Machinery dealer Ernest Doe & Sons has been appointed by Opico to distribute the Maschio range. Pictured (left to right) are Opico sales manager Charles Bedforth; Ernest Doe sales director Graham Parker; Maschio's Alessandro Cazin and Opico's Maschio product specialist David Day.

Opico has appointed Ernest Doe & Sons to distribute the Maschio range of cultivation machinery across the Eastern Counties and South-east of England. Based at Ulting in Essex, Ernest Doe is the UK's largest agricultural machinery dealership. It operates east of a line from the Wash to the Solent and has premises at 19 locations across the region.

Craig Thomson (left) welcomes Ian Gate from Carrs Billington to the Simba dealership network.

Simba Great Plains has appointed Carrs Billington Machinery as its appointed dealers for the North of England and part of South-west Scotland.

The top-of-the-range Deutz-Fahr Agrotron X offers up to 275hp.

Two more major dealerships – West Mid Tractors in Shropshire and Uphill & Son in Somerset – have been appointed to market the Deutz-Fahr tractor range.

Bigwood & Partners will be selling Deutz-Fahr combines as well as the brand's tractor range.

Same Deutz-Fahr has appointed two new dealers, both of which are well-established companies that recently lost their main dealer status with other brands. Somerset-based Bigwood & Partners was formerly with Massey Ferguson, while Cumbria's Taylor & Braithwaite was, until recently, a John Deere dealer. Both will now be marketing the Deutz-Fahr brand which offers tractors from 30-300hp.

John Deere's European Parts Distribution Centre has officially inaugurated its new deconsolidation and packaging facility at Bruchsal, Germany, that will help to streamline parts logistics and further enhance the supply of parts to John Deere dealers and customers throughout Europe, the CIS, Northern Africa and the Near and Middle East.

New Holland's European vice president, Carlo Lambro (left) with Basildon and Billericay MP John Baron (centre) and New Holland's UK managing director, Andrew Watson.

New Holland has opened a new Customer Centre at its Basildon, Essex, tractor plant.

Deutz-Fahr is building 200 TTV models with gold pearlised paint and chrome trim to mark the 20th anniversary of the brand's CVT gearbox. Scheduled to be built in December 2011/January 2012, it is hoped some will make their way to UK dealers.

Same Deutz-Fahr has appointed new dealers to cover the Argyll, Lancashire and Cumbria areas. All three will be marketing the Deutz-Fahr tractor range which spans the 60-275hp and includes high-powered CVT tractors.

What's new in Farming managing editor Graeme Kirk reports on some of the new machines on show at Agritechnica 2012. Held in mid-November at Hanover, Germany, the event attracted more than 400,000 visitors including more than 100,000 from outside Germany.

Massey Ferguson is strengthening its position in west Somerset and north Devon with the appointment of Compass Tractors for sales and aftersales support for its tractors, combine harvesters and full range of equipment.

Sutterton, Lincolnshire-based Burdens Group has been appointed a New Holland main dealer.

Same Deutz-Fahr has signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement with the Chinese company Shandong Changlin Agricultural Equipment Co Ltd to build tractors for the Chinese market.

Vicon has continued the expansion of its dealer network with the appointment of the Darley Dale branch of the Platts Harris business.

Horsch UK has announced that it will support its UK customers from a centralised parts centre at Bourne, Lincolnshire, that opened in June.

Italian machinery manufacturer Maschio Gaspardo has announced that the distribution of Maschio products in the UK has been taken on by Opico. The Bourne, Lincolnshire-based company will start supplying drills and flail mowers with immediate effect, and will take on the distribution of the power harrows, rotary cultivators and Maschio spare parts – currently handled by Reco – from November 1, 2011.

LandMec, of Ivybridge, Devon, has announced that all responsibility for sales activities for the Orsi range of hedgecutters and flail mowers will retrun to Orsi Group SRL on September 1, 2011.

Service and parts support for Bauer slurry handling equipment is now easier for farmers across the Central Belt of Scotland following the appintment of McCaskie Farm Supplies as a dealer for the Austrian manufacturer's extensive range.

Landini users in Central Scotland have a new source of tractors, replacement parts, workshop repairs and on-farm servicing now that David Walkinshaw's DHW Tractors operation at Carnwath in Lanarkshire has been appointed to the dealer network.

Farm machinery dealer John Charnley & Sons has reached a milestone by supplying 100 tractors in its Lancashire territory since taking on the McCormick retail sales and service franchise four years ago.

A young engineer has returned to his farming roots by taking on the role of sales and service dealer for Landini tractors in Lancashire.

A new agricultural machinery dealership - Cheshire Farm Machinery - has been launched by Andrew Dutton and Stephen Sykes. Based near Northwich, the new company is marketing the Same and Deutz-Fahr tractor ranges to farmers in the county.

A 28-year-old agricultural engineer who used to manage tractor testing and development at the McCormick tractor plant in Doncaster has launched a new business supplying the machines to farmers in South Yorkshire, north-west Lincolnshire and northern Nottinghamshire.

Same Deutz-Fahr has appointed Creran Engineering as its new Deutz-Fahr dealer in Argyll. Based just north of Oban, the company is headed up by Ewen Macgillvray, who started the business two years ago.

Reco has announced that its franchise and importer relationship with Italian manufacturer Maschio Gaspardo SpA will end.

McCormick tractor dealer Hilton Machinery has moved into new premises at Market Drayton, Shropshire, that are within sight of the firm's service support partner Chris Evans Farm Services.

Kuhn Group has announced the acquisition of Krause Corporation, a privately held North American leader in the field of tillage equipment and grain drills based at Hutchinson, Kansas, USA.

Cornwall Farmers has completed the sale of its agricultural machinery business, which is now being run by two new John Deere franchises in the county.

New Holland has strengthened its UK dealer network with the addition of J&S Lewis Ltd, a family-run business in Lancashire that has been established for more than 30 years.

Storti, the Italian manufacturer of diet feeders, straw spreaders and telescopic handlers, is to enter the UK market with its own dealer sales organisation.

Horsch will launch a new business, Horsch UK Ltd, on 1 January 2011 to act as the sole importer of the company's drilling and cultivation equipment in the UK and Ireland.

Claas dealer Seward's newly redeveloped branch at Sinderby near Thirsk, North Yorkshire was officially opened on November 17. The impressive new purpose-built facility, which is located right alongside the A1, provides Seward and its staff with one of the most modern dealership premises in the UK.