The biggest British-owned manufacturer at the show was JCB and its stand was heaving. Unfortunately for visiting punters the new Fastrac 4000 didn’t make an appearance, but another Agritechnica-launched machine did show its face.

The new 560-80 telehandler is yet more proof that farmers and contractors are after larger capacities than the existing 550-80 could provide for shifting grain on farms and maize for AD plants. Looks-wise the pair is near identical, but the new model gets a beefed-up lift ram and larger counterweight so that it can hoist up to 6t in the air.

More news from Lamma 2014

Powered by a 4.8-litre Ecomax engine, reach remains 8m and it uses the same 140-litres/min hydraulic pump. However, cycle times have been improved by using a system called regenerative hydraulics which dumps, rather than pumps, oil out of the rams so the boom can drop quickly without revving the engine. That should save a bit on fuel bills, too.