The shake down of the agreement, which came into effect at the start of October, will see a steady roll out of Lely gear rebranded as Massey Ferguson and a consolidation of some product lines.

Lely has a well-known presence in Australia, especially in the hay and forage market with an extensive range including round balers, loader wagons, rakes, tedders, mowers and the Tulip range of tillage products.

The agreement does not include Lely’s dairy division which will continue to operate in its own right as it focuses on its automated and milking robotic systems.

Warwick McCormick, managing director of AGCO ANZ and Lely’s country manager, Mark Smyth were at the Elmore Field Days in Victoria this week.

McCormick said AGCO dealers and customers will now be able to benefit from one of the best hay and forage product lines in the industry and a very experienced and professional support team.

“The acquisition of Lely’s forage division offers a great opportunity to add world-class products to AGCO’s existing hay range which in Australia we offer with the Massey Ferguson brand and includes square balers, swathers, rakes, tedders mowers and telehandlers.”

Smyth said the 2017 hay season will be “business as usual” with customers being able to choose from the same Lely product lines from their current local dealer.

“The integration of the two groups is an exciting opportunity as we join forces with one of the world’s largest agricultural machinery companies,” said Smyth.

A new division has been created within AGCO called Green Harvesting which will be dedicated to the hay and forage business.

Part of the integration plan over time will include the consolidation of selected AGCO and Lely product lines which will in large be based on performance of the product and sales volumes.