Cambridgeshire firm Lite-Trac was showing a new high-capacity demountable spreader at Cereals. The hopper, made by Irish firm Agri-Spread, is low and wide, giving a nice 50:50 front-rear weight distribution. It can hold up to 12t of lime or 5.6t of fertiliser and spreads at widths up to 24m and application rates of 20kg/ha to 4t/ha.

Wheels are characteristically huge to give good traction and limit ground compaction. Changing from spreader to sprayer simply involves putting down the legs, undoing four bolts and four pipes. There’s also a TopCon GPS system to give variable-rate application and cost is about £150,000.

Though huge and high-spec, this sort of machine is becoming increasingly popular for spreading products like Fibrophos and compost, as well as the traditional fertiliser and lime.

See more news, new kit, videos and photos from Cereals 2012 on our Cereals 2012 events page.