The launching and propagation of Lamb waves in magnetostrictive polycrystalline ferrite plates was studied. The influence of a magnetic overlay situated parallel to the surface of the plate in the vicinity of the meander‐type transducer on the efficiency of the transducer was investigated. The results obtained show that Lamb wave velocities are more sensitive to magnetic fields than Rayleigh wave velocity, and that the use of a magnetic overlay essentially improves the efficiency of the meander type transducer.