WITH 2022 marking the 40th anniversary of the LAMMA Show we speak to three former directors about the early years of the event , its role in the local farming industry and its development to become the UK ’ s leading agricultural machinery show .

The LAMMA Show is now a key date in the calendar for farmers and contractors looking to keep up with the latest in agricultural machinery , but it started life as a much smaller affair .

The idea for the show came from discussions between small manufacturers in Lincolnshire frustrated by the lack of opportunities to exhibit and promote their products . They put their heads together to organise a specialist local event where they could do just that . The group was the Lincolnshire Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association and their annual event became known as The LAMMA Show .

Former exhibitor turned event director Cliff Preston recalls : “ The small machinery manufacturers in Lincolnshire had no means of reaching the market in an exhibition , other than going to the Royal Smithfield Show in London which of course was a great expense . So that ’ s where the concept came from . The first show was in 1982 and it really took off from there .”

Robert Willey , managing director of Househam Sprayers , has also been involved with LAMMA for many years , as a longstanding exhibitor and later as a director too . “ Initially LAMMA was intended to be a local show . It was a means of helping to educate people that these products had been made there .

“ Over the years , Lincolnshire has been home to a huge number of machinery

manufacturers . There has always been that engineering skills base here .”

It wasn ’ t long before LAMMA outgrew the Lincolnshire showground and the organisers moved the event to Newark , he explains . “ But then we outgrew Newark Showground too and we had to go the East of England Showground in Peterborough . It was a big decision , but we think it worked well .”

Over that time the event had grown from 100 exhibitors in the early years to 900 in its last year at Newark . The closure of the Royal Smithfield Show in 2004 undoubtedly contributed to LAMMA ’ s popularity too , adds Cliff .

After a few years it became apparent that the ground conditions at Peterborough were not suitable for a winter event , so a fourth venue had to be found . Given the growing number of exhibitors and visitors the NEC in Birmingham became the obvious solution . This not only offered more space , but the fact that it was indoors made the event less vulnerable to the weather and proved popular with exhibitors .

John Sartain first joined LAMMA in 1988 as an exhibitor with his precision farming business , later joining the committee and becoming a director . “ I ’ ve thoroughly enjoyed being involved with LAMMA , it ’ s been a wonderful experience . I found myself working with a whole lot of people who were doing this because they wanted to do it .

“ They had all sorts of disparate interests , but they came together on an annual basis and put on a really good show . To me that was one of the most exciting things about it .”

From the start there were strong links with agricultural colleges . “ The people who started LAMMA were very keen that this

idea of ensuring that there is good communication between all of the people involved in agriculture and machinery manufacturing ,” says John . “ There were opportunities for us to help to improve people ’ s skills and knowledge too . The show had a commercial basis but it was also an opportunity for people to learn a lot .”

Many of the companies involved were small , some were sole traders , says Cliff . “ When LAMMA came along it really was a godsend to them , and over time the publicity grew and that gave them a route into the UK market . I think that ’ s really one of the main successes of LAMMA was to create a platform for some of those small companies .

“ Looking at the programme from the first event in 1982 some of the first exhibitors still exist now . It is interesting to see how they ’ ve grown over that length of time .”

Encouraging smaller businesses was part of the LAMMA ethos from the start , adds John . “ We always tried to encourage the small companies because that ’ s where it starts . By doing that we have encouraged quite a lot of innovation over the years .” The smaller companies also benefitted from the interface with potential customers , hearing feedback on their products and services .

Competitions and awards have been a feature over the years and for the 40th anniversary LAMMA has partnered with IAgrE to launch the Young Engineers Award .

“ I think we did a lot of good as LAMMA for the community , to the education of people around and getting the exhibitors a greater presence ,” says Robert .

With the increasing interest in LAMMA larger national and multinational companies wanted to be part of this successful event . Other agricultural businesses such as farm services , fertilisers , agro-chemicals and consultancy firms all became interested in exhibiting too .

“ It has always been very much a business show ,” stresses John . “ We made it quite clear that we weren ’ t a show that was going to be full of entertainment , with people coming along selling all sorts of wares with nothing to do with agriculture !”

The winter timing also contributed to the event ’ s success . “ I think that was an important factor because a lot of farms had a Christmas close down and didn ’ t go back until the second or third week in January ,” says Cliff . “ Holding the show in that period meant that all those farm staff were not at work , so they could come along .”

The central locations were also a plus . “ Within a few hours you can be in Scotland or anywhere ,” says Robert .

From the beginning exhibitors have used LAMMA to showcase new innovations and technologies to the farming community . “ From the mid 90s onwards we began to get into GPS and satellite technology , yield mapping and field mapping ,” says John . He , Cliff and Robert all remember the buzz around JCB ’ s first Fastrac tractors and the early CAT Challengers being shown at the event .

In 2012 LAMMA was purchased by Briefing Media , which later became known as Agribriefing . This year the event changed hands again and it is now owned and organised by Arc Media Ltd .

These developments and the move to Birmingham in 2019 have undoubtedly changed the event . “ It is a different animal now to when it first started ,” says Cliff . “ But it ’ s now competing with the major international shows and there will be visitors from a wider area and therefore the potential for more farmers .”

John agrees : “ The last time I was at LAMMA was in 2019 and I was absolutely amazed . It covered a bigger area and had a great atmosphere . It was absolutely brilliant .”

The show ’ s organisers are determined to continue building on the show ’ s 40 successful years . The 2022 anniversary event will of course celebrate the successes of the past , while new initiatives such as the Young Engineers Award and LAMMA 365 ensure its role in the wider industry for years to come .

Join the 40th celebrations in person - register for your free ticket now at LAMMAshow . com