CEREALS DRAWS DECENT NUMBERS

Martin Rickatson, Service Dealer's agricultural machinery editor, writes. . .

This week’s Cereals, the annual showcase for the arable farming industry, held at former Service Dealer Conference speaker Andrew Ward’s farm in Lincolnshire, drew some strong visitor numbers throughout the first day, and – always the measure of a multi-day show – some healthy crowds on the second day too.

While there were some notable absences from among last year’s exhibitors - primarily some big implement manufacturers - the remainder of the regular attendee list looks to have settled now into a regular pattern of committed names. Many visitors and exhibitors were waiting with bated breath to hear what the Chancellor was going to say in her Spending Review speech, which was given on the first day of the show. But with relatively little in it to negatively impact agriculture, a collective sigh of relief was almost perceptible as phones were checked and put back into pockets.

Most manufacturers, importers and dealers present reported a difficult but not disastrous first half of the year, and there was cautious optimism that the depths of the downturn may have been reached. With harvest prospects looking reasonably decent thanks to some recent rain, there was reason for both visitors and exhibitors to smile a little, particularly with Farm and Equipment Technology Fund grants having been opened up, and better news about the next application process for the Sustainable Farm Incentive.

In 2026, the event moves west for the first time in many years, to the farm of a well-known Oxon landowner. While the process of selling stand space for the next event usually begins during the current show, it’s not yet clear what this might mean for stand costs, ticket prices and other details to be decided…