LAMMA, which will be held on January 15 and 16, comes at the end of the annual award cycle, especially so in a post-Agritechnica year, so there is little that is new in the list of innovation winners.
However, awards granted at LAMMA recognise the relevance of innovation to UK and Irish agriculture as opposed to continental farming and, from this point of view, the winners are worth noting.
LAMMA is slightly different from other organisations in that it more clearly ranks the importance of an award by bestowing a gold, silver, and bronze in a category medal rather than determining if an innovation is worthy enough to be recognised.
For example, two gold medals and over 20 silver medals were awarded at Agritechnica, while at LAMMA, it is only the top three from each category that were bestowed with a prize.
Machinery awards
JCB took the top spot in the LAMMA awards, with its latest models from the Fastrac 6000 series, the 6260 and 6300, with power outputs of 284hp and 335hp respectively.
Both are equipped with a 6.7L, six-cylinder FPT engine and a ZF continuously variable transmission, capable of reaching a top speed of 66km/h.
The silver award in the machinery section went Garford of Peterborough, who presented an electric weeder developed in conjunction with RootWave of Warwickshire.
This tool uses electronics, imaging, and artificial intelligence (AI) to eliminate weeds between crop rows.
It employs high-frequency alternating-current electrical weeding technology, which is capable of killing weeds above and below the ground without the use of chemical control.
Straw spreading
Bronze went to Spread-a-Bale’s Combi-Bale, which has a dual-function capability.
By the use of a diverter valve and dual-speed motor to control rotor direction, the machine’s clockwise rotation spreads straw from 8-15m.
When run anticlockwise, the bladed edge of the tines are utilised to chop and feed haylage or silage.
The Combi-Bale is compatible with both round and square bales and is fully self-loading, using only one loader and operator.
Other categories
There are notable winners in other sections that have so far avoided awards elsewhere.
Bronze medal went to the Ullmanna Ai Inter Plant Weeder imported by JF Hudson of Yorkshire.
This is a robotic, tractor-mounted cultivator that uses AI, in this case agentic AI, to identify weeds between crops before mechanically removing them.
Through the use of a digital camera positioned on the underside of the machine and above the plant knives, multiple images of the plants are taken from which weeds are identified.
Once spotted, the machines knives open and remove the roots of the identified weed..
Manufacturer awards
In an effort to encourage British and Irish manufacturers, LAMMA has an award for those it considers to have made a significant contribution to farm machinery innovation.
It was Ireland’s very own McHale Farm Machinery that took the silver in LAMMA’s 2026 selection.
The citation noted strong export growth and the recent achievement of ISO 14000, a standard for environmental management.
Kverneland also enjoyed some success with bronze in the Arable Establishment of the Year category.
The company’s 3400 B Variomat Shear-bolt plough enables a shear cut of the bolts under pressure up to 5,000kg.
According to Kverneland, there is no stretching of the bolt before it snaps, which could lead to a possible deformation of the leg under pressure.
The new design means that the shear-bolt can be replaced easily, with spares being stored in the headstock.
