The depth and breadth of agricultural innovation has been highlighted and celebrated at the annual LAMMA Innovation Awards, which saw more than 70 entries vie for top honours.
The awards were sponsored by Firma Foreign Exchange and were open to new products exhibited at the event.
The shortlist was judged by a panel of 10 experts led by John Sartain on the first morning of the LAMMA show, held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough.
The winners were announced at a packed award ceremony later in the day.
The five categories
Crop production equipment – tractors, all field machinery and crop drying, storage and handling equipment.
Livestock equipment – livestock feeding and handling equipment, dairy machinery, milling and mixing and fencing equipment.
Technological – covering the use of new technology, electronics, robotics and GPS.
Environmental – the new product or innovation which has the most impact on the environment.
Farm Machinery and Equipment Innovation Award, in association with the Farmers Guardian.
'Progressive nature' of the machinery sector
Mr Sartain said the awards sought to highlight the progressive nature of the machinery, equipment and service sectors of the agricultural supply industry both locally and nationally.
“The aim is to draw attention to new ideas, products, techniques or service excellence,” he added.
“By taking part in these competitions all exhibitors are winners, because they draw attention to their products whether they win a trophy or not.”
The winners were as follows:
Crop production equipment (The Loven Cup) – Pace Mechanical Handling
The Orion CBC (complete bag control) fully automatic stitching machine grabs and sews filled sacks with repeated accuracy, producing the same finish to every bag.
The machine’s electric motors contain encoded measuring devices, making the machine fully adjustable via a 10-inch touch screen.
The Orion can handle various sizes of paper, polypropylene and most other sack materials used to pack a range of products such as potato, vegetable and animal feeds. The machine is robustly constructed from mild steel and is 100% manufactured in Lincolnshire.
Judges’ comments: Judges were impressed by the automatic bag control and stitching system, which provided an extremely stable arrangement to enable reliable performance.
Certificates of Merit were awarded to Plot Feeds and Tractair.
Livestock equipment (Anne Armstrong Trophy) – Northern Engineering
A fully hydraulic roll-over cattle-squeezing side crush for farmers, foot trimmers, and vets to treat all four feet for lameness and other procedures such as dry-cow therapy. This crush has a new feature of a side opening for vets to perform caesarean operation and AI collection.
Judges’ comments: Judges said the winning product incorporated several innovative ideas to make it safer for the animal and operator.
Certificates of Merit were awarded to Rappa Fencing and Shearwell Data.
Technological (LAMMA trophy) – Acres Machinery
Supercrop is a three-in-one innovative crop wilting machine that can rake, condition and ted grass, hay or straw. This reduces the amount of machinery required, enables quicker and more consistent crop drying and reduces labour and machinery time. It also improves fodder nutritional values and forms better swaths, improving bale shape.
The machine is the most compact of its kind, having a smaller transport size than a standard twin-rotor rake. The machine is built in modular form, allowing the operator to use the rakes on the front tractor linkage if required.
Judges’ comments: The judges were impressed by the design and build of a modular machine. In a single pass it could gather, condition and ted, put three rows into one, and move the centre row as well.
Certificates of Merit were awarded to Amazone and Agricision.
Environmental (The IAgrE Ivel Award): Witham Oil & Paint
Prolan is an environmentally friendly protective lubricant that provides incredibly long-lasting protection of metal, wood, rubber and electrical components from rust and corrosion.
Prolan lubricants are made with lanolin derived from sheep’s wool. Lanolin is a powerful natural non-toxic moisturiser and protector proven to be extremely effective for preventing corrosion in the toughest environments. The product range is NSF-approved as a food-grade lubricant.
Judges’ comments: Judges said the product had multi-industry worldwide application potential for protecting against rust, corrosion and galvanitic attack. Developed from an agricultural waste, it had been researched and formulated so could be applied in a number of ways to protect a very wide range of equipment.
Certificates of Merit were awarded to Manitou and Wellvent.
Farm Machinery and Equipment Innovation Award (Farmers Guardian Trophy) – Ubiqutek
Touch Pro is a professional hand weeder that uses electricity to kill weeds without damaging surrounding plants or soil. It is designed for horticulture and amenity sectors and is ideal for growers, gardeners and maintenance staff to spot-treat weeds and for ongoing weed management.
Touch Pro is effective on all species of weeds, including perennial and invasive weeds such as Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam and ragwort.
Judges’ comments: The judges were impressed by the product’s potential to reduce the use of pesticides. This would help the environment and was suitable for areas where some chemicals are banned, they added.
A Certificate of Merit was awarded to Heath Engineering.
The David Baggaley Trophy – Best new product or innovation at LAMMA 2017
Winner: Witham Oil & Paint
