Monthly Archives: April 2015

New polytunnel roof fan from Northern Polytunnels

Northern Polytunnels has introduced a new roof fan to help remove excessive heat from polytunnels and polythene clad greenhouses.

Usually used with a temperature switch, the fan can remove 4,600m³/hr (2,700cfm) of air and is supplied with a mesh guard on the inlet. It is installed by cutting out a 30-35cm hole in the polytunnel cover. The fan is then inserted from the inside in a rotating motion, and clipped on to the support bars. Northern Polytunnels says that the seal around the 7.5 kg unit is watertight, even in extreme weather conditions.

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New early warning system for apple canker

Agrovista has added a new apple canker forecasting model to its Growers Choice Interactive disease forecasting service. The new model informs growers whether their orchards are infected, and if so at what level, by monitoring factors that can cause outbreaks, including rainfall, leaf wetness, temperature and tree wounds.

Agrovista fruit agronomist Alex Radu explains, “Accurate information is essential to produce reliable model outputs. This is provided by high-quality Plantsystems weather stations that GCI growers lease, similar to the existing scab and codling moth models they are familiar with.”

Information is forwarded every 15 minutes to a central server. The software model, based on RIMpro pest and disease prediction software, integrates this with information on canker’s lifecycle stored in the program. The resulting graph shows spore germination, relative numbers of spores on wounds and a resulting infection value.

While pruning cuts, bud burst, petal fall and fruit drop are all risk periods, the biggest danger comes at leaf fall in the autumn adds Alex: “If there are few fresh wounds then treatment may not be needed, regardless of infection value, but if wound levels are significant and the trend is rising and coinciding with a high infection value, treatment should be considered.”

It is hoped that the new model will reduce the need for prophylactic spray treatments in the autumn, reducing costs and improving the environmental footprint of apple production.

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Jamie Oliver and Asda push wonky produce

TV stars Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty have used their latest series: Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast on Channel 4 to persuade supermarket Asda to stock misshapen or ‘ugly’ vegetables after meeting growers.

Doherty claimed, “Up to 40 per cent of everything farmers grow gets rejected by supermarkets because it doesn’t meet their strict beauty standards. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of veg. are thrown on the scrapheap.” The programme spoke to Kevin Hammond and his son Oliver of Tattersett Farm near Fakenham in Norfolk who told the presenters the future of their business was on the line with only half the crop making the necessary specification. “We’ll make a loss on this crop this year,” said Kevin, referring to a field of carrots. “We estimate that 40 per cent of this field are splitting.”

Mr Oliver said, “If most Brits had half an idea of the amount going to waste, they’d be snapping up ugly veg. by the trolley load. There’s no difference whatsoever in taste or nutritional value. This is perfectly good food that could and should be eaten by humans.”

The range includes discounted products such as Claude Carrot, Paul Potato and Suzie Swede. According to the supermarket, the new range will increase potato crop utilisation by 10 per cent and swede by 15 per cent.

Asda produce technical director, Ian Harrison, explained, “The first step in this project was to look at how we could extend use by dates on produce. Our ‘Beautiful on the Inside’ range, which would have either gone to waste or been used for further processing, will now be celebrated for its freshness, value and quality in stores.

“We’ve been working very closely with our farmers to make sure we have excellent knowledge of our supply chain. Our growers are savvy and already use a large percentage of this wonky crop for further processing, for things like ready meals and juicing, but we saw an opportunity to extend this even more.

“There is still work to be done in encouraging customers to give ‘wonky’ fruit and veg. a go, but we hope our campaign will break down some of those barriers and make ‘ugly’ food more accessible for shoppers and families.”

The new lines will be launched in store later this month with around a 1/3 discount to regular produce.

The post Jamie Oliver and Asda push wonky produce appeared first on Hort News on 14 January 2015.

Reading greenhouse aims to save cocoa production

The University of Reading has opened a new £1 million greenhouse facility for the quarantine and housing of its cocoa collection, which it maintains at the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre.

The University took over the collection from the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in 1985, but this is the first time that all 400 varieties have been consolidated into a single greenhouse at Shinfield, which should make maintenance of the collection more efficient and speed up the quarantine process.

“We use a lot of energy keeping the cocoa plants in tropical conditions, and we can do that much more efficiently in this new facility,” cocoa project leader Professor Paul Hadley told the BBC. “”Most cocoa is produced by subsistence farmers, who might be farming one or two hectares. As well as needing new, more efficient varieties, they also need to improve the way they grow the cocoa.”

After up to two years in quarantine, clean cocoa seeds are sent from Reading to some 20 different countries, around the world, including several in West Africa which produces 75 per cent of the cocoa used for world chocolate production.

The post Reading greenhouse aims to save cocoa production appeared first on Hort News on 14 January 2015.

New food policy manager for NFUS

The new Food Policy Manager for NFU Scotland has identified representation in the supply chain as one of his key roles as he builds relations with retailers, processors and consumers.

The role was created 18 months ago, but previous incumbent Kylie Barclay has moved on to pastures new. The new Food Policy Manager is 23-year-old John Armour, a farmer’s son from Kintyre, who commented, “It is a great privilege to be joining the Union. Growing up on a dairy farm has meant that I’ve always had a direct tie to NFU Scotland and I value the important work done to improve the lives and business opportunities available to Scottish farmers.

“My specific remit of representing our members’ interests in supply chain and food retail discussions is a thrilling prospect and I look forward to grappling with the key issues affecting the supply chain, and to working with everyone at NFUS to effect positive change to benefit the whole of the Scottish agricultural community.”

NFU Scotland Chief Executive Scott Walker commented: “John will continue to build on the success of his predecessor in being an active advocate for the farming industry in the supply chain. Ensuring that the country’s farmer’s voices are heard in a rapidly changing retailer environment is critical. It is important that we press for fair contracts and fair prices in the domestic market and look to maximise export market opportunities.”

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Asda warns of tough trading conditions

Asda’s chief executive Andy Clarke has warned that supermarket trading conditions will remain tough for the foreseeable future, indicating that the retailer will continue to focus on low prices to gain market share.

In the last few days Mr Clarke has spoken to a number of press outlets as the supermarket said it would ‘invest’ £300 million during the first quarter of 2015 on reducing prices across its range, particularly ‘weekly essentials and big brands.’ In a press release the company cited cucumbers and russet apples among those products that would be ‘rolled back’ until the end of March. Asda has been criticised by the NFU for cutting milk and egg prices over the last week.

Speaking on BBC 5 Live last week, Clarke admitted that the rise of discounters, such as Lidl and Aldi, who together now account 8.6 per cent of the UK grocery market, were having a real effect on the ‘Big Four’ of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s. “The level of profitability decline in some retailers over the course of 2014 – we’ve never seen it before,” he said. “It suggests 2015 is going to be equally as challenging.”

Before Christmas Clarke told The Telegraph that Asda, which is owned by Wal-Mart, was about a year ahead of its rivals in terms of facing up to a marketplace dominated by lower prices and bigger discounts: “I have got a very simple view, which is get your prices to be the best in the market. We know we have got more work to do against the discounters, but in some categories we have got parity already. We have halved the price gap over the last two years; we have narrowed it further in the last year.

“Our ambition is to keep narrowing the price gap to the discounters and widening the price gap to the big grocers. We firmly believe customers are getting bored with gimmicks. They want transparency and they want clarity of basket pricing.”

In November accountancy firm Moore Stephens warned that the number of food production businesses which became insolvent in 2014 was 23 per cent higher than the previous year and that the trend could continue if supermarkets launched a full scale price war.

The post Asda warns of tough trading conditions appeared first on Hort News on 14 January 2015/

Baby kale launch backed by advertising campaign

Bagged salad producer Florette is reportedly spending £600,000 on marketing its new Baby Kale product, with a range of adverts in the food press, on billboards and online. The company hopes to attract consumers who are already familiar with curly kale which has become increasing fashionable as a healthy foodstuff over the last year.

One key area of the campaign is the London Underground, which will feature both platform billboards and digital advertising on escalators. According to the company, the addition of kale to its single leaf product range could be worth as much as £3.3 million.Elaine Smith, marketing controller at Florette, said, “We believe that the positive positioning as a versatile ingredient, as well as a super-food, will help to deliver incremental purchase occasions and incremental cash value to the rest of the single salad leaf category.

“More consumers than ever are realising the benefits of super-foods and with continued celebrity endorsement, curly kale is a firm favourite. Our latest creation puts a spin on this popular super leaf, which in its traditional form has to be cooked before eating. Baby Kale can be eaten raw in salads and smoothies – as well as being cooked, so it’s never been easier to enjoy all the health benefits of kale.”

The new packs are available from various retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s Waitrose and Ocado.

The post Baby kale launch backed by advertising campaign appeared first on Hort News on 14 January 2015.

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Funding for spider venom crop protection

A share of £16 million of government R&D funding for agriculture has been assigned to a novel insecticide – featured in the October 2014 issue of The Vegetable Farmer magazine.

The £1 million project led by Arch UK Biocides Limited and carried out in collaboration with the University of Durham, the Food and Research Agency (FERA) and I2LRESEARCH LTD, will receive over £650,000 Agri-Tech Catalyst funding to further develop an environmentally friendly pesticide which is harmless to non-target species including bees. The new insecticide uses naturally occurring peptides, found in spider venom, to produce an orally effective treatment which can be produced commercially…

This post first appeared first on Hort News on 12 January 2015.

no25 Funding for spider venom crop protection