We were delighted to welcome over 20 leading vineyard managers and winemakers from across the South East to a special machinery demonstration day we held with vineyard contractors SJ Barnes at a vineyard on the Kent / East Sussex border on Friday 8 October. From 10am till 2pm, still and sparkling English wine producers were … Continue reading →
English wine producers agree that mechanical grape harvesters are a no brainer for still wine varieties
Can orchard defoliators increase the number of apples in the first pick and does allowing more sunlight really improve colouration?
Last August we were excited to deliver the UK’s first REDpulse Duo orchard defoliator to Boxford (Suffolk) Farms. Developed by Fruit-tec, who many of you will know as the makers of the Darwin mechanical blossom thinner, in partnership with ERO, who produce a range of vineyard trimmers and defoliators, the pneumatic REDpulse Duo emits a … Continue reading →
Precision Fruit Tree Dosing to Optimise Yield and Quality
We were extremely proud and excited to be involved in the first wet trials of the PODS precision sprayer system, which took place on Tuesday 18 May at Plumford Farm in Faversham. As all growers know, there is often significant tree-to-tree variability in orchards, with different tree structures (size, density), crop loads and quality often … Continue reading →
How to protect your tractors and machinery from theft.
We’re now registered as a certified CESAR dealership and can provide and fit the state-of-the-art Datatag ID technology to new and existing tractors, as well as all types of self-propelled and trailer-mounted equipment.
A road trip to see soft fruit growers in Scotland.
Last week, Claire bravely let me leave the office and drive some 11 hours north to see our customers in Scotland. It probably won’t come as a surprise to a bunch of fruit growers, but there’s a really thriving, well established soft fruit industry located around Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. While Scottish growers are susceptible to … Continue reading →
How to find a table-top strawberry sprayer for your individual site and set-up.
This month we are shining a ‘Seymour’s spotlight’ on our bespoke range of table-top strawberry sprayers. Did you know that Nick built his first made-to-measure table-top sprayer in 2005? From his strong engineering background Nick has always been keen to ensure customers get exactly what they need. After he was approached by Gaskains, who were … Continue reading →
How to keep your vineyard tidy for tourists.
With a bit of luck, the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown will all stay on schedule and we’ll see tourists returning to vineyards across England in time for English Wine Week. Following on from WineGB’s tourism conference on 2-4 March, I thought that this month it would be good to take a look at some … Continue reading →
How to apply fertiliser efficiently in vineyards and orchards.
For those looking to improve plant health, yields and thus profitability, while keeping potential input costs to a minimum, the ability to apply fertiliser only where it is really needed is pretty useful. If you’ve invested in detailed soil analysis and your agronomist has been in to map your site, it’s now time to look … Continue reading →
Essential equipment to make orchard and vineyard spraying easy work.
When I ask growers what machinery they’re looking for at the moment, the majority say that they just want equipment which will make work easier. One very simple piece of kit which does just that is our new generation sprayer controller, the SprayTrol. First tested by Nick Seymour in the UK, this combined spray rate … Continue reading →
Just delivered: Fruit-tec ‘Edward’ mechanical pruning saw
In January 2021 we delivered a Fruit-tec ‘Edward’ mechanical pruning saw to the team at Boxford (Suffolk) Farms. Keen newsletter readers may recall that Boxford Farms took delivery of the UK’s first Fruit-tec REDpulse Duo defoliator last year, which you can read more about here >>> The Fruit-tec mechanical pruning saw, which has been specifically … Continue reading →