The industry's show season is now in full swing, with LAMMA having taken place this Wednesday and Thursday at the NEC.
I'm sure many of our agricultural machinery dealer readers headed to Birmingham to see what was on display. If you were there, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Did anything catch your eye? Did you pick up on any trends or get a sense of how the industry is feeling as we kick off 2025? As ever, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Service Dealer team at LAMMA this week. L-R: Duncan Murray-Clarke, Nikki Harrison and Keith Christian
Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray-Clarke attended and said, "It was great to see LAMMA so very busy this year, which I think took some by surprise. And with CropTec merging with the show next year, things are going to get busier. I also heard pretty good exhibitor feedback which is always a big plus."
Duncan continued, "It was also good to bump into dealers like Readmans, Turneys, Doe and award winning ex-dealer (and now video creator), James Hayes."
Duncan with dealer Michael Readman of Readman Mowers
The LAMMA organisers themselves put out a statement yesterday morning saying that Day 1 " .. hosted a record breaking number of visitors, continuing the growth of the event." They continued, "The NEC was flooded with visitors from across the country eager to engage with over 600 exhibitors." Which all sounds rather positive. But again, if you were there, what did you think?
Service Dealer's agricultural machinery editor, Martin Rickatson, was also once again, patrolling the aisles, speaking to the great and the good. You can read his full thoughts and learn what new technological developments caught his eye in his report that will be included in the upcoming issue of the magazine. Until then, you can read his brief, initial summary here.
Martin also confirmed that the show floor did indeed feel busy, bucking the industry mood - but issued a word of caution that just because there was large turn-out of visitors, it doesn't necessarily mean that farming customers will be in more of a mood to spend this year.
BTME coming up
Next week it is the turn of the professional turfcare sector to host their first major trade show of the year, with BIGGA's BTME in Harrogate. Aimed primarily at the association's greenkeeper members, the show also attracts turf professionals from other commercial settings to check out what's new in the maintenance of fine turfed areas. I shall be attending, along with other members of the Service Dealer and TurfPro teams, hoping to gain a sense of how this area of the industry is feeling heading into the new season.
Also, it will be interesting to see how well attended BIGGA's show is compared to the busy LAMMA. It's been spoken about a lot, but there is of course increased competition now in the commercial turf care show scene. I do believe though, that BTME is fortunate in both when and where they choose to hold their show. The old industry joke that still holds true, is that even if there wasn't the trade show and education programme, 4,000 greenkeepers would still turn up in Harrogate at the end of January to enjoy a jolly! It's undeniably both a convenient time of year and a great, social town.
There is an argument however, that for example Laurence Gale our TurfPro editor is adamant about, that this figure of around 4000-ish is simply too low for a sector the size of the UK golfing industry. And this holds true for Loz, for all the other major turf care shows as well. He thinks with the number of practitioners across all sports, local authorities, private schools, contractors and the like, the big turf care exhibitions should be aiming at around the 10,000 visitor mark at least.
The belief that Laurence and others have, is that our turf care shows won't ever see these sorts of numbers unless the organisers come together to form one mega, all-encompassing show. And how likely is that? I mean it could happen further down the line, but I'm certainly not holding my breath. I'd be fairly confident in presuming that all the well worn arguments of organisers relying on their own trade shows to fund their own activities, still hold true.
The desire for a single turf care show is an entirely understandable one. The notion will have advocates in both the exhibitor and visitor camps. And I'm sure that dealers will want to see as many end-user customers as possible checking out what new kit is available for purchase. But I personally just can not see it ever happening. (Cue major announcement by this time next week!).
Until that day does arrive, Service Dealer will continue to bring you coverage of all the shows relevant to all our different specialist dealer readers - and please, if you do attend, always feel free to let us know your thoughts on what you've seen.
