Most machinery shows, including the Royal Highland, offer medals for innovation but few, if any, can raise their presentation to the same heights as Agritechnica.
More than 2,000 guests attended a prize-giving that featured a glitzy presenter, top-class musical entertainment, food, drink and the handing over of 33 silver and four gold medals.
German farm machinery “royalty” were present in the form of members of the Claas and Grimme families.
When it came to the gold medals they were both on the podium along with representatives of another two family owned businesses: Rauch and Merlo.
The winning Merlo machine looks outwardly like one of the firm’s conventional telehandlers but internally is very different.
In most work modes it is powered by a 30kW lithium battery backed up by a small diesel engine which comes in play when extra power is required or to charge the battery. In electrical mode it is virtually silent, and of course produces almost no emissions.
Grimme struck gold for its Airsep pneumatic separator. Mounted on a potato harvester, it uses a powerful air blast to float the potatoes a few inches above the heavier clods and stones, which are separated for return to the field. The air volume can be altered from the tractor cab.
Claas won six silver medals before receiving a gold for a new online combine simulator that allows operators to be trained in front of a PC.
Fertiliser spreader specialist Rauch collected its gold award for an automatic spreading pattern adjuster.
It uses a microwave array mounted on a swivelling arm which operates in an arc just below the spreader discs.
It immediately senses any variation from the pre-set application rate and automatically re-adjusts the settings on the machine.