At last month's Agritechnica show (in Germany), AgriLand spoke to Francesco Quaranta (vice-president of the Sales & Marketing division - Massey Ferguson Europe & Middle East).

In this video (below – shot by AgriLand’s own Kevin Farrell), he firstly told us about Massey Ferguson's 'NEXT' concept tractor - a prototype that has attracted considerable attention.

Francesco explained: "This tractor is making two big statements.

"That’s the first statement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8VhwqhgwPY&feature=youtu.be

"This is, at the moment, only a concept tractor; there is nothing more than that - so you still have the ranges coming up in the marketplace."

He continued: "The second important item is the user interface. We are studying very hard how to make working these highly-advanced tractors affordable, but also very easy to use."

Francesco also talked (in the video) about the 'NEXT Edition' tractors - special-edition versions (pictured below) of current models that are available now (unlike the concept tractor - mentioned above).

He explained: "With the 'NEXT Edition' what we have done is we have pulled together all the most-sold options for these two very popular tractor ranges - the MF 7700 S and the MF 5700 S.

"We have looked - market-by-market - at what was wanted most by customers; and embarked on that...to give the best possible value for customers.

"We have bundled all the most popular , coupled with a very nice, attractive financial tool - so that people can access technology but still we can make it affordable."

He added: "The reason why we wanted to have them with this 'limited' black or red is because this is a limited-edition - first-come-first-served.

Francesco went on (in the video) to talk specifically about the tractor market in Ireland - saying: "In Ireland, it's going very, very well.

"I’m proud of Ireland. Ireland is the biggest market share for Massey Ferguson in Europe. I look forward to the close of this year because may give us a very pleasant surprise!"