As Agritechnica prepares to open its doors to international visitors once again next month, CPM takes a look at what’s new and how growers can be strategic with their future kit purchases.
“If you stop capital expenditure dead in the water on machinery policy it becomes very hard to start again.” JAMES WEBSTER-RUSK
By Charlotte Cunningham
With margins still tight, weather windows ever narrower and political uncertainty hanging heavy over British agriculture, there’s a tangible appetite for solutions rather than slogans.
That’s the backdrop as Agritechnica throws open its doors once again this November, promising a showcase not just of shiny new kit, but of ideas designed to make farm businesses more resilient.
Under the guiding theme of ’Touch Smart Efficiency,’ the Hanover halls will bring together more than 2700 exhibitors and a packed programme which aims to give visitors direct access to innovative agricultural systems that use digital technologies to increase efficiency, sustainability and productivity.
For UK growers navigating the twin pressures of compliance and competitiveness, the timing feels apt. Whether it’s tractors fuelled by methane, combines that think for themselves or cultivators that promise to balance blackgrass control with timeliness, this year’s launches are rooted in real on-farm challenges.
The question is, which of these innovations will genuinely earn their place in the yard, and which remain solutions in search of a problem?
Of course, it has to be noted that after a difficult season for many growers, it may seem in poor taste to even float the idea of spending out thousands of pounds on new kit. Yields have been well below par, and – perhaps more unusually – hugely variable from farm to farm, explains James Webster-Rusk, senior agribusiness analyst at The Andersons Centre.
“It’s been a challenging harvest in the context of volumes produced and prices received, rather than conditions at harvest. The yield picture for many isn’t pretty – against the five-year average, which itself contains some outlier seasons like 2020 and 2024, this year still looks poor.”
The price outlook only compounds the challenge, he continues. “November wheat futures are sitting at around £165/t – a far cry from the values seen during the market volatility of 2022, and a drop compared with where prices were even as recently as at planting. Businesses have come out of harvest with less in the barn and a weaker return for it.
“That means replanning on cashflow, and in some cases, conversations around overdrafts. For those looking at machinery replacement, it’s undoubtedly a difficult year.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many arable businesses are already shifting their approach. Replacement cycles are being stretched, service agreements extended, and machines kept running for longer.
But James urges caution over pulling up the handbrake altogether, and instead advises growers heading out to Agritechnica to take a strategic approach to any potential purchases. “Yes it’s tempting to rein in spending, but if you stop capital expenditure dead in the water on machinery policy it becomes very hard to start again.
“The key is being strategic. Every pound spent has to work – whether that’s through labour savings, efficiency improvements, or productivity gains – and the payback period has to stack up under realistic market conditions.”
That realism is essential, particularly as budgets suggest 2026 could be another lean year, he warns. “We can’t benchmark investments against what payback might have looked like two or three years ago. The Russia-Ukraine market spike was an exception.
“Now it’s about looking hard at the fine detail – if a drill claims to save fuel, how much will it actually save on your farm? If a sprayer promises fewer passes, does the data support it, and how quickly will it pay back?
“With Agritechnica about to open its doors, attention will inevitably turn to the latest launches, but for farmers in the UK the question shouldn’t be so much ‘what’s new?’ but instead, what truly pays?”
Agritechnica 2025 launches
Ahead of the event, here’s a flavour of what visitors can expect.
One of the clearest threads through this year’s launches is how manufacturers are pushing the envelope in tillage – from going shallower and gentler, to delving deeper where soil structure demands it.
Amazone’s Catros+ 12003-2TX expects to take centre stage – a 12m trailed compact disc harrow, with a stronger folding frame and refined chassis. What makes it more than just wide is its design for controlled traffic farming (CTF) – longer disc arms, rear packers, the intention to let growers follow fixed tracks and leave the rest of the soil undisturbed.
For those UK farmers experimenting or already running CTF, the Catros+ 12003-2TX could reduce compaction, traffic damage, and so preserve moisture and structure in those parts of the field that matter.
At the deeper end, however, Lemken’s Onyx subsoiler is among those making headlines. It goes well beyond shallow mixing or loosening; it offers versions that reach 60cm, with options for mixing or loosening shares, wings, and reconsolidating rollers. Particularly for farms on heavy clay, or those that have suffered from repeated compaction, this is the kind of kit that could restore infiltration and root penetration.
If soil is the foundation, the nervous system of modern farming are sensors, data and autonomy, and Agritechnica 2025 is placing several new such tools in the limelight, many with clear benefits for UK growers.
One of the new focuses announced is on (semi-)autonomous fieldwork, with machines that reduce human driver load but retain control and supervision. For UK farms this may mean better consistency in operations like spraying or tillage, especially when skilled labour is scarce.
Technologies like AutoLane on Amazone’s Catros-2TX, that guide implements along pre-defined A-B lines or contours stand to reduce overlap, avoid damage to sensitive field edges, and improve uniformity. The less obvious benefit is saved fuel, fewer soil disturbances from rework, and better finish for following operations like drilling.
Weed mapping
Weed mapping could also be about to move to a new level with the launch of Zoneye, an artificial intelligence system from Czech ag-tech firm Skymaps, due to debut at Agritechnica 2025.
Zoneye is embedded within the company’s CultiWise prescription-map platform and uses high-resolution drone imagery to distinguish between crops and 37 common weeds across a range of species including cereals, sugar beet, oilseed rape and potatoes. Crucially, growers can also ‘train’ the system to recognise regional variants by uploading their own images, creating a field-specific dataset.
Drones equipped with RGB cameras fly at heights of 40-120m depending on weed size. Images are uploaded to the cloud where AI analyses them and delivers maps within minutes. These maps detail weed location, density and species, and can be exported directly to sprayer terminals, guiding spot applications or variable-rate treatments. Unlike conventional ‘green-on-brown’ tools, Zoneye can differentiate crops and weeds even under full canopy conditions.
According to Skymaps, the technology can cut herbicide use by up to 50% while boosting yields by 20% through reduced crop stress and more targeted control.
Seedbed preparation
When thinking about driving efficiency, drilling and seedbed preparation are areas where timing and accuracy are everything.
One of the products grabbing attention is Horsch’s Avatar 12 LC – a large 12m drill with a triple tank, high capacity, multiple product capability and capable of combining seed, fertiliser, cover mixes or companion crops. For growers who want to reduce the number of passes, or do smart combinations such as seed and starter fertiliser, or seed and cover crop, flexibility should be attractive.
Amazone’s Cirrus 8004-2C Grand continues this combinational trend, featuring 8m working width and a three-chamber hopper. It’s designed for speed and flexibility, especially for those who want to sow multiple components simultaneously. For UK farms with medium-size tractors, this could reduce the gap between high output and soil risk, with fewer passes and better establishment.
While the glitz and glam of the new, shiny kit is often a draw to Agritechnica 2025, at its core, all of this new innovation is based around efficiency and integration to drive better production. For UK arable farms squeezed between regulatory demands, environmental expectations and the ever-present need to get a return, the new tools may offer more leverage than ever before.
This article was taken from the latest issue of CPM. Read the article in full here.
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