Agricultural innovation was celebrated at this week's annual LAMMA Innovation Awards, which saw more than 70 entries vie for top honours at the annual show in Peterborough, on January 18 and 19.

The awards were sponsored by Firma Foreign Exchange and were open to new products exhibited at the event. The competition was split into five categories:

• Crop production equipment – tractors, all field machinery and crop drying, storage and handling equipment.

• Livestock equipment – livestock feeding and handling equipment, dairy machinery, milling and mixing and fencing equipment.

• Technological – covering the use of new technology, electronics, robotics and GPS.

• Environmental – the new product or innovation which has the most impact on the environment.

• Farm Machinery and Equipment Innovation Award.

The shortlist was judged by a panel of 10 experts led by John Sartain on the first morning of the show. The winners were announced at a packed award ceremony later in the day.

Mr Sartain said the awards sought to highlight the progressive nature of the machinery, equipment and service sectors of the agricultural supply industry both locally and nationally.

The winners were:

Crop production equipment – Pace Mechanical Handling, for the Orion CBC (complete bag control) fully automatic bag stitching machine. The machine’s electric motors contain encoded measuring devices, making it fully adjustable via a 10-inch touch screen. The machine is manufactured in Lincolnshire.

Certificates of Merit were awarded to Plot Feeds and Tractair.

Livestock equipment – Northern Engineering, for its fully hydraulic roll-over cattle-squeezing side crush for farmers, foot trimmers, and vets. This crush has a new feature of a side opening for vets to perform Caesarean operation and AI collection.

Certificates of Merit were awarded to Rappa Fencing and Shearwell Data.

Technological – Acres Machinery, for Supercrop1, a three-in-one crop wilting machine that can rake, condition and ted grass, hay or straw, reducing the amount of machinery required to make hay and silage. Compact with a smaller transport size than a standard twin-rotor rake, it is built in modular form, allowing the operator to use the rakes on the front tractor linkage if required.

Certificates of Merit were awarded to Amazone and Agricision.

Environmental – Witham Oil and Paint for Prolan, an environmentally friendly protective lubricant that provides long-lasting protection of metal, wood, rubber and electrical components from rust and corrosion. It is made with lanolin derived from sheep’s wool.

Certificates of Merit were awarded to Manitou and Wellvent.

Farm Machinery and Equipment Innovation Award – Ubiqutek's Touch Pro, a professional hand weeder that uses electricity to kill weeds without damaging surrounding plants or soil. It is designed for horticulture and amenity sectors and is ideal for growers, gardeners and maintenance staff.

A Certificate of Merit was awarded to Heath Engineering.

Best new product or innovation – Witham Oil and Paint