HORTICULTURE SUMMER 2021 by nfuhorticulture

Summer 2021

For horticulture and potato members of the NFU

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Welcome

CONTACTS EDITORIAL Editor: Lorna Maybery t: 02476 858971 e: lorna.maybery@nfu.org.uk News editor: Tom Sales t: 02476 858676 e: tom.sales@nfu.org.uk Designer: John Cottle Writers: Spence Gunn Claire Shaddick

“IT’S GREAT TO SEE THE GOVERNMENT REALLY GETTING BEHIND AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS IN HORTICULTURE, BUT EVERYONE NEEDS TO REALISE IT’S A LONG-TERM SOLUTION AND WILL NOT REDUCE SEASONAL LABOUR NUMBERS IN THE SHORT TERM”

NFU HORTICULTURE ADVISERS Lee Abbey Chief horticulture and potatoes adviser e: lee.abbey@nfu.org.uk Rupert Weaver Horticulture adviser e: rupert.weaver@nfu.org.uk Allie Hesketh Horticulture adviser e: allie.hesketh@nfu.org.uk ADVERTISING Jasbinder Saikhon jasbinder.saikhon@nfu.org.uk t: 02476 858952 PRODUCTION Heather Crompton COMMERCIAL Repro: NFU and AT Graphics Print: Stephen & George Photography: John Cottle, istock, Gary Naylor, Ebtech

Let us know what you think about the magazine or about the issues covered by emailing: lorna.maybery@ nfu.org.uk

WELCOME

abour is an issue at the forefront of growers’ minds. And the number one lobbying issue for the NFU team. Finding enough workers to pick crops this season is challenging. In addition to the Seasonal Workers Pilot, the government is hoping that a new domestic scheme will alleviate some of the issues by enabling growers to recruit people, and it’s important that growers participate. By sending your labour requirements to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), you not only have an opportunity to recruit workers locally, but also, if not enough workers are found for the roles, the DWP will have the statistical evidence that reinforces our calls for more overseas labour. The NFU needs you to contribute to this evidence please. You can find out more about this on p8 and get the government view from Minister for Employment Mims Davies, who writes our Guest Column this month – see p43. A way out of the continuing labour issue could be innovation and technology – robotics could replace the need for high numbers of workers. In theory, this would be brilliant, but the reality is that, due to the complexities of creating machines to replicate human pickers, we are a long way from seeing robots that are up to the task. It’s great to see the government really getting behind automation and robotics in horticulture, but everyone needs to realise it’s a long-term solution and will not reduce seasonal labour numbers in the short term. If we want to see a future with affordable technology making a difference to growers, it’s important that the scientists, academics, engineers and developers collaborate more closely so that we can accelerate the development of appropriate robotics and visual technology. There is a Defra automation and robotics round table and a series of meetings coming up, which the NFU will be participating in, and for a look at some of the innovations currently taking place in the sector, see our special feature on p12. It’s been a tough 14 months for everyone, but hopefully we are coming out the other side of the pandemic, and whatever happens, the NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board is committed to working hard on your behalf. Ali Capper Chairman, NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board Summer 2021

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Contents

More than 2,000 people have downloaded the NFU’s dedicated mobile app – and with a wealth of fast-changing coronavirus and Brexit news being added daily, there’s never been a more important time to join them. The App lets members customise content by farming sector and access downloaded content without an internet connection. It gives the option of being notified when important news and information is added – and it’s free for NFU members. Visit your usual app provider.

NEWS AND POLICY UPDATES A round-up of what the NFU is doing for you

LOCAL SUPPORT FOR LOCAL GROWERS Growers urged to recruit through new DWP scheme

INNOVATION What does the future hold for R&D in horticulture?

FOR PEAT’S SAKE The Peat Action Plan for England is revealed

NET ZERO ACTION Join the NFU’s pledge for net zero

THE LAST OF THE LEVY The future of collaborative R&D after the AHDB ballot

TWO-WAY TRADE Working to reopen the EU market to UK seed potatoes

FROM THE FORUM NFU Potato Forum chairman Alex Godfrey on the future of R&D investment

NEW FACES Get to know your new Horticulture Board members

MEET THE GROWERS Behind the scenes with cut flower growers Lambs Flowers

PLANT HEALTH Emergency authorisations – a system overwhelmed

GUEST COLUMN Minister for Employment Mims Davies MP

BORDER RETHINK What changes to the UK border means for the sector

THREE THINGS Martin Emmett reveals his choices Summer 2021

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Working for you

What's been happening... A snapshot of the NFU’s work for members and developments in the sector

Seed potatoes

The NFU is working with Defra and through its Brussels office to reopen the EU market to UK seed potatoes – and to ensure continued imports into the UK of specialist crisp and salad varieties that are not seen as viable to grow as a seed crop here. A derogation is currently in place, allowing EU seed potatoes into the UK, but that is due to expire at the end of June. Meanwhile, since the UK left the bloc, the EU is yet to recognise UK seed potatoes as grown to an equivalent regime, blocking UK exports. The NFU is pushing hard for a reciprocal deal similar to that achieved on ware potatoes. More on p30

UK workers

Horticulture businesses are being urged to engage with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on their seasonal labour needs – both to help fill roles with UK workers and to ensure that the government has further hard evidence of the sector’s requirements. The NFU has worked with the DWP and hopes that a new, targeted approach will help to identify UK candidates with the right attributes, building on last year’s Pick for Britain campaign. More from p8

Red Tractor

The NFU is monitoring progress with Red Tractor’s ‘version five’ proposals for assurance standards. The plans were discussed at the Red Tractor technical advisory committee for fresh produce in May, where NFU representatives made sure members’ voices were heard. At the time of writing, the first of two discussions at the assurance organisation’s main board was due to take place. The NFU horticulture team had submitted a 90-page response to the consultation on the fresh produce scheme. Stay up to date at NFUonline.com/hort

Peat latest

EU workers

Growers are reminded that the deadline for applications under the UK’s settled status scheme for European nationals is 30 June. The NFU is urging members to check whether any permanent staff or returnee seasonal workers still need to apply, or need help with their applications. Even those who have returned home may still be eligible. Get a step-by-step guide to who's eligible and how to apply at NFUonline.com/settled-status

Through the industry’s growing media task force, the NFU has been helping to identify the remaining barriers to peat-free supply chains and to set a realistic roadmap. With the release of the longawaited Defra action plan this month, the group has set a target of between 2028 and 2030, provided there is support to access alternatives and for growers to make the necessary investments; sufficient supplies of alternatives; and provision for limited exceptions. The group has also highlighted the need for a level playing field for UK growers. More on p17

New PO timelines

The first Producer Organisation programmes are due to end later this year – and with the development of a new UK horticulture productivity scheme disrupted by Covid-19, the NFU is pushing for extensions until a new scheme is ready to roll out. It says government must avoid any ‘funding gap’. A letter to the Secretary of State also asked for at least one year’s notice between the development of a new scheme and its launch, to allow growers time to adapt.

Summer 2021

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News updates

OPERATORS ADDED

CONFIDENT SECTOR BUCKS TREND

orticulture was among the best-performing sectors in an annual NFU survey of agribusiness confidence. Growers scored prospects for the next 12 months at +10 on a scale from -100 to 100. Mid-term confidence for the next three years was at +13. That put producers in a very different place to all other farm sectors, bar poultry (short-term +18, medium +22), with the phase-out of direct support under BPS the biggest factor denting optimism elsewhere, followed by high input costs and Brexit rule changes. Overall, farmers across the commodities rated next year at -1 and the mid-term at -2. Respondents from arable businesses returned the most pessimistic assessments, scoring the next 12 months at -5 and the mid-term at -18.

OUR SURVEY SAID... • •

•

Horticulture suffered the worst Covid-19 impacts, with 73% of respondents reporting issues (all sectors 44%). Its businesses were the second most likely to have seen profits decrease in the past year, reported by 47% of growers, but the sector was most likely to expect increases in production in the next 12 months. Fewer horticultural producers were using renewable energy than in any other sector (25%) – and while 66% were aware of the NFU’s net zero ambitions, that trailed the all-sectors figure of 88%. Find out more on p17. Horticultute businesses were the least likely to be carrying exisitng debt, at 25% of respondents.

APPG LAUNCHED

Growers gained an important voice at the heart of Westminster with the official launch of a new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Fruit, Vegetables and Horticulture. As previously reported in these pages, the group will bring together passionate MPs and Peers to champion the industry, with the NFU providing its secretariat. Stafford MP Theo Clarke and Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield will lead the APPG. Gardening legend Alan Titchmarsh joined an online launch event, dialling in for a Q&A session.

Two new providers have been added to help recruit 30,000 overseas workers to harvest fruit and veg this year. Ag Recruitment and Fruitful Jobs have joined Pro-Force Ltd and Concordia to administer the government’s seasonal workers pilot scheme. The NFU had pushed for an urgent widening of the provider pool. Chief horticulture and potatoes adviser Lee Abbey said growers would be relieved, but he added that significant challenges remained (read more on p8). He said: “The lateness of a decision by the government in 2020 on the expansion of the scheme for this meant the sector would always be playing catch-up.”

AHDB TO WIND DOWN WORK AHDB has announced that it will wind down activities in its horticulture and potatoes divisions, following the votes to abolish levies in the sectors. The news puts up to 140 jobs at risk and a business case to Defra includes changes related to the horticulture and potatoes teams and a “reorganisation of AHDB in line with the efficiency commitments already made”. While export market efforts, promotional work and market insight reporting will stop, Interim CEO Ken Boyns said AHDB would continue to deliver services that could not easily be picked up elsewhere, at least for the immediate future. Those include limited emergency work on pests and diseases, including on authorisations, and some contracted research projects. The NFU is monitoring the situation. More on p18

WAGES RESPONSE

More than 600 members provided feedback to help the NFU drive home the impacts of a projected increase in the National Living Wage to £9.22 from April 2022. Find out more about our response to the Low Pay Commission's consultation at NFUonline.com/LPC21 Summer 2021

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Seasonal labour

LOCAL SUPPORT FOR LOCAL GROWERS The NFU is urging all growers to try a new scheme it has helped to devise to support recruitment of local people into both seasonal and permanent jobs

Words by: Spence Gunn hatever your experience of recruiting from the domestic workforce during the past few years, the combination of Covid travel restrictions and the unknown numbers of settled status European workers likely to be available is revitalising efforts to attract UK residents to both seasonal and permanent roles in the industry.

The hard-won and welcome extension to the seasonal worker pilot scheme will boost the number of seasonal workers available to growers, but travel restrictions remain in some countries which are a potential source – and the 30,000 visas permitted by the scheme only meets around half the industry’s total demand. Growers of ornamental plants, which remain excluded from the pilot, may have to rely particularly on local labour this year. The shortage of pickers at the start of 2021 has already seen daffodil

growers having to pass over up to 40% of some crops in the field. Last year’s Pick for Britain scheme, put together and launched in quick response to the Covid pandemic, which prevented much of horticulture’s migrant seasonal workforce from travelling here at the start of the season, generated unprecedented interest. Although it did help some growers, misunderstandings about the nature of the work, and the fact that UK employees needed to return to their permanent jobs as furlough periods ended, meant its overall contribution to the industry’s labour demand was patchy. Recent headlines about Pick for Britain being ‘scrapped’ for 2021 may have given the impression the industry

Summer 2021

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Seasonal labour

NEW OPERATORS FOR PILOT SCHEME AG Recruitment and Fruitful Jobs have been appointed as the additional two operators of the expanded seasonal worker pilot scheme. They join Concordia and Pro-Force, which have been providing people through the scheme since it began in 2019. The government announced in December that the scheme would be expanded to 30,000 visas and to four operators in total. NFU chief horticulture and potatoes adviser Lee Abbey says the announcement about the two operators is welcome, but the timing of decisions on the scheme has been causing significant challenges for the industry. “The sector is playing catch-up,” he says. “Peak season is upon us, but the new operators have only just been able to issue visas. Typically, it can take up to six weeks for the first people to arrive.” Growers can contact the pilot operators through their websites at: • agrecruitment.eu • fruitfuljobs.com • pro-force.co.uk • concordiavolunteers.org.uk

“THIS YEAR WE’RE GOING TO NEED UK RESIDENT WORKERS TO PLAY A MORE SIGNIFICANT ROLE THAN EVER” Lee Abbey NFU chief horticulture and potatoes adviser

The shortage of pickers at the start of 2021 meant daffodil growers having to pass over up to 40% of some crops in the field

is no longer interested in domestic recruitment, but that’s far from the case, says NFU chief horticulture and potatoes adviser Lee Abbey. It has, instead, evolved into what should be a more effective, bettertargeted approach for the long term, shaped by the NFU and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and available to growers of edible and ornamental crops. “This year we’re going to need UK resident workers to play a more significant role than ever,” says Mr Abbey. “And even when the seasonal worker pilot is rolled out to a full scheme, it’s unlikely to be enough, so we need domestic recruitment as part of our long-term strategy. “We believe we’ve found a new way to work with the DWP to support growers, not only in attracting but also retaining people with skills and attributes suited to seasonal and permanent roles. The DWP will act as an ‘interface’ between growers and jobseekers, help identify appropriate candidates and ensure they have an understanding of the sector and the work.” For growers, the first two important steps will be to advertise their seasonal worker vacancies on the government’s Summer 2021

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Seasonal labour

TIME UP FOR SETTLED STATUS With the deadline for applications to the UK’s settled status scheme for European nationals on the horizon – it closes for good on 30 June – there’s still just time to check whether anyone on your permanent staff, or any of your returnee seasonal workers, still needs to apply or needs help with an application. Even those who have returned home may still be eligible. The scheme applies to EU, European Economic Area or Swiss citizens. Without either pre-settled or settled status, they’ll lose the right to live and work in the UK. Irish citizens have no need to obtain settled status as they continue to have freedom to travel and work here. People are entitled to settled status if they were in the UK before the end of 2020 and have lived here continuously for five years (that means for at least six months in any 12-month period). Pre-settled status is for those who don’t meet the five years’ residence test at the time when they apply. It gives the right to live and work here for five years, after which time they can then apply for full settled status. Applications for either status, which are free, can be made from within or outside the UK, but anyone not living here when they apply will have to submit evidence that they were resident in the six months before application and before the end of 2020. Applicants complete an online form, which is in English but translated information sheets and videos are available to help. For more visit: gov.uk/settledstatus-eu-citizens-families/ applying-for-settled-status

Find a job website and to email their requirements to the address at the bottom of the page. It’s reckoned to be one of the UK’s most-visited recruitment portals for employed people, as well as those who are out of work. Meanwhile, the NFU has been helping the DWP to brief staff at its JobcentrePlus network about the industry’s requirements, so they can identify suitable candidates among their clients and develop long-term relationships with local growers. Horticultural roles will also be specifically promoted at appropriate times in the season at Jobcentres in areas with a high concentration of growers looking for workers. DWP staff will be available for advice on recruitment and on setting up work experience schemes and apprenticeships. Growers are also being encouraged to take part in the DWP’s work trials scheme that enables you to try out, under controlled conditions, potential recruits for a short period before they join your payroll. Many horticultural businesses have found it hard to attract and retain domestic workers in the past. “With a renewed focus and support from DWP we now have the opportunity to reconnect with a workforce that has new motivations to look at the benefits that horticultural roles can offer,” says Mr Abbey.

The NFU wants to see all growers who need to recruit this year giving the scheme a try. “Most importantly, it might just help you get the people you need,” he says. “But it’s important for another reason, too. Using the scheme means the DWP, and hence government policy makers, will be getting a ‘first-hand’ set of data about our needs and the extent to which they can be met or not by domestic recruitment. And we will be proving that we’re making every effort to recruit locally. “If it turns out, as we expect, that businesses struggle to recruit sufficient numbers of domestic workers, it will endorse what we’ve been saying consistently that, just like other countries, we still need significant access to a migrant workforce. “Lack of engagement, on the other hand, will suggest we’re not taking domestic recruitment seriously and that could affect policy decisions on, for example, the future of a seasonal worker scheme.” 2 It's simple to take part - email: bst1.deliveryteam@dwp.gov.uk with your postcode, contact details, the number of jobs you have to fill and the type of work and an employment adviser will get in touch to discuss your needs. For the Find a Job website, visit: gov.uk/find-a-job Summer 2021

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Innovation

The quickening pace of change

Opportunities to collaborate and the increasing attraction of commercial horticulture to outside investors are driving innovation at an ever-faster rate

Words by: Spence Gunn here are many areas where technological innovation could make a sea-change to productivity, costs and dependence on manual labour in horticulture. It’s the development costs, however, that a sector still dominated by small-to-medium-sized companies has often struggled with, despite the consolidation of the past 30 years or so. More recently, the government, together with investors from outside of the industry, have begun to recognise the opportunities. For example, in 2019 the government awarded grants totalling more than £12 million to Lincoln University to set up its agri-robotics centre, which is also pulling in R&D investment from the private sector, including robot company Saga and growers, such as soft fruit producer organisation Berry Gardens and its members. Even large corporations in other

industries, including the automotive sector, are looking to horticulture’s potential. One example is the tie-up between Dutch-based greenhouse design and build company Certhon and Toyota Group automotive component manufacturer Denso, a leader in robotics and process management. And the investment that horticulture is now attracting, driven by a renewed understanding of the value of local production to food security, seems likely to prove a game-changer.

CALL FOR VIEWS

For its part, Defra invited growers’ views this spring on the extent to which automation and robotics has been adopted. “As part of this review, we will be working closely with industry to explore ways to increase the use of automation in the sector,” said a Defra spokesperson. “This will help us make decisions around the future of any seasonal labour scheme.” AHDB ran a similar survey earlier in the year as part of its SmartHort

“THE INVESTMENT THAT HORTICULTURE IS NOW ATTRACTING, DRIVEN BY A RENEWED UNDERSTANDING OF THE VALUE OF LOCAL PRODUCTION TO FOOD SECURITY, SEEMS LIKELY TO PROVE A GAMECHANGER” programme, the results of which will help to inform Defra’s findings. “I expect these surveys will show a high degree of interest in innovation among growers and highlight some of the significant recent advances that have been made,” says NFU chief horticulture adviser Lee Abbey. “But I’m sure they will also reveal the huge gaps that remain and give the government evidence of why we will still need policies that enable us to access seasonal workers for the foreseeable future.” Some growers are, of course, already closely involved in cutting-edge

Summer 2021

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Innovation

24-HOUR TRACTORS

Robotti is computer controlled and can undertake multiple tasks in the field innovation which, as the examples here show, will go a long way to propelling horticulture to the next level.

ROBOTS IN THE FIELD

The cost of labour needed to pick broccoli has made the crop a focus for work on automation worldwide. And once the technology can be made reliable enough, it could be readily adapted to other field vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce. “We spend £1m a year on labour for broccoli harvesting alone,” says Richard Mowbray, commercial director at Lincolnshire vegetable grower TH Clements, which has been supporting research, initiated by engineer Peter Keeling, on a robotic picker for the crop. “We’ve been looking for a means to automate it for a long time.” The research has received funding from the AHDB and the government through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) non-departmental public body, and a company, Roboveg, has been formed to complete development. Director Mike Williams says the harvester is now “fully production ready”. The current version uses cutters on three standard industrial robot arms

mounted on the back of a tractor, which Mr Mowbray says makes it highly practical. A vision recognition system identifies heads ready to harvest and directs the arms to cut and lift them into boxes. Each robot can cut 1,200 heads per hour and, with a source of artificial light, can operate around the clock. “We are already being asked if it can be adapted for crops such as lettuce, cauliflower and even daffodils,” says Mr Williams.

THE AI GROWING ‘BRAIN’

Meanwhile, vegetable grower Polybell Organic Farm has been collaborating with groups developing autonomous crop management systems based on collecting and analysing crop data. One project looked at a way to map and measure broccoli heads, using the information to forecast yields and make the next passes more efficient. Polybell is currently in an UKRIfunded consortium involving Lincoln University, the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry and robotics company Earth Rover, which is developing an autonomous crop management system based on a fleet of robots each performing specific

Suffolk-based cooperative Fram Farmers has been looking into robotics for the past two years. This spring, one of its members, vegetable grower Home Farm Nacton, took delivery of one of the first robotic ‘tractors’ fully operational on any UK farm, a Robotti 150D from Danish manufacturer Agrointelli, weeding crops with a harrow attachment. “A large amount of our produce is organic, and we are increasingly limited in how we can control weeds,” says Home Farm director Andrew Williams. “It can be in operation 24 hours a day, so there is a long window of opportunity for it to make a difference at crucial crop stages. We also plan to use it for topping and drilling in the future, maybe even transplanting.” The driverless machine – a four-wheeled platform carrying two Kubota engines – is autonomously controlled by GPS via an onboard computer, following a pre-programmed route in each field. The route takes account of fixed obstacles to avoid; anything else that gets in the way will be recognised by the robot’s vision system, bringing the tractor to a halt and alerting the farm office. “It has front and rear cameras, which I can view at any time,” says Mr Williams. “I’m able to check the progress of crop growth at any location within that field, without having to walk to see it.”

data-gathering or crop-management tasks. Earth Rover CEO David Whitewood says the combination of robotics and artificial intelligence will release Summer 2021

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Innovation

Bardsley England has pioneered wireless crop monitoring

“LABOUR COSTS HAVE GONE UP 34% IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS BUT PRICES TO FARMERS HAVE REMAINED ALMOST UNCHANGED” unprecedented information to individual plant level. For example, one autonomous ‘rover’ counts, maps and measures 2,000 plants per minute and can detect pre-symptomatic signs of pests or disease. Back in the office, a computer displays crop density and distribution and eventually will be able to predict yield. “The grower can make early smaller-scale interventions which will lower cost and reduce waste,” he says. The same technology can be harnessed for automated selective harvesting and laser weed control. Earth Rover aims to have its prototype selective broccoli harvester ready by this summer. Without such systems, vegetable production will simply become uneconomic, predicts Earth Rover chairman and Polybell director James Brown. “Labour costs have gone up 34% in the past five years, but prices to farmers have remained almost unchanged,” he says.

DATA IS KEY

Kent top fruit grower Bardsley England will, in future, be able to measure automatically a crop’s development and 14

progress thanks to the expertise of its in-house technology division, Bx. Just over a year ago, Ben Bardsley, chief executive of Bardsley England, brought in Antony Yousefian to develop the division. Mr Yousefian had previously pioneered wireless crop monitoring, initially for protected crops, during his time with crop data company 30MHz. Sensors throughout an orchard capture data of an unprecedented diversity and detail right down to, for example, live monitoring of tree sap flow or the temperatures of leaves and buds in different parts of an orchard. The analytic software the company is

AUTONOMY ON THE FRUIT FARM A soft fruit site in Kent is expected to become the world’s first autonomous robotic demonstration farm, by 2025, thanks to Clock House Farm’s involvement in an Innovate UK-supported £2.5m project. The Robot Highways project draws on a range of technologies already under development by companies such as Saga Robotics of Norway, which is leading the project, working with Lincoln University’s centre for agri-robotics and its collaborating institutes. Electrically-powered robots have been designed to execute a range of tasks, including picking and packing fruit and crop protection, for example by using UVC light to control powdery mildew (pictured). The technology is expected to result in a 40% saving in labour, 20% less fruit waste, huge reductions in the need for fungicides and fossil fuel and a 15% increase in productivity. “Berry Gardens, the producer organisation of which we are a member, has its own R&D arm and we’ve been involved with and supported its work on robotics since the early stages,” says Clock House Farm managing director Oli Pascall. “We have been partnered with the University of Lincoln and Saga Robotics Ltd for the past six years,” says Richard Harnden, director of Research, Berry Gardens Growers, “and this project will demonstrate at scale our jointly developed new capabilities in robotics for the UK soft fruit industry.” Mr Pascall adds: “While we’re passionate about being at the cutting edge of robotics, we’re not expecting full automation and a significant reduction in labour for at least five to 10 years.”

Summer 2021

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Innovation developing combines this with other influences such as spraying and pruning schedules, weather data and satellite imagery to create a ‘digital twin’ orchard – a type of model already being used in greenhouses that can be used to predict yields under various weather scenarios or the impact of changes to management regimes. The software will simulate a seven-month season in 10 minutes.

CARBON-NEGATIVE FRUIT?

“The digital twin idea is being rolled out and continually improved across all Bardsley orchards,” says Mr Yousefian. “The aim is to optimise carbon sequestration, improve efficiencies and obviously to improve fruit quality and yield. It helps us quantify our net daily ‘carbon spend’ with the aim of growing carbon-negative fruit. “It can already give us almost instant visibility of profitability – currently per orchard but the aim is to pin it down to rows, then to each tree.” He believes the ability to collect and analyse data at such a level is also an essential step before harvest robots can be used effectively. “It will help make better use of labour, too, but it has to come before robot picking,” he says. “How can you introduce robot pickers if they can’t see the fruit, know how much there is and what size it is? Currently, a robot has to make all this

model – recognised not just for what they grow but how they grow.

‘FREE’ HEAT

“HOW CAN YOU INTRODUCE ROBOT PICKERS IF THEY CAN’T SEE THE FRUIT, KNOW HOW MUCH THERE IS AND WHAT SIZE IT IS?” Antony Yousefian

assessment while in motion, which explains why they are still slow. If it sets out knowing where and what to do, then it can go faster, but using all the available data just to drive a picking robot is a massive under-utilisation of the technology.” Mr Yousefian says analysis of data collected from orchards has already helped Bardsley England make better decisions on, for example, frost protection and what types of cover crop to sow to improve both biodiversity and overall crop health. The company’s aim is for these digital tools to help readdress current fruit production methodolgy and lead to an approach in which growers are rewarded on an ‘ecosystem services’

Hall Hunter installed a large river source heat pump to heat its polytunnels

Advances in the efficiency of heat pumps, together with the attraction of the now-closed Renewable Heat Incentive scheme, has seen them take centre stage in the energy generation systems of some of the most sophisticated greenhouses being built in the UK. Drawing latent heat from the ground or from nearby water bodies, and with pumps powered partly by electricity from CHP generators burning renewables, they are helping nurseries to cut their carbon emissions, while the greenhouse developments themselves raise productivity and extend the UK cropping season. Heat pumps that extract warmth from neighbouring water treatment works via a closed loop network of underground pipes are at the heart of two greenhouse projects in East Anglia totalling 29ha and completed last year for investors Greencoat Capital. Low Carbon Farming, which owns the nurseries, says the system provides 90% of the heating requirement. Its third 22ha glasshouse under construction near Ely will use heat pumps connected to a specially constructed reservoir. And the technology is not just limited to high-tech greenhouses. Last year, soft fruit grower Hall Hunter installed what is believed to be the UK’s largest river-source heat pump to warm 11ha of tunnel-grown table-top strawberries at its Berkshire farm, extending the spring and autumn seasons by several weeks. The Ebtech equipment is powered by electricity generated from renewable sources. Hall Hunter estimates it will result in an additional 800 tonnes of fruit that would otherwise be imported. The system is rated at 8.8MW and in its first six weeks of operation generated 5,000MWh, with peak load being maintained despite some of the coldest temperatures recorded in the farm in the past 10 years. Hall Hunter has plans to install a further 8MW of heating this year. 2 Summer 2021

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Ornamentals

For peat's sake

Never has the question of what growing medium to use been more of a challenge for British

growers, through an almost perfect storm of political and commercial forces

ommercial growers’ commitment to stop using peat by the end of the decade has been reiterated by the NFU and other industry bodies, in response to the publication this month of Defra’s long-awaited Peat Action Plan for England. Since 2011, the industry has been working to a ‘voluntary’ government target to eliminate peat from professional growing by 2030. Ahead of Defra’s announcement, the cross-industry growing media task force co-ordinated by the HTA, announced its ambition to publish a plan this summer outlining how the industry can reach this target between 2028 and 2030, ensuring the industry leads the way on this important issue.

INDUSTRY NEEDS SUPPORT

Defra’s action plan primarily focuses on peatland conservation, but includes a commitment to a consultation later this year on ‘a range of potential legislative measures’ to end sales of peat and ‘peatcontaining products’. It says it recognises the industry will need support to overcome any barriers left and will seek views on what’s required. The initial focus is on banning the sale of peat for amateur use ‘by the end of the current Parliament’ [2024 at the latest]. Horticulture and potatoes adviser Allie Hesketh represents the NFU on the taskforce. She says it’s been working to identify the remaining barriers to a peat-free supply chain and set a realistic timetable for the industry. “There are commercial as well as environmental reasons why growers have, for some time, been working to reduce and eliminate peat use. We still, however, need the government to work with and support the industry to get there,” she says. The pressure on supplies of growing media ingredients of all types this season has highlighted concerns not just over the technical merits, but also availability of peat alternatives. “Supplies of any ingredient are now very tight,” says Growing Media Association chairman Neil Bragg. He says Ireland’s decision to end peat extraction, which cuts off the UK’s chief source of the ingredient, is one of the main reasons – and alternative supplies from the Baltic are up to treble the cost. Meanwhile, the boost to gardening driven by Covid lockdowns has seen an explosion in demand for all types of growing media substrate. “While some technical barriers remain, particularly in

peat alternatives for use in propagation, and how materials behave during mechanical potting and trayfilling, good reliable peat-free and peat-reduced mixes are now identified for growers,” he says. “The issue is, they’re all currently in very short supply.” Coir, long seen as one of the most appropriate peat replacements, has been particularly affected, he says. NFU specialist branch the British Protected Ornamentals Association (BPOA) points out that investment by the industry, with Defra support, in R&D over the past 20 years has already led to 40% less peat being present overall in commercial growing media. The reduction is even greater in some crops, such as hardy nursery stock, and more growers are making ‘peat-free production’ a point of difference in the marketplace. But BPOA chairman James Alcaraz says that, so far, growers’ customers have mostly not supported the extra costs of growing plants in alternative media. “With their support there are opportunities for investment in the materials supply chain and to compete effectively with other users for key components such as wood fibre and coir,” he says. By 2050, world demand for growing media is expected to increase four-fold, and for peat to double, putting the industry under further pressure to find sustainable – in all senses – sources of substrates. 2

THREE CAVEATS

Allie Hesketh represents the NFU on the peat taskforce and she points out that there are three significant caveats in the task force’s plan. “Firstly, it needs government support, especially in ensuring affordable access to peat alternatives and for the industry to make investments to transition away from peat. Secondly, the volumes of alternatives need to be sufficient; and there also needs to be provision for exceptions where, despite the best efforts of industry and government we cannot identify viable alternatives. “The group is also continuing to highlight the need for a level playing field for UK growers to support their good work in transitioning away from peat, especially where competitors may still have access to the benefits of peat in their production systems.”

Summer 2021

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interactive map. Here’s how to join them

e know that many NFU members are already taking positive steps to make their farms net zero by 2040 – and that deserves recognition. That’s why we have set up the Net Zero Pledge Map, so we can celebrate the action taken across this year leading up to COP26 – the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow in November 2021. The more members who come together to make a pledge for net zero, the bigger change we can make and the easier it is to show policy-makers that farming and growing is at the cutting edge of sustainability. Each and every action counts. Stuart Roberts, NFU Deputy President, says: “It’s great to see how many members have made a pledge for net zero since we launched the map. “The NFU has set the ambitious goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the whole of agriculture in England and Wales by 2040 and we know many of our members are taking positive steps to achieve this goal. “With COP26, the UN climate change conference, due to be held in Glasgow in November 2021, we want to celebrate the action that members are taking by getting as many of them as possible to share their net zero journey and make a pledge. “By pledging for net zero on our map, you’re joining with other farmers and landowners who believe that together we can make a massive contribution.” Read the NFU’s Doing Our Bit for Net Zero booklet, which includes case studies from the horticulture and potatoes sectors, at: NFUonline.com/reports

• •

•

View the map by visiting NFUonline.com/net-zeropledge Zoom in and click on the stars to see what has been pledged in your local area When you pledge for net zero, you’re joining with other farmers who also believe that together we can make a massive contribution to combating climate change Your pledge will show on our public-facing Net Zero Pledge Map alongside all the others who are joining the push Your pledge will be anonymous (your name and address will not appear) and the map will only zoom to 10km on the Google maps scale bar The form to add your pledge is immediately below the map.

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AHDB

The last of the levy Industry discussions begin on the future for collaborative R&D, after the AHDB set out plans to end activities in horticulture and potatoes

Words by: Spence Gunn

ith Defra’s confirmation that the statutory levies for AHDB Horticulture and AHDB Potatoes will be scrapped, following the counts of the sector ballots held earlier this year, growers may have a little while yet before they know how much their final invoice will amount to. “We will be bringing forward the legislation needed to remove the levy later this year,” a Defra spokesperson said. “We are also working across government and with farmers, growers, processors and the AHDB on the future of the services currently being funded.” As AHDB remains legally required to collect a levy – and any outstanding debt from prior years – until current legislation is changed, levy payers will have to make a payment for 2021/22, but at rates which are currently under review and yet to be announced as this edition of Horticulture went to press. The levy body’s interim chief executive, Ken Boynes, said he expected levy return forms to have been sent out during the last two weeks of May. “Invoices will not be issued until we have ministerial decisions on levy rates,” he said. “We are taking a responsible approach in winding-down our work

turnover levy.” He added that programmes for the horticulture and questions remained over “what else potato sectors. In addition we have to you might do in this space” to recognise operational liabilities support the sector. associated with contracts, people and Mrs Capper says the NFU expects assets. This means that some level of ministers to fully engage with the levy will be needed in 2021 to industry in its decision-making. supplement sector reserves to “Elements such as R&D and work on cover these costs.” He said he plant protection products, that hoped levy payers would have been delivered by be patient during the AHDB, will remain crucial transition period. for businesses,” she In the AHDB OF GROWERS says. “It is important Horticulture ballot, VOTED there is clarity on the which closed in AGAINST THE future as soon as February, 61% of HORTICULTURE possible so that growers voted against LEVY businesses can prepare continuing the levy while how they work on these 39% were in favour of areas and who they work with.” retaining it. Turnout was 70% of AHDB says it is already closing those eligible to vote. down programmes of work that could In the AHDB Potatoes ballot, which in future be undertaken by grower closed in March, 66% of levy payers associations, individual growers or (growers and buyers) voted against others in the supply chain. But it will, and 34% voted for. Two-thirds of the for the time being, continue delivering 1,056 votes cast by growers were some emergency work on pests and against the levy. diseases, including research work that Defra Secretary of State George would be difficult to restart if stopped Eustice told the NFU’s online annual now. It plans to complete any R&D conference at the end of February that already under contract and findings the horticulture ballot showed “pretty will be made available to growers. clearly a very straight result”. The Growers' Better Levy Group, Responding to a question from NFU which was set up by growers who Horticulture and Potatoes Board support collaborative R&D, is chairman Ali Capper, he said: “While working on its own proposals for some of the larger producers were future ‘delivery mechanisms’ for more supportive of maintaining the levy areas of R&D applicable to all UK there was a clear majority against and horticulture and potato growers, so we will obviously respect the including crop protection. 2 outcome and remove the current

61%

Summer 2021

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Your board

d r a o b k o lo w e n r u o Y We introduce the new NFU Horticulture and

Potatoes Board members

Julian Marks

FROM THE CHAIR... NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board Chairman Ali Capper says: “It has always been a privilege to chair such an influential and accomplished group of members on the national NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board. “I’m delighted to welcome the new members, who each bring with them valuable skills and experiences that will support the NFU’s work during what continues to be very challenging times.

“I LOOK FORWARD TO THE INPUT AND GUIDANCE FROM THE BOARD TO ENSURE THAT OUR MEMBERS CONTINUE TO HAVE THE BEST POSSIBLE REPRESENTATION” “With regulatory, environmental and supply chain challenges dominating our agenda, I look forward to the input and guidance from the board to ensure that our members continue to have the best possible representation.”

Julian Marks is MD at Barfoots Group, where he is responsible for the production of field-scale vegetables across 8,000 acres in the UK and some protected cropping, selling into the major retailers and food service. A former army officer with a passion for primary production, he also oversees operations in Senegal, Argentina, Peru and Spain, where “climate events” are pressing concerns. Sustainability is high on his agenda, particularly a “post-pandemic refocusing on the environment” that he notes comes during “a brutal price war, with sustainability often paid lip service”. He says: “How do we further apply the principles of regenerative farming and remain profitable? And how do we demonstrate what we deliver in terms of public good, much of which we have already been doing for years?” These are among the “knotty issues” that attracted Julian to the NFU board. With Barfoots Group employing 1,200 seasonal workers each year, labour provision is also a key concern.

“AN AREA THAT I FIND FASCINATING IS HOW WE HEAR AND REPRESENT THE ISSUES OF GROWERS AT EVERY POINT ON THE SCALE” And despite the size of the operations he manages, Julian is committed to the gamut of UK horticultural production. He adds: “An area I find fascinating is how we hear and represent the issues of growers at every point on the scale, many of whom don’t have the same resources to fall back on. The onus is on us to influence policy development that works for all.” Julian is a former general manager of the Kenyan business for Vitacress and has additional experience in forestry and cut flowers. He started as operations director at Barfoots, joining on an initial six-week contract 16 years ago. Outside of work, he enjoys running, fishing, shooting and also paddleboards.

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Your board

Rob James Rob James brings impressive versatility to the board, with the benefit of a diverse career in UK fresh produce across potatoes, field veg and now protected edibles, working in technical, commercial and operational roles. The technical director for Thanet Earth, he has a significant hand in the supply of millions of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to most of the major retailers, from the largest glasshouse complex in the UK.

“I’M PARTICULARLY KEEN TO ENSURE THAT THE VOICES OF TODAY’S GROWERS ARE HEARD WHEN IT COMES TO ISSUES THAT COULD MAKE OR BREAK THIS LOW-MARGIN INDUSTRY” Comfortable in front of the media and representing the industry to stakeholders including government, he has been with the Thanet Earth project right from concept through to the hydroponic production giant it is today, spanning a significant period of change in the protected crops sector. Rob is keen to help maintain strong industry links and to encourage positive development and investment in the sector. He is well-known as a previous AHDB board member. He adds: “I’m particularly keen to ensure that the voices of today’s growers are heard when it comes to issues that could make or break this low-margin industry – be it changes to permitted crop protection products, the availability of labour in a post-Brexit Britain, or how growers can retain value for their UK-grown crops in an increasingly price-sensitive sector.” Rob is a farmer’s son who returned to the family farm after agricultural college before moving on to the MDS graduate training program. Outside of work, he is a keen rugby fan, until recently coaching juniors at the local Cranbrook Rugby Club. He also tries to get out on his mountain bike twice a week, “even in winter when it’s dark and cold”.

Nick Ottewell “The industry is rapidly becoming high-risk, low-reward and help from the NFU has never been more needed. I felt compelled to put my hand up and to help to the best of my abilities.” So says Nick Ottewell, production and commercial director at Laurence J Betts, growing 1,500 acres of wholehead and babyleaf salads alongside cereals. He adds: “I have worked in professional field-scale salad and vegetable production for the whole of my career post university. I am passionate about my work and passionate about the industry as a whole.”

“HELP FROM THE NFU HAS NEVER BEEN MORE NEEDED... THE CHALLENGES OF THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE ARE CONSIDERABLE” With a sound business record under his belt and a two-year stint as NFU Kent Chair, in 2016 and 2017, Nick is committed to getting to grips with the issues that have defined the past three or four years, and those on the horizon. Among them, he cites the continued loss of plant protection, access to suitable seasonal workers, significant increases in production costs linked to the National Living Wage, the fall-out from Brexit and recovery from Covid-19, and increasingly volatile weather – not to mention a “race to the bottom on prices” and the impacts of a new Agriculture Bill. He sees this as a pivotal time for UK horticulture. While a combination of wider consumer trends means this could be the sector’s time, the stakes are high. Nick says: “The challenges of the foreseeable future are considerable. If we fall short of them it could be terminal for many horticultural businesses.” When not working, Nick enjoys golf and tries hard to manage two or three hours of exercise each week.

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Your board

Martin Emmett Martin Emmett has successfully applied to join the board on a regular basis, after serving last year as a co-opted member. He says: “We face a period of huge changes and challenges, but there will also undoubtedly be great opportunities for an industry that is so intrinsically linked to the environment and wellbeing – the two things that currently matter most. “It is also an era where slogans can seem to replace strategies – be it ‘stop migration’ or ‘ban peat’. To win such arguments we need the public to identify more readily with UK growers.” Martin is a director at Tristram Plants in West Sussex, chair of the HTA Ornamentals Management Committee and a member of the Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group.

“WE FACE A PERIOD OF HUGE CHANGES AND CHALLENGES, BUT THERE WILL ALSO UNDOUBTEDLY BE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR AN INDUSTRY THAT IS SO INTRINSICALLY LINKED TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND WELLBEING”

ON THE AGENDA: Work areas for your NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board include... • • • • • • • • • • • •

Securing government support for attracting and retaining seasonal workers though 2021 and beyond. Pushing for a permanent seasonal worker scheme beyond 2021, which includes the ornamentals sector and can increase the numbers where evidence demonstrates the need. Working with Defra on the development of a horticulture productivity scheme for on-farm investments that improves competitiveness. Winning an extension of Producer Organisation funding so that POs have a year’s notice between the new horticulture scheme being developed and implemented. Securing improvements to the border control and plant certification policies that allow the smooth trade of plants and produce. Ensuring/maintaining provisions for the horticulture sector to help minimise the impacts of Covid-19. Influencing the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs) to deliver greater opportunities and recognition for horticulture and potatoes. Developing a strategy to identify opportunities for the sector to contribute to the ‘net zero’ challenge. Ensuring that the England Peat Strategy meets the needs of growers and supports them to move away from the use of peat in growing media. Shaping regional water strategy development that understands and appreciates the requirements of horticulture. Working to make sure Red Tractor’s standards review results in changes that are practical and deliverable on farm, and auditable. Supporting members with the evidence and analysis to strengthen their negotiating positions for fairer prices and terms – and with their contract terms and opportunities for negotiating better, longer term outcomes. Working with cross-sector teams on issues like plant protection, the Clean Air Strategy, health and safety, planning, tax, business rates and soil health.

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Your board

THE NFU HORTICULTURE AND POTATOES BOARD

Your board meets regularly throughout the year to shape NFU policy on a range of topics Ali Capper

Derek Wilkinson

Chair Top fruit (including cider apples) and hops grower in Worcestershire. Director of the British Hop Association, member of the Hop Industry Committee and chair of British Apples and Pears.

Vice-chair Field veg; grows spring onions for marketing to retailers through G’s and a number of other products including legumes and asparagus, which are marketed to retailers via Wealmoor.

Guy Poskitt

Phil Pearson

Root vegetable grower in Yorkshire, producing more than 50,000 tonnes of carrots each year, as well as various other produce such as pumpkins, potatoes, swedes and parsnips. Guy is a former Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year

Tim Papworth

Grows 10 varieties of potatoes alongside peas, dwarf beans, sugar and arable crops as part of a diverse contract farming business in north-east Norfolk.

NEW MEMBERS

The Group Development Director for APS Produce, the largest supplier of British tomatoes in the UK, with glasshouse nurseries in Cheshire, Kent, the Isle of Wight, Elloughton and Teeside.

Ben Kantsler

co-opted member Viticulturist at Nyetimber in West Sussex. The business runs 11 vineyards spread across the greensand and chalk soils of Sussex, Hampshire and Kent.

Martin Emmett, ornamentals; Nick Ottewell, salad crops; Julian Marks, field veg; Rob James, protected edibles.

Alex Godfrey

NFU Potato Forum chair After several years’ work as an accountant, Alex moved back to the family farm in north Lincolnshire, producing potatoes, pigs, wheat, rape, sugar beet and vining peas.

Anthony Snell

Soft fruit grower in Herefordshire, producing 1,500 tonnes of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and blackcurrants, both organically and conventionally.

James Alcaraz

BPOA chair The British Protected Ornamentals Association represents the needs and aspirations of all ornamentals growers of British pot and bedding plants. In addition, under the Home Grown scheme, producers of fruit trees, cut flowers, perennials, hardy nursery stock, and Christmas trees are represented nationally.

Contact your NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board by emailing lee.abbey@nfu.org.uk

Summer 2021

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Crop Protection

When temporary becomes the norm The mechanism for making crop protection products available in emergencies is being overwhelmed, argues the NFU

Words by: Spence Gunn

sprout suppressant DMN was permitted, while full UK authorisation remains in the pipeline, it was under he emergency such strictly controlled volumes that authorisation (EA) arbitrary decisions had to be made granted last year giving about which crops it could be used for. hop growers temporary Dependency on EAs has, in turn, access to Funguran brought the whole process for Progress, a new copper-based granting them in the UK to fungicide yet to be Three EAs were the point where the approved, should have granted in the system can’t cope, says been good news. UK in 2012; by last Dr Hartfield. It’s no Successive product year the number longer able to respond withdrawals during the had swelled to quickly enough when past few years have left a growers find a pest or critical gap in the control disease going of two key hop diseases – uncontrolled or when a new downy mildew and alternaria threat – the next spotted-wing cone disorder. drosophila, for example – emerges. The request had been made to Three EAs were granted in the UK in address those, but by the time it came 2012; by last year the number had through, in August, it was too late to be swelled to 37. Most EU member states of any practical use, coming just before make even greater use of EAs than the harvest started, in early September. UK, often allowing them on products “Funguran Progress did get an they voted to withdraw at EU level. emergency authorisation for organic Since 2013, Germany, for example, potatoes last July, from a request made in 2019, and received one this spring for has issued 260 EAs, Spain 290 and organic apples,” says the NFU Plant France 300. Health Unit’s senior regulatory affairs “The Health and Safety Executive, adviser Dr Chris Hartfield. “But the responsible for the UK’s approval timing of the decision for hops is just system through CRD, is aware the EA one illustration of the problems caused system is not working here as everyone by our reliance now on the EA process would wish,” says Dr Hartfield. to fill crop protection gaps.” “It’s clearly not responsive enough That’s not the only example of how when there really is an emergency, and the EA system in the UK is increasingly it doesn’t deal with the cause of the failing growers. Those growing problem, which is that the regulatory ornamentals and some fruit and salad system as a whole isn’t supporting crops in soil are waiting on the innovation of new, more effective and reauthorisation of the soil sterilant safer products.” Basamid, which was withdrawn from Dr Hartfield argues that relying on sale in 2019 but remains approved in the EAs is a direct consequence of having EU. A request for an EA in the interim fewer fully-approved products and failed last summer. fewer authorisations for horticultural And when emergency use of the uses. With the UK no longer bound

by the EU’s crop protection approvals process, there’s an opportunity for change. “Defra has started looking at how our EA system operates,” he says. “The NFU is also working with AHDB, which co-ordinates most of the EA requests for the industry, to come up with proposals to make it more fit for purpose in future. “We need a more holistic approvals system overall, one able to predict the looming crop protection threats and gaps, then encourages development of safer and more effective measures to plug them before they become a problem. “If we have that, there’ll be fewer genuine emergencies that we have to find ways of coping with.” 2

ARTICLE 53 Emergency authorisations are part of the EU crop protection product approvals legislation (EC 1107/2009), which were translated into UK law after Brexit. Known as ‘Article 53’, it enables a product to be marketed in the UK for up to 120 days ‘for a limited and controlled use where such a measure is necessary because of a danger which cannot be contained by any other reasonable means’. CRD says EAs are ‘a temporary solution to a pest problem for which a more permanent solution must be found’. It will not normally consider more than three repeat requests for an EA for the same product and use.

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Trade

The border rethink Horticulture looks at what changes to plans for the UK border mean for the sector

n response to concerns raised by the NFU, there have been some key changes to the Plant Health Import Controls that apply when importing regulated, and high-priority, plants and plant products from the EU into the UK.

REGULATED PLANTS

Perhaps most significantly, a plan to require phytosanitary certificates for imports of regulated plants – covering most fruit, vegetables and cut flowers – was pushed back from 1 April 2021 to 1 January 2022, along with the need to provide pre-notification.

Also, physical inspections on regulated plants and plant products, which had been due from 1 July 2021, will now come into force on 1 March 2022 and will take place at authorised border control posts.

WHAT ABOUT ‘HIGH PRIORITY’ PLANTS?

This category includes plants for planting, seed and ware potatoes, some other seeds and used machinery. Shipments here will continue to need a phytosanitary certificate and prenotification via the Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates

AND NORTHERN IRELAND? Significant easements have also been announced on plant movements from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. A grace period that meant many plants and plant products could be moved by authorised traders to authorised retailers without a phytosanitary certificate has been extended to 1 October 2021. And, following extensive NFU engagement, the UK government has announced a pragmatic approach to plants and plant products with growing media or soil attached. Controls would have required plants grown in soil, or in contact with soil to be rootwashed. However, temporary measures now mean that: • Bulbs or vegetables that have been grown in soil can be sent from GB to NI, even if they still have soil attached. • Plants that have been grown in soil can be moved with soil attached, provided they are from an authorised business meeting GB plant passporting requirements for soil. • Plants that are moving in containers with growing medium attached can be moved from GB to NI where they meet the conditions that apply for GB plant passporting purposes. • A phytosanitary certificate is required. Get full details at NFUonline.com/hort

from the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (PEACH) system. This will continue to be the case for the forseeable future – until the new import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) comes online. IPAFFS is due to replace PEACH in 2021, with details anticipated soon. There is currently a temporary simplification of the requirements for PEACH notifications, with only genus-level information needed in most cases. In a particularly welcome move, the introduction of inspection fees for EU imports of high-priority plants was postponed until 1 June 2021. Physical inspections will continue to take place at the registered place of destination (PoD) until 1 January 2022, rather than 1 July 2021, as had been proposed. Beyond this date, inspections will move to an authorised border control post, although the NFU understands Defra is still considering an enhanced system for sites that can meet increased inspection and customs requirements.

OTHER CONTROLS

Other import controls such as customs declarations and VAT requirements will still be required, but the option to use the deferred declaration scheme, including submitting supplementary declarations up to six months after the goods have been imported, has been extended to 1 January 2022. 2 Read full guidance at NFUonline.com/ plant-health-import Summer 2021

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Potatoes

The NFU is working with Defra and through its Brussels office to reopen the EU market to UK seed potatoes

Words by: Spence Gunn

entral to the UK government’s Brexit deal negotiations was its policy of being free to diverge, in future, from EU regulations – a policy recognised in the deal finally achieved at the end of 2020. But for some, the UK’s regulatory freedom comes at the price of EU market access. Britain’s fishermen have found that to their cost, and potato growers are feeling the impact, too. EU plant health rules have always precluded import of potatoes from any non-EU ‘third countries’, which it doesn’t accept as being produced to an equivalent regulatory, supervisory and enforcement regime as its own. The EU has agreed to ‘third country listed status’ for UK ware potatoes, so although some extra administration and inspection procedures are now required, the EU single market remains open to them. It has so far refused, however, to accept the case for granting equivalence to UK seed potatoes, arguing it’s impossible unless the UK agrees to ‘dynamic alignment’ with EU

rules. The issue not only affects trade between Britain and the EU, but also trade with Northern Ireland. Together, it accounts for up to 35,000 tonnes of seed tubers per year, most grown in Scotland. “There’s no technical reason why our seed can’t be granted equivalence, just as our ware potatoes have been,” says NFU horticulture and potatoes adviser Rupert Weaver. “They are both still grown to the exact same standards as when the UK was in the EU.” The UK has implemented a derogation, initially until the end of June, allowing EU seed potatoes into the UK while talks continue. “Achieving a reciprocal deal with mutual recognition of standards is essential,” says NFU Potato Forum chairman Alex Godfrey. “The NFU has been working with Defra, supporting their ongoing discussions with their opposite numbers in the EU, and we’re confident they are negotiating in the interests of seed and ware growers across the UK. “What’s not clear is whether there will be any agreement before the current derogation expires. There’s no doubt a ban here on EU seed will cause problems for those ware growers who

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Potatoes

Planting Maris Piper potatoes in Lincolnshire import seed. That said, we also recognise that lack of ability to export seed to the EU is creating huge problems for seed growers throughout the UK.” One of the most damaging effects of a UK ban would be loss of growers’ access here to many varieties, especially specialist crisp or salad varieties, which, for one reason or another, aren’t viable as a seed crop in the UK. Norfolk ware grower and Potato Forum member Tim Papworth is one who will be affected if no agreement is reached once the derogation runs out. “I grow salad potatoes from French seed,” he says. “I was able to get the seed I had ordered this year, though there were some border delays, but my worry is for next season. For example, I have a two-year contract with one packer that includes supply of salad potatoes grown from seed that is not available from UK seed growers. “The wider issue is we all depend on breeding programmes in Europe for new varieties, so we risk missing out on new genetics, particularly for improved pest and disease resistance, if we can’t get them into the UK. Ware growers here need access to the same genetics as the European growers we still compete with.”

In the absence of a deal being struck in the next few weeks, the Potato Forum’s preferred position is not to extend the import derogation in its current form, says Mr Godfrey. “Both seed and ware growers in Europe are as keen to see mutual recognition as we are,” he says. “The EU needs to listen to them, too.”

“IF THIS IS NOT RESOLVED BY LATE SUMMER, WE’LL BE INTO THE PERIOD WHERE GROWERS ARE PLANNING AND ORDERING FOR 2022, SO IT WILL AFFECT NEXT YEAR’S CROPS” Alex Godfrey Potato Forum chairman

Defra will be faced with deciding whether or not to continue some form of derogation and has been discussing possible options with industry stakeholders, including the NFU. It could be extended in its present form, meaning ware growers would continue to have access to all EUgrown seed and the full range of varieties. But UK seed growers would lose out by having to compete here with suppliers from a market they

themselves can’t service. On the other hand, letting the derogation expire would leave all UK growers unable to source EU-grown seed, at least for the 2022 season, and possibly longer if there’s no agreement on equivalence. A third option could be to exclude most seed but introduce a derogation for certain types – such as the grades seed growers use to bulk up stocks. Some favour this option as it opens the door to the full range of genetics but restricts the volumes EU seed growers could send to the UK, maintaining pressure on the EU to reach an agreement. Defining which types of seed to allow in, however, would be complex. “A tit-for-tat ban on all seed imports is just shooting yourself in the foot, cutting the industry off from the full range of varieties it needs,” suggests Gloucestershire seed grower and Potato Forum member Graham Nichols. “We need full recognition both ways, but if that takes longer than the end of June to negotiate, my personal preference would be for a partial derogation allowing UK seed growers to import, bulk up and sell on to our ware customers. That would have to be controlled on grade, rather than variety." The current situation can’t be allowed to continue, says Mr Godfrey. “Both seed and ware growers have to plan cropping well ahead. Growers on both sides of the Channel can’t make decisions about what to plant if they are unable to make reasonable assumptions about what and where they can sell. “If this is not resolved by late summer, we’ll be into the period where growers are planning and ordering for 2022, so it will affect next year’s crops.” Whether Defra decides to extend or modify the current UK import derogation, or let it lapse in June, growers in at least one sector of the UK potato market will end up at a disadvantage, points out Mr Weaver. “Part of our work with Defra is about making sure support mechanisms are also put in place for whichever group of growers that affects,” he says. 2 Summer 2021

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Potatoes

POTATO FORUM

Elements to keep from AHDB; and how footie and frites shaped a member’s year

Alex Godfrey Potato Forum chairman The result was clear: our sector voted no to continuing the statutory AHDB levy. The decision on next steps now rests with ministers, and the sooner they make their decisions known, the better for all concerned. We should turn our attention, though, to what we need to be left with when the dust settles. Growers, and NFU members, have a variety of views. These are mine. Personally, I have enjoyed being the host of an AHDB Strategic Potato Farm and believe the SPot programme has done good work, but I accept that such initiatives will have to come to an end. There are other areas of work I think we need to find a way of keeping. Through leadership and co-ordination on stewardship groups, AHDB has helped us to hold onto the use of some crop protection products (such as CIPC and some nematicides) for longer than we might otherwise. While some have now gone, there will be others in the future whose use could be extended through stewardship, and we must retain a mechanism to do so. The flip side of that coin is emergency authorisations. The burden should rest with the aspiring approval holder, but the British market is not always big enough for them to support such an approval. We need a body there to take the lead. R&D is a catch-all term for a huge field and most of what’s now undertaken, whether by growers or others in the supply chain, will continue regardless of changes to the levy. However, there is a niche area of precompetitive applied research on issues that affect everybody, which I think requires a co-ordinated approach. It will have to be tightly defined, but needs to include work on blight, virus and emerging pathogens. Defra is speaking with a number of growers to consider what happens next. Some newly-formed groups, such as the Grower's Better Levy Group, in which I participate, have argued for the continuation of certain key activities currently undertaken by AHDB. How we keep them is a more open question. You may have very different views. I hope we can agree on the need to maintain a healthy, viable potato industry in this country. As long as we don’t lose something vital, I am confident that growers will take the change in their stride and go from strength to strength.

Robin Cropper Forum member Our farm near Liverpool specialises in growing varieties for chips and we’ve always been proud that 75% of our potatoes are enjoyed within 25 miles of the farm gate. So, the first Covid lockdown had a huge impact on our business. After days spent on the phone, mostly from my tractor cab, I found a home for all of our crop, albeit at some very disappointing returns. There was a sense of achievement though, as unlike many we did manage to sell all we had harvested. By the time Covid hit, we already had land rented and seed on the way for 2020, so we ploughed ahead. Planting conditions were great, but the autumn saw yet another of those supposedly ‘once in a hundred years’ weather patterns. Some of our land was under two feet of water, so we couldn’t harvest the last 40 acres until this spring, along with the 50 acres of windrows already planned for spring harvest. Our market is still feeling the effects of Covid. A major impact has been the lack of football crowds. Football is huge around here and our chip shops do well from fans going to and coming home from matches, but matches have been played ‘behind closed doors’ for virtually two years. With people also more generally having had to stay home, I reckon that side of the business has dropped by at least 30%. Sales to catering have also virtually disappeared, with restaurants and many canteens shut. Because we were more prepared this year, we have been able to explore other markets. We have sold some on contract to processors and some for prepacks and have even exported some to Belgium. Before planning this year’s crop, we had extensive conversations with customers and that left me a little more optimistic. Football is coming back, and it looks as if more people will choose to holiday in Britain, hopefully enjoying fish and chips by the seaside, so we’ve decided to plant our usual area. Even when we start moving beyond Covid, there are plenty of other issues to deal with, such as worrying about how we’ll be affected by the Agriculture Bill; the continuing fall-out from Brexit; the ongoing erosion of crop protection, and coping with extremes of wet and dry weather, and spring temperature fluctuations.

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Meet the grower

A business in full bloom Horticulture meets the team behind millions of British flowers

Words by: Lorna Maybery Photos by: John Cottle What do you do? We grow about 20 million tulips each year, and just shy of four million stocks, along with a few other flower varieties, including antirrhinums, celosia, serenade aster and lisianthus, so we have production pretty much 11 months of the year. Are all your flowers grown under glass? Yes. We have grown outdoor crops, but we don’t anymore, as it’s erratic. We have 35 acres in total, but if you are going to do outdoor crops, the scale needs to be big these days. For instance, if you are growing sunflowers, you need 400-500 acres and 100 EACH YEAR, for sweet Williams. LAMBS FLOWERS How do you grow We thought if we GROW AROUND concentrated on your flowers? crops under glass in a The tulips are grown controlled hydroponically and once environment where we they are over, the can get high volume from glasshouse is cleared and the smaller areas and a bigger stocks are then planted directly turnaround per square metre, that in the ground, along with lisianthus. was the way to go. Hydroponics is so clean. Firstly, the bulbs come in as needed each week. Who looks after the different They are planted on spike trays and aspects of the business? placed in rooting rooms for two weeks Roger is the grower, he grows in the where they develop strong white roots ground; our son, Gareth, grows the and sprouts which will develop into tulips and I oversee selling and the flower. They come out and go into packing. As Roger’s getting older, a heated glasshouse for three weeks, Gareth takes more of the reins of then you crop and clear. There’s no things. We’re pleased he is in the soil, no chemicals, just water. business. You must keep investing to If we were growing in the ground, stay ahead and it is good to know you we would only be able to crop once, are investing for the right reason with whereas we generally get five crops in someone to take over the business in water. With water, it’s all under the future. control. You regulate the pH and how

20 MILLION TULIPS

much water the stem takes up each day; it’s good and clean. Are the stocks grown the same way? Stocks must be grown in the ground. We plant a quarter of a million each week and when that crop is cleared, the soil is replanted. In most areas we get two crops of stocks and where we don’t get a second crop, we grow antirrhinums. What diseases do you have to deal with? With the stocks, fusarium oxysporum and downy mildew are the two huge problems. Up to 2005 we could use a chemical, methyl bromide, to sterilise with. That was banned and we now have to resort to steaming, which is a dangerous occupation. We have a steamer sent from Holland and we

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Meet the grower

FACT FILE The Grower: Lambs Flowers Location: Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire Crop: Cut flowers Representing the business: Business partner Sue Lamb The beginnings: Before they established their successful cut flowers business, both Sue and Roger Lamb had very different careers. Roger worked for a large farming company and Sue for an engineering firm. “We were about to have our first child, so we decided to buy this four-and-half acre field and build our own house – that would be about 40 years ago,” says Sue. “We put up some tunnels and grew pinks for M&S as a little side-line, and within a few a months we thought, ‘we are going to like this’.” “We sold to M&S and other bits and bobs went into the markets. It was a bit of a rollercoaster when you looked at the returns, but we looked at other crops and put alstroemeria in the first quarter-acre of glass we erected, which was a huge investment. This we repeated with another quarter-acre build, which we filled again with alstro, then half an acre next, then we bought a couple more fields and it turned into a full-time job and now we have about 50 people working here all the time, with 12 acres of growing area under glass. Our son Gareth joined us in the business in 2002 when he returned home from university.” The business supplies Waitrose, Morrisons and sends a small amount to Asda, and supplies some direct mail companies. In December, Sue and her daughter-in-law Annabel launched Love Delivered, which is their own direct mail business, which is proving popular.

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Meet the grower Lambs produces just shy of four million stocks each year, along with 20 million tulips different from local labour now. They are very hard working; we couldn’t do without them. In fact, we can’t get enough to do the job. Have you had problems recruiting enough workers in the past year? It’s ridiculous that ornamentals aren’t included in the seasonal workers pilot scheme, I can’t get my head around that. The calibre of labour went down last year, without a doubt. I think we are going to be tight for sunflower packing this year. Also, we are losing a lot of the continuity – workers used to return each year and so we didn’t need to retrain them, and their speed was three times quicker than untrained workers.

steam the whole site once a year. It takes about three weeks – and we steam into the soil to just below 30cm and that prevents the fusarium. Stocks are always susceptible to downy mildew, but the chemicals we were using held it at bay. Then four years ago, there was an strain in Holland of a new downy mildew, and they sent us stocks with this mildew on and the chemicals we had didn’t work, so we had to look at vigorous new spray programmes. We need to be vigilant with it now. It destroys the leaves and makes them horrible, so the plant is unsaleable. Where does the water and heat come from for the growing and glasshouses? We harvest the water off the roofs and store it in two reservoirs. We also have solar panels to assist with electricity and we have biomass heating. The biomass is run by wood chip, which comes from local pallets so the better the building trade, the more availability of the wood chip. 36

Did you make use of local labour last year? “ITS RIDICULOUS THAT ORNAMENTALS The government is trying to encourage us to have a AREN’T INCLUDED IN THE SEASONAL Do you have a local labour force and we WORKERS PILOT packhouse? all try, but, genuinely, the SCHEME, I CAN’T Yes, and this means local people don’t want it. GET MY HEAD we can take in I don’t necessarily think AROUND THAT” products from a lot of it’s the money these days local growers and pack because you can earn good them for local supermarkets. money, particularly if they are on We run the production on five lines piece work on outdoor crops. Years with around 35 workers, who cut them ago, you used to have all the students to length, then bind them, put on in the summer holidays; they would sleeves and pack them into boxes. finish in May then go back in After they are cropped, the flowers go September; now they are encouraged into cold store to have the heat taken to go travelling and we get far fewer. out of the leaf, then they are packed. They are out here for about an hour or Could automation help to so, then back in the chiller and it’s cold alleviate the labour issue? chain all the way to the depot. From We are way behind where the picking to shop is 48 hours. government thinks we are for automation. For tulips, we have two Where does most of your large robotic machines but that’s an workforce come from? investment of a million pounds. There Apart from a few people in the office, are only a few of us left in tulips in the we are all migrant labour from Eastern UK and we all have Furoras or Tulip Europe and many have been with us a Star machines. We invested in two long time, 18 years some of them, so Furora machines – but like other cut they are buying houses, not living in flower growers, we don’t get three or temporary accommodation. Their five-year contracts from the children are at school, so they are no supermarkets, agreements are made

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Meet the grower every year, making it high-risk to invest long term. Our neighbours are investing in a Sweet William harvester – it’s been designed over the winter - but there are some crops I think are just going to be too difficult to automate, such as sunflowers and daffodils. Automation can possibly help the movement of the picked product, but they will always need to be selected and picked by hand. Was the business able to carry on working in the Covid lockdown? We had a week when the first lockdown was announced when volumes really dropped off and we had to dump tulips because you can’t store them for long and the crop keeps coming. But from then on, both Morrisons and Waitrose slowly got going again, condensed their range and kept British on the shelf. Once the lockdown announcement was made, the Dutch sent over every bulb that had been ordered for the season and we carried on planting – it was a big risk but it was the right decision. I think we have been incredibly lucky. Were you able to implement Covid protocols easily? We are spaced out in the packhouse in masks all the time. All the workers went to a test centre before arrival, and we have done lateral flow tests randomly each week. We check temperatures every morning. As soon as anyone says they don’t feel well, whatever it is, they go home, it’s what

Most staff are from Eastern Europe. Many have been with Lambs a long time we have had to do to be cautious. We have screens in the office, we have someone going around wiping down all the touchpoints such as door handles, the toilets, and steering wheels on forklifts. It’s extra cost, but I’m just grateful we can keep going. Have you been affected by Brexit and changes to plant health regulations? We pay the cost of the paperwork coming through. What I don’t understand is that the plants and bulbs are inspected in Holland, and we pay an inspection cost, and they are then inspected here and we pay another inspection cost – is there not some bi-lateral agreement that one

Lambs has introduced strong Covid measures to protect the team

inspection cost is enough? Normally, our plants would arrive on a Friday and the workforce would decant them but now that generally can’t happen until Saturday, as we have to wait for the green light to see if anyone will turn up and inspect, so the unloading is all done on overtime – it’s an added cost. I think it will take two or three years to work through the changes of Brexit, and for all the costs to become transparent, but we will get there in the end. Tell me about Love Delivered... Along with my daughter-on-law, we thought it would be good to launch our own direct mail business. We are doing bunchlets – depending on what you buy, you have two or three bunchlets in a box. Currently, we are doing British alstroemeria, our stocks, lisianthus and peonies. Generally, flower sales are up – people want a feel-good factor and flowers can be delivered; it’s a hug in a box for people you can’t see at the moment. Are people responsive to the fact they are British flowers? Yes, I think so. It’s not particularly expensive, we have gone for a price of between £25 and £40, so that places us well in the marketplace and I think we are getting a lot more people who are conscience buyers and want to buy our lovely British flowers. 2 Summer 2021

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Quality & Value, Now in Hot and Cold Rolled Frames Wide Range of Sizes ✔ Variety of Colours ✔ Insulated or Non Insulated ✔ Grounds and Civil Works ✔ y Certificate No. 1224-CPR-0615

Building solutions that last

Members of The Guild of Master Craftsmen

Call 01296 747 432 sales@libertysteelstructures.com www.libertysteelstructures.com Authorised Distributor for Capital Steel Ltd, the UK's ﬁrst supplier of Cold Formed Steel Structures to achieve CE accreditation for its Design Protocol and Factory Production Control Procedures.

INSULATION “energy saving at its best”

Installers of Closed Cell Spray Foam Commercial, Industrial, Domestic and Marine e Barns, Stables, Cattle and Live Stock Buildings, Potato Stores, Grain Stores, Chicken Sheds, Storage Areas and Workshops, Containers and Much Much More

• Outstanding Benefits • Weatherproofing • St Structural t l St Stability bilit • C Controles Condensation • Sound Proofing • No Food Value •Thermal Insulation •Draught Proofing •Bulk Water resistant •Class 1 Fire Rating •Cost Affective •25 year manufacturers warranty • 10 year workmanship warranty

RIVA Commercial

T: 0800 448 0457 – M: 07875 627675

KIWA/BBA/BDA/LABC Approved

E: tombennington@rivasurveyors.uk

Barn Store is a self-storage company run by farmers. We convert redundant farm sheds into modern self-storage units, and help you turn an otherwise obsolete asset into a proﬁtable business with capital returns that regularly exceed 50%.

We’re looking for new franchisees in suitable locations, so if you’re interested in creating a new revenue stream through the growing self- storage market, please call us on 02392 384888, email us on martin@barn-store.co.uk, or download a prospectus at www.barn-store.co.uk.

KEEPING IT COUNTRY

Guest Column

Minister for Employment Mims Davies MP on Jobcentre Plus and the NFU: a growing partnership

eedback from growers and industry organisations following last summer’s Pick for Britain campaign was clear: getting rid of barriers at a local level is the most effective way to support recruitment of more UK workers. That’s why the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is partnering with the NFU to support growers across the UK through our Jobcentre Plus network – directly linking growers to local recruitment networks. We want to better understand the recruitment needs of growers across the UK, and to develop and extend the relationships between growers and our Jobcentres.

200 ,000 JOBS HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY THE SCHEME AND WE’RE WORKING FLAT OUT TO GET YOUNG PEOPLE STARTED IN THEM

We need to make sure that jobseekers are aware of the roles on offer and that we create those vital recruitment pipelines that will help farmers fill vacancies. Crucially, the DWP is working with the NFU to train work coaches, increase local jobseekers’ awareness of farming and help Jobcentre staff to find the right candidates. To help build these networks, we’ve set up a dedicated contact so horticultural businesses can link up directly with their local Jobcentre Plus office. All you need to do is email: bst1. deliveryteam@dwp.gov.uk with your postcode, contact details, the number of jobs you have to fill and brief details of the type of work – and one of our local Employer Advisers will get in

touch to discuss what is available to support your recruitment needs and next steps. And through our wider Plan for Jobs, we’ve got a range of initiatives that are already helping businesses in the sector find their next workers. Our flagship DWP Kickstart Scheme is funding new, six-month work placements for young people aged 16-24 on Universal Credit, giving them not just a pay packet, but also the experience and confidence that comes from getting that first step on the career ladder. The scheme is aimed at young people in permanent rather than seasonal roles. In total, nearly 200,000 jobs have been approved by the scheme and we’re working flat out to get young people started in them.

Employers in the farming sector have already come forward to offer these new roles to young people as part of the programme, including jobs working as assistant growers, and we’re calling on more to join our national effort. Visit: kickstart.campaign.gov.uk to find out how you can get involved. The growing industry has played an absolutely vital role in keeping store shelves stocked and the nation fed throughout the pandemic, and, as the economy reopens and life slowly returns to normal, we are committed to ensuring our farmers and growers have the support and the workforce they need to continue to thrive I’m confident that our new partnership will lead to fruitful outcomes for all sides in the months and years ahead. 2 Summer 2021

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GLASSHOUSES AND POLYTUNNELS

Glasshouses sourced, refurbished and erected. Venlo specialists. Bespoke structures. All aspects of glasshouse work including rerooﬁng, maintenance, cleaning, gutters and refurbishment. Tel: 01724 734374 Fax: 01482 648032 Email: ken@newcenturyglass.co.uk Web: www.newcenturyglasshouses.com

SEED TRAYS AND POTS

Manufacturer & supplier of seed trays & inserts, cell packs, Danish trolley range. Square & round pots, Carry, Shuttle & Plug trays. From Recycled Plastics.

www.plantcell.co.uk

Please mention Horticulture magazine when responding to advertisements HORTICULTURAL SUPPLIES

Hor tisystems sales@hortisystems.co.uk

01798 815815 www.hortisystems.co.uk

Thermal Screens Aluminium Benching Irrigation Circulating Fans Greenhouse Lighting Ridder Ventilation Greenhouse Control

Tel: 01268 733088 Email: hsp@plantcell.co.uk

HORTICULTURAL AGENTS

Business Opportunity

Lily Growing Enterprise. Multiple Retailer Customer list and Wholesale trading website. Stock in trade. Leasehold site

Please call Tony Rowland on 07787 125909 Email - trowland@sheldonbosleyknight.co.uk Web - www.sheldonbosleyknight.co.uk

MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT

Terrington Machinery Ltd are suppliers of Bedformers and Bed Lifters for horticultural and vegetables. Inter-row Hoes, Rotovators and Brush Hoes. Planters for nursery stock and vegetables. All sizes of Rotovators and Power Harrows. Tined Weeders and Cultivation equipment. Maize and Vegetable Seeders. Please call for any type of machinery not listed. PLEASE QUOTE NFU HORTICULTURE WHEN ENQUIRING

Tel: 01553-828083 Mobiles: 07889-112163 (Brian) or 07966-417720 (David)

STORAGE

SECURE STORAGE BROUGHT TO YOU Hire former shipping containers from £1 a day (exc. delivery). Store anything from feed to machinery. Dry – Safe – Rodent Proof.

Call: 07812 374290 Email: info@containerpeople.co.uk Visit: www.containerpeople.co.uk

Please mention Horticulture magazine when responding to advertisements

To advertise in the next issue of NFU Horticulture magazine please contact Jas Saikhon on 02476 858952

The Overwrought cantilever sliding gate

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Developed to restrict access to farm yards and private roads. An aesthetic user-friendly barrier offering security on entrances ranging from 4 metres to 10 metres. Can be opened manually or automated. Wind and solar systems can be installed for use in remote areas. Galvanized as standard. Contact: Bill Clark T. 01623 861033 Park Farm, Kneesall, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG22 0AY Email clarkoverwrought@aol.com www.overwroughtironwork.co.uk

ROBIN APPEL LTD The Independent Grain Merchant

Spring Cropping Solutions PLEASE CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION +44 (0)1489 896 388 enquiries@robin-appel.com robin-appel.com

I can't live without...

NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board member Martin Emmett is a director at Tristram Plants in West Sussex, chairman of the HTA Ornamentals Committee, and a member of the Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group

Plants

I was born a horticulturist and am lucky to have a professional relationship with several species! The thought of living in an environment devoid of plant life really terrifies me – they are so fundamental to both our physical and mental wellbeing.

Robins

Surely the most sociable of all the wild birds, they are always ready and waiting to investigate what you are doing. Interacting with them in the garden or around the nursery has a timeless quality; they provide moments that I feel I could have had at any age – constant companions on life’s journey.

Paper

Not so much for writing, more as a material for folding. Origami is both a creative and mathematical process that provided a vital distraction during the winter lockdown. Very few people really appreciate the potential of a sheet of paper!

Summer 2021

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Are you farm assured but struggling to keep up with the paperwork? Or maybe you want to become assured, but aren’t sure which scheme best suits your business or how to apply? As specialists in farm assurance, CXCS are here to guide you through the membership process of all the major schemes.

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Completion of mandatory paperwork Pre-audit paperwork & farm checks Farm specific documentation Ongoing support & advice

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