#LAMMA13

It was another first for me today, I actually went to the LAMMA Show at the Newark Showground.  LAMMA stands for Lincolnshire Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association and is a huge shop window for machinery dealers and manufacturers to show off the latest machines and technology. The weather was freezing cold, leaving Overbury at 5.15am we reached the show ground at 7.15 to be welcomed by minus 6 degrees!  With leggings, thermals, hats, scarves and gloves we headed off to look around.  Almost everyone you could think of was present and to be honest, if you weren't there, as a manufacturer then you should have been!  There wasn't much extra space at all which is why the show was saying goodbye to Newark and heading off down the A1 to the East of England Showground at Peterborough next year.  This will give room for expansion and help the traffic getting too and from the show.  To be honest we drove straight in but others had to queue for quite some time, well at least they kept warm!

It was also a great time to meet up with the twitter crowd #clubhectare.  The group was started last February by Jono Dixon Chris Day and Chris Hewis all worth a follow, those on twitter.  The picture above is a shot of the motley crew (L to R, #carrotplanter #dpayne4468 #FarmInKent #sunkfarmer #julierobinson_#Arable_Farmer ) huddling together to keep warm at the show.  #Clubhectare now has over 350 members and is a great way to keep in touch with rural and farming issues.  You can share idea's, swap, stories and keep in touch with people facing the same issues and dilemmas as you.  To join is easy, just purchase some #Clubhectare merchandise such as a rugby shirt, beany hat, or fleece, through Jono (#sunkfarmer) and that is it, welcome to the club!

I was also interviewed by Charlotte Smith from BBC Farming today which was fun.  We spoke a little about the show, what I was looking at purchasing.  We also talked about precision farming (briefly) and about being a LEAF Demonstration Farm and Open Farm Sunday.  Credit to the team, Charlotte, Emma and Emma for braving the weather to get the show roundup.  I guess depending on Horse-Gate they might cut some of my interview, we'll have to wait and see!

We also spent some time on the John Deere stand talking to Annabel, Andy and Tamara from LEAF about Open Farm Sunday.  John Deere are the machinery sponsor this year, as they have been since 2011, which is great news.  To register your event or to find out where the nearest host farm is do log onto Farm Sunday and check out the website, you might even see someone you recognise!  So chop chop and get on that site and get down on the farm, or sign up to #clubhectare and do the next best thing!