Episode 77

ELIZABETHAN AGE Part One: Horses to Horsepower

IN the first part of this two-part episode, I look at the advances in farm machinery during the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 year reign – from 1952 to 2022.

From an age when horses were still at work on many UK farms but tractors were becoming more affordable, spearheaded by the iconic little Grey Fergie - up to today's highly mechanised farm featuring autonomous tractors, guidance systems and ultimate comfort and convenience for operators.

My guest is Charlie Nicklin, chief executive of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE). Prior to joining IAGRE two years ago, Charlie spent 24 years in engineering roles with JCB Landpower, working on the design of several of the company’s well known products.

In this informal chat, we could only scratch the surface on how we got from there to now . .

Institution of Agricultural Engineers

About the Podcast

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INSIDE AGRI-TURF
The farm and grass machinery business

About your host

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Chris Biddle

Chris is an experienced journalist specialising in the farm and grass machinery market. He has worked for a major tractor manufacturer and been a managing director of a farm and grass machinery dealership in the West Country.
In 1988, he launched trade magazine, Service Dealer followed by TurfPro in 1998, selling both titles to Land Power Publications in 2015.
He was editor of Landwards, the professional journal of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) from 2008 until 2019 and is the recipient of the 2020 IAgrE Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Land-Based industry.
Chris lives in Salisbury with his wife Trish, and is an avid cricket fan and member of the MCC for over 55 years.