up 11,000-strong photo archive – mostly depicting machinery
Pics: Cork man builds up 11,000-strong photo archive – mostly depicting machinery

Cork man Shane Casey has built up a massive archive of striking photographs, most of which depict farm machinery at...

Giant Case IH prairie beast ‘sets new world benchmark for power and efficiency’
Giant Case IH prairie beast ‘sets new world benchmark for power and efficiency’

The largest model in Case IH’s range of wheeled tractors has set new records in the USA. The tractor was...