LAMMA BUCKS THE INDUSTRY MOOD

Martin Rickatson, Service Dealer's agricultural machinery editor, writes . . .

The attendance at this week’s LAMMA, the annual January farm machinery, agricultural supply and service exhibition held across two days at Birmingham’s NEC, suggested that despite agriculture’s economic and political challenges, there may be cause for cautious optimism among farm machinery dealers.

Well over 40,000 visitors were reckoned to have passed through the doors, sustaining the numbers of recent events, and while entry is free - in exchange for visitor data with valuable marketing potential - and the show is held at a time of year that’s generally the quietest on most farms, many standholders appear to feel that it still seems to draw those with serious investment intentions as well as others simply seeking a day out.

Exhibitor numbers were also holding up well, with over 650 taking stands across more than 85,000 sq m of floor space. Multinational firms such as CNH and AGCO - John Deere and Claas remain absent - chose the event to give UK debuts to a number of machines launched internationally during 2024, while UK manufacturers including Knight, Richard Western, Claydon and others showed new products, and importers from Boss ORV to KRM displayed product range additions. Add in a strong attendance from dealers, and the show had a positive mood about it.

 A full round-up of the event will appear in the next issue of Service Dealer.