Lamma, the UK’s largest farm machinery, equipment and agricultural services show, was held from 18-19 January in Peterborough. 

Among the big names, visitors were treated to a smorgasbord of budget kit. We pick out some of the more interesting items as well as some imports and updates that will be hitting UK shores.

Manitech loading shovel

Buyers on a budget might like to add Irish maker Manitech to their loading shovel shopping list.

For the past three years, the company has been assembling boxfuls of components from China and Japan and now has 40 machines working across Ireland.

Models range in lift capacity from 700kg all the way up to 5,000kg and the company also plans to add telescopic machines to challenge the popular JCB TM series.

Cummins blocks are used in the farming-focused models from 90-140hp, while six-cylinder Deutz power is used in the biggest machines. Both engines manage without an ECU to keep things simple and, in both cases, the oil-burners drive through a two-speed torque convertor set-up that offers a 30kph road speed.

Manitech’s biggest selling point is price – a 2t lift M20 comes in at £30,000 and the 3t M30 can be on-farm for £35,000. The company also offers a two-year parts and single-year labour warranty to give buyers some peace of mind.

See also: Video: Lamma 2017 farm machinery up close and personal

Nardi plough

Italian plough maker Nardi is hoping to steal a slice of the UK’s plough market after bringing a machine to Lamma for the first time.

The model displayed on the Amia stand was the firm’s high-spec, in-furrow/on-land NX35, which is available with up to seven furrows.

Under-beam clearance is 82cm, inter-body spacing is 1m and it comes with hardened tungsten carbide points.

A full vari-width, five-furrow version with shearbolt protection has a list price of about £26,000. The maker is also hoping to bring in some of its simpler, lower-cost models.

Knight trailed sprayers

Trailed sprayers remain a popular choice for mid-sized farms requiring the capacity of a self-propelled machine but without the six-figure ticket price.

Knight is looking to add to buyers’ options with its new Xplorer model, which slots in below the flagship Trailblazer that tops out with a 6,000-litre tank and big 40m booms.

The newbie can’t quite match those stats, but still provides a 3,300-litre or 4,400-litre capacity and booms up to 28m – the latter proving a popular option in Scotland.

A pretty decent looking spec list includes individual nozzle shut-off, auto boom levelling and a rear steering axle. There’s also a whizzy-looking fill control screen for the 300-litre/min pump and a 40-litre induction hopper.

Expect to cough up in the region of £72,000 for a 3,300-litre, 24m model.

Agri-Hire spreaders

Suffolk maker Agri-Hire used Lamma to show off its biggest ever muckspreader – a monster 40t rig sat on triple axles and hungry for at least 300hp at the front.

Demand for spreaders continues to grow, says the firm’s Tim Hubert, with an increasing number of farmers looking to make use of green waste across their arable land.

There are plenty of options to up-spec the three-model Magnum range, including a £5,000 steering axle, weigh cells and greedy boards. Meanwhile, standard gear includes a sprung drawbar, four 20mm deck chains and an auto-lubricated spreading system.

The spreading width is up to 24m and prices start at £45,000, which still brings it in well under equivalent self-propelled machines.

Amazone Pantera sprayer

The UK is established as one of the major markets for Amazone’s self-propelled Pantera sprayers, with 80 machines now working up and down the country.

Emissions regulations have forced the German maker into a launching a new model, with a few extra features added to cushion the blow of a £5,000 price rise.

Surprisingly, the power output hasn’t been changed, so it still kicks out 218hp and drives through a high torque hydrostatic transmission. Pantera Plus models come with extra hill climbing ability – up from 27% on the standard to 34% on the mountaineer.

Xenon lights have been upgraded to LEDs around the cab and the middle sections of the boom have been beefed-up to handle faster headland turns.

The 600-litres/min pump has also been mounted differently for quieter filling and there’s a bowser fill point under the front of the cab that comes with automatic fill stop as standard.

Broughan trailers

Broughan was one of a batch of Irish manufacturers reporting strong interest in its kit from the south west and north west of England.

Its short, tall silage trailers come specced to the eyeballs with 420x180mm brakes, LED lights, a sprung drawbar and 550/45 R22.5 footwear.

The 12-tonner measures 4.9m front to back and has an asking price of £13,000.

Ryetec subsoilers

Ma/Ag made its UK debut last summer with its no-till disc drill at Cereals, and the Italian firm is now expanding its offering through importer Ryetec.

Its Combi-Lam is designed as a low-disturbance subsoiler that the company reckons will incorporate trash without inverting too much soil.

The layout sees a row of discs set to slice through the ground before a gang of cranked legs heave up the soil from below. A second set of discs then tidy up at the back and break any remaining clods.

However, Ryetec says there’s plenty of room to adapt the machine, with various disc and tine configurations to suit different soil types and tillage regimes.

A 3m, 10-leg model with hydraulic depth adjustment of the front discs and a second set of discs at the rear costs £27,245.

The company is also bringing in a four- to 24-row range of precision maize drills. As a guide, the 4m model shown at Lamma has a £25,300 asking price and comes with a nifty telescopic system for switching from transport to drilling mode. The machines also come with options for applying fertiliser and micro granules at the same time.

He-Va oilseed rape drill

He-Va has added to its drilling options with a low-disturbance subsoiler/seeder combination designed to get oilseed rape in the ground quickly and cheaply.

The new implement uses opening discs ahead of a set of slimline legs to minimise soil disturbance on the surface, which in turn should reduce weed seed germination and moisture loss.

Front-mounted discs also help cut through any crop residues, which gives the system a better chance of working in trashy, damp conditions.

A 3m version has seven shallow-winged legs and 43cm row spacings to help the rape crop outcompete weeds, and at the back there are V-profile ring rollers to leave a decent strip of surface tilth ahead of the double disc coulters.

Models are available in mounted and trailed formats from 3m to 7m, with prices kicking off at £16,858.