EIMA International 2026
Bologna.

What EIMA International is, in two lines

EIMA International is the leading global exhibition for agricultural and gardening machinery, organized in Bologna by FederUnacoma since 1969 on a biennial cycle, in even years. It brings together, in a single venue, manufacturers of tractors, machines and equipment, component suppliers, digital technology companies and irrigation solution providers from all over the world. The 2024 edition (46th) recorded 1.748 exhibitors and 346.800 attendees, 63.100 of them from abroad across 150 countries, on 122.000 net sqm. The next edition is the 47th, from 10 to 14 November 2026.

In Bologna almost no one signs off on a tractor or an irrigation system directly at the stand. Real purchasing decisions, especially on machines and equipment worth tens or hundreds of thousands of euros, mature in the weeks that follow the fair, between quotes, financing and dealership visits. That is why the number of business cards collected matters less and how you handle the lead afterwards matters far more: those who qualify well at the stand and follow up quickly stay on the shortlist, the others get lost in the post-event noise.

What to exhibit, where to exhibit

EIMA is not a single undifferentiated fair, but a system of themed halls that group exhibitors by supply chain. Knowing which hall to position yourself in is the first strategic decision, because it determines who walks past you:

Complete machines and equipment

• Tractors, from utility models to high-power machines
• Harvesting, soil tillage, sowing and crop protection
• Equipment for the various crops and production chains — an area also covered by EIMA MyFarm, dedicated to supply chains and agricultural organizations

Components and technologies (manufacturing & automation side)

• Components for tractors and machines — the heart of EIMA Components, the hall for OEM suppliers
• Transmissions, hydraulics, onboard electronics, sensors and actuators
• Electronic and digital technologies — concentrated in EIMA Digital (precision farming, telemetry, software and connectivity)
• Agroforestry energy and biomass solutions — in EIMA Energy

Gardening and irrigation

• Machines and equipment for green spaces and gardening — in EIMA Green
• Irrigation systems and water management — in EIMA Idrotech

There is also the Research and Training Hall, where universities, institutions and innovation projects come together, and the Innovation Award / Technical Novelties, a showcase of the newest solutions. Practical positioning advice: if you sell complete machines, the category area intercepts farmers and contractors in “see and touch” mode, so plan space to display the physical machine. If you are an OEM component supplier, the right showcase is EIMA Components, where the manufacturers’ buyers go, not the end user. If you bring digital or precision farming, claiming a spot in EIMA Digital puts you in front of the audience looking for exactly that innovation, with more technical evaluation timelines. Note: the exact 2026 pavilion layout is published later, but the themed halls are EIMA’s recurring, confirmed format.

Visitor profile

EIMA’s audience is strongly professional and with a strong international component (346.800 attendees in 2024, 63.100 of them from abroad across 150 countries). A realistic segmentation:

• ~35-40% farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs, decision-makers or co-decision-makers on machinery purchases for their own farm
• ~15-20% agricultural contractors and agromechanical firms, which buy fleets and high-usage equipment, hence very attentive to TCO and reliability
• ~10-15% dealers and resellers, looking for lines to add to their catalog and for representation agreements
• ~10% foreign importers and distributors, assessing the entry of products into new markets
• ~10% manufacturers and OEMs (components), especially on the EIMA Components front
• ~10% technicians, agronomists and designers, prescribers more than direct buyers

Seniority: many farm owners and contractors’ purchasing managers decide directly, while on the OEM side you will find technical and R&D buyers. Being in Bologna, the center of gravity is Italian and Mediterranean, but the presence from abroad across 150 countries makes qualification by country and follow-up language decisive: a buyer from North Africa, Eastern Europe or South America has different needs, budget and distribution channels than a farmer from the Po Valley.

How to prepare in the 4 weeks before the event

Week -4 → Message audit

Five days of a world fair mean very high traffic and very low attention. At the stand you have a few seconds to say what the machine does and for whom. Review:

• Stand headline readable from a distance: a concrete performance figure, not a slogan (“cuts passes by 30%”, not “we innovate agriculture”)
• Clear differentiation from the competitor in the same hall
• Product sheets with measurable data (consumption, work capacity/ha, cycle, TCO) and a multilingual version for foreign buyers
• A demo or video of real operation, because those who buy machines want to see them move

Week -3 → Stand operating playbook

Define who does what across the 5 days. With these volumes, a team that improvises loses leads in a chain reaction:

• Shifts and roles (who welcomes, who qualifies, who manages the scheduled appointments)
• Language management: assign points of contact for Italian, English and the key languages for your export markets
• Anti-queue rule: no qualified visitor should wait more than a minute without being taken care of
• Calendar of pre-set appointments with top prospects (see below)

Week -2 → A 3-question qualification form

At the desk you don’t need 15 fields. 3 questions are enough to decide priority and follow-up:

1. Who are you — farmer, contractor, dealer, OEM or foreign buyer? (it completely changes the sales path)
2. What are you looking for now — which machine/application, and with what work capacity or problem to solve?
3. When do you decide — investment already in budget for the next season, or gathering information?

The Linkly idea is to qualify on the spot and have the answer land directly in your system, not on a sheet you will (maybe) read the following week.

Week -1 → CRM integration

Prepare the CRM so that every contact collected at the stand arrives already structured, not as a pile of anonymous scans. Configure:

• An “EIMA 2026” event tag on every lead
• The fields for the 3 qualification questions (buyer type, application, timing)
• A voice note from the sales rep right after the conversation, attached to the contact: at the end of the day it saves your memory
• Automatic enrichment of company data (country, size, sector) so you don’t waste time typing

This is the point where the chain capture → enrichment → qualification → follow-up closes: Linkly’s six AI agents work precisely to deliver clean, ready leads, instead of a raw export you have to retype by hand.

Is the official EIMA International app worth it?

Yes, but for what it is: the EIMA App is great for finding your way and planning. It handles the event program and calendar, pavilion maps, the exhibitor list with search and a digital business card. For a visitor, and also for your team that has to move between the various themed halls, it is a useful tool to download.

What the app does NOT do, and which for an exhibitor is the heart of the problem:

• It does not export contacts into your CRM: the leads stay inside the app
• It does not enrich company data (country, size, sector, machine fleet)
• It does not automatically distinguish a farmer from a contractor, an OEM or a foreign buyer — the qualification that decides the follow-up
• It does not send automatic or personalized follow-up by language and market
• It does not generate an executive report (leads by country, by buyer type, by hall/application)
• It changes every edition: the data does not remain a history of yours, reusable

In short: the official app is an excellent map, not a sales system. To avoid losing the value of the contacts collected, you need a capture capability you own. See how Linkly works.

What to do during the 5 days of the fair

Day 1 → opening and calibration

The first day is often more technical and institutional, with the inauguration and the first delegations. Calibrate the stand, demos and shifts, test the qualification flow on the first visitors and correct it right away (headline, machine position, welcome times).

Day 2 → building traffic

The audience grows. The Italian decision-making profiles and the first foreign buyers start to arrive. Focus on booking appointments for the central days and on engaging the dealers interested in your catalog and representation.

Day 3 → decision peak

The central day, historically of maximum turnout and highest quality: farmers, contractors, decision-makers and OEM buyers. Keep the team at full strength, demos running continuously, qualification tight. Absolute priority: do not keep any qualified lead waiting, and record every important conversation in the CRM the same day.

Day 4 → foreign markets and deep-dive

A strong presence of international importers and distributors. Language and qualification by country make the difference. An excellent day to pick up the hot leads from the previous days, dig into the technical specifications and set up the next dealership or on-farm visits.

Day 5 → closing, quality over quantity

The last day, traffic declining but visitors often more motivated. Close the open conversations, run the team debrief and lock in the list of top leads to contact within 48 hours. Don’t dismantle ahead of time: you lose the last good contacts.

What to do in the 7 days after the fair

The agricultural buying cycle is long (months, often tied to the season and to financing), but it is precisely in the first days that it is decided whether you stay on the list. Response speed is your advantage:

1. Within 24h — a personalized email to the top leads with the sheet of the machine/solution seen at the stand and the exact reference to their application. Those who reply the next day, ahead of the competitors, start in front.
2. Within 7 days — a call or contact with the medium-priority leads, routing to the right dealer or area contact for the country, an initial orientation on price and financing.
3. Within 14 days — concrete proposals and visits (on the farm or at the dealership) for mature prospects; for OEMs, an exchange of technical specifications with R&D.
4. Within 30 days — an executive report (leads by country, by buyer type, by hall/application) and the start of nurturing for long-cycle contacts, so you arrive ready for the next buying season.

Without a system, halfway through this schedule the contacts cool down and the follow-up starts late, with the wrong data. With capture, enrichment and qualification done at the stand, point 1 fires automatically as early as the evening of the first day.

Practical FAQ

How much does it cost to exhibit at EIMA International?

It depends heavily on space and setup. Realistic, indicative ranges for BolognaFiere:

• Small stand, component/service supplier: space + basic setup + services in the order of tens of thousands of euros
• Structured stand with a machine on display or demo: well beyond that, because the transport, handling and connections of a machine weigh heavily
• Large stand of an established brand: a major investment, even six figures, including international logistics and staff for the 5 days

For a machine on display, carefully budget for transport, handling and dedicated setup: they are often the item that drives the budget up. The official per-square-meter rates vary by hall and should be verified on eima.it.

Which is the best day?

The central day (around day 3) concentrates the decision peak, with the highest turnout of decision-makers and buyers. The first day is more institutional, the last one has less traffic but more motivated visitors. Keep the team at full strength on the central days, where most of the value is at play.

When should I register / when does visitor registration open?

Visitor registration and online ticket purchase usually open a few months before the fair, on the official website, with online tickets cheaper than at the box office. For exhibitors, space booking should be done well in advance: the themed halls and the best stands sell out early. Check the timing and forms on eima.it.

Is it better to collect leads on paper, or do I need an alternative?

Over 5 days and with these volumes, collecting on paper or anonymous scans is the surest way to lose value: contacts without qualification, without enrichment, to be retyped by hand and chased days later. The alternative is to capture the lead already qualified and in the CRM while you are still in front of the person, with a voice note and an event tag. This is exactly the workflow Linkly is built for.

EIMA or Agritechnica: where should I exhibit?

They are complementary. EIMA (Bologna, biennial in even years) has an Italian and Mediterranean center of gravity and a very strong domestic-market audience, plus a solid share from abroad. Agritechnica (Hannover, odd years) is the showcase with the broadest international audience of all. Those focused on the Italian and Mediterranean market find in EIMA the most direct channel; those aiming for the maximum of global export also claim a spot at Agritechnica. Many manufacturers do both, alternating them across even and odd years.

Page updated ahead of the 2026 edition. For official information, stand booking, tickets and program: eima.it.