MORE than 10,000 farmers, construction workers and professional grass cutting contractors are expected to flock to Ulting this weekend for the 55th annual Doe show.
The show, which runs from Tuesday, February 3, to Thursday 5, is a chance for more than 150 suppliers, including organisers Ernest Doe and Sons Ltd, to show-off their tractors, construction and cultivation equipment to a mass audience.
Founded in 1898, Ernest Doe is a family-run business with more than 500 employees and has held an annual show at its HQ off Maldon Road since 1960.
Derek Marriott, marketing manager, told the Chronicle: "We always look forward to the show and work begins the day after we finish on next year's show.
"It's unique to have all of this equipment and the demonstrations all in one place and we hope to have a lot of visitors next week."
There will be new machinery stands for New Holland Agriculture, Manitou, Lemken, KRM, Shelbourne Reynolds, Great Plains, Lely, Marshall Trailers, Bomford, Maschio and other major agricultural franchises.
As usual there will be a large selection of used machinery, with ex-demo machines, shop soiled equipment and famous 'Doe tractors'. In the construction area will be a display from Hyundai, New Holland Construction, Thwaites, Bomag and other manufacturers.
Graham Parker, sales director at Ernest Doe, added: "This is the most important three days in the company's year.
"It offers the opportunity for our customers to pick up a bargain from our extensive range of used and ex-demonstration machinery and also to talk about new machinery with the technical staff of the machinery manufacturers that we represent."
One of the highlights of the show will be the record-breaking CR10.90 combine harvester from New Holland, which during the summer of 2014 took the Guinness World Record for harvesting 800 tonnes of wheat in just eight hours.
In the agricultural demonstration area, both New Holland and Case IH tractors will be working with a variety of implements.
And going through their paces on the construction side there will be a Hyundai excavator, Thwaites dumpers and Bomag light compaction equipment.
For groundcare and forestry contractors, interest will focus on the demonstrations of chainsaws, wood chippers and quad bikes.
This year's show will be particularly poignant as it will be the first without former chairman Alan Ernest Doe, who died, aged 85, in July.
Derek Marriot, who was Ernest's son-in-law, said: "He enjoyed every day, but he loved the show, which gave him a chance to catch up with a lot of people he knew in the industry."
Entry to the show is free and for more information call 01245 380311.
