Category Archives: HortNews

AC Goatham wins award for Best Orchard

AC Goatham & Son has won the East Kent Fruit Society’s Best Orchard competition for an orchard of Zari at Shrubbery Farm in Eastry near Deal in Kent.

Shrubbery Farm also won the award for the Best Orchard under 1,000 trees and Zari also won the Class D Best Dessert category.

The farm includes 120 acres of topfruit, including 28 acres of Royal Gala, 34 of Zari, eight of Cox and 17 of Comice and Conference pears.

The Zari orchard is planted on wires with a 3m cane system, as part of a company-wide scheme to plant one million new trees across 17 farms by 2020. The planting distance is 3.5m between the rows and 1.2m within the rows and the orchard uses Malus and Golden Delicious as pollinators.

Nigel Stewart, technical director at AC Goatham, said, “We are absolutely delighted to have won the Orchard Competition, along with the other two titles. We strive for uniformity and perfection across all of our orchards and this particular Zari orchard is a real showcase of the team’s growing skills.”

Photo Caption: Nigel Stewart

Photo Credit: A C Goatham & Son

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Fruit stolen from Kent growers

Police investigating a series of fruit thefts in Kent worth around a total of £6,000 have said that the incidents ‘may be linked.’

Fresh produce including strawberries and cherries have been stolen from growers in the Sittingbourne and Faversham areas. Three thefts were reported near Church Road, Tonge, between the 18 and 26 July, where around £1,600 worth of fruit was stolen. In addition, around £2,400 worth of soft fruit was stolen from land near Faversham, between 7 July and 22 July.

Kent Police are also investigating whether a reported fruit theft worth £2,000, between 26 and 27 July near Yalding, is connected. Investigating officer, PC Marc Pennicott, said, “These thefts are all very similar so we believe they may be linked and I would encourage anyone with information to get in touch.”

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Soil Association expects organic market to exceed £2 billion

The Soil Association has said that it expects the organic market to exceed £2 billion this year thanks to a potential boost from Organic September.

Overall growth of organic products sold through supermarkets in the 52 weeks to 18 June has increased over 5% this year. This year’s Organic September, sponsored by renewable energy company Good Energy, aims to boost this even further.

Clare McDermott, business development director at Soil Association Certification said, “Despite an uncertain market following Brexit, Soil Association Certification is positive about the future of organic and we expect this year’s Organic September to have an even bigger impact than before. Market growth is already strong and there is a clear demand for organic, environmentally friendly and sustainable purchasing with many young professionals. The UK will still be required to comply with EU organic standards as minimum to maintain the flow of organic products to and from the EU and the Soil Association will continue to influence and improve the marketplace for organic businesses.”

The organisation highlighted organic produce as one of the areas where growth is ‘buoyant,’ but added that organic meat is the star performer. Soil Association Certification also reported an increased interest in conversion to organic farming in the last year.

Mark Haynes, Managing Director at G’s Fresh commented, “It’s clear that there is a growing demand for organic at the moment. Organic September is a great way to focus customers’ attention on organic and link products right through the supply chain, from point of sale to producer. Organic fresh produce is doing very well so we’re really pleased that the Soil Association is continuing to support the whole industry for an added push in September.”

Photo Credit: Soil Association

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First vertical farm in UK to be in Scotland

A £2.5 million investment by the James Hutton Institute and Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) means that the first vertical farm in the UK will be built near Invergowrie.

The high-tech facility will produce crops such as lettuce, baby leaf and micro-greens using technology such as hydroponics and LED lighting. It will feature automated towers and complex software which will take the cheapest electricity from the grid at times of surplus. Although some commentators have expressed doubts about the commercial viability of such facilities, the developers say that they expect production costs to fall quickly.

Henry Aykroyd, chief executive of IGS, said, “Our mission is to enable our customers to be the lowest cost producers by growing local globally, with better quality and saving natural resources. The process uses little water, no pesticides, can enhance taste and is consistent all year round.”

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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Tomatoes resist a parasitic vine by detecting its peptide

Tomato plants deter attacks from a parasitic plant that’s known to ravage crops by detecting one of its peptides, a new study has revealed.

Worldwide, parasitic plants cost billions of dollars in crop losses, but a better understanding of how some plants fend off invaders could help efforts to mitigate these losses. Cuscuta reflexa is a parasitic, leafless vine that infects the stems of most dicotyledonous plants. One notable exception is Solanum lycopersicum, a species of tomato.

Plants are sometimes able to detect disease-causing microbes by the distinct peptides that these invading plants release, which prompts the host plant to secrete the stress-related hormone ethylene. The research team lead by Volker Hegenauer suspected that S. lycopersicum may take a similar strategy when facing the plant parasite C. reflexa, which they confirmed. By analyzing natural variation the researchers identified the receptor behind this sensitivity, which they named Cuscuta receptor 1 (CuRe1).

When the team induced expression of the corresponding gene in the leaves of two other plant species (one closely related to S. lycopersicum and the other more distantly related), both plants reacted to presence of the C. reflexa peptide with increased production of ethylene, and exhibited increased resistance to C. reflexa infestation.

Photo Caption: Flower of the dicotyledonous plant parasite Cuscuta reflexa.

Photo Credit: Dr. Eric Melzer

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Tesco & Co-op offer free fruit for children

Tesco and Co-op stores are offering free fruit to children while their parents shop.

Tesco is offering the scheme in 800 stores, offering parents a selection of fruit such as apples, some citrus and bananas in response to a suggestion by checkout colleague Maria Simpson. “We’re Britain’s biggest greengrocer, so we want to make it easier for parents to get their children eating more healthily,” said Tesco UK chief executive Matt Davies. “”As a dad, I know it can be tricky getting children to eat their fruit and vegetables, so we’re hoping this initiative will help create healthy eating habits that will stay with children as they grow up.”

In contrast, the Co-op scheme, which is restricted to Lincolnshire, is only available to junior members of the Lincolnshire Co-op between the ages of five to 15. Once registered children can claim a fruit snack bag every day.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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Food Standards Agency pledges review of date marking guidance

On Wednesday 6 July, the Food Standards Agency partnered with Neighbourly to host an industry round table event entitled ‘Addressing the challenges in food waste redistribution’.

The event focused on redistribution by retailers to charities and community organisations preparing food for service users and marked the beginning of the FSA’s review of date marking guidance in partnership with Defra and WRAP. The key theme was to explore whether any improvements in food safety labelling and guidance, or better education around it, might increase the volume of surplus fresh food donated and used by the voluntary sector.

The event highlighted a number of key issues, and now, as part of the review process, the FSA, WRAP and Defra will consider extending the guidance to include how food can be redistributed safely. A recurring theme throughout the event was the impact, application and understanding of date labelling, in particular the challenges around ‘best before end’ dates. The need for a section of the guidance to address date marking for food for redistribution rather than sale was also identified.

Steve Wearne, Director of Policy, Food Standards Agency, commented, “These discussions have been extremely useful in bringing to light the key barriers to food redistribution for all those involved. It has clearly highlighted the areas where the FSA can focus its efforts to ensure that as much surplus food as possible is safely redistributed. That’s why we have begun the process, working with Defra and WRAP, of reviewing the date marking guidance which we aim to publish by July 2017.”

Photo Credit: FSA

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Morrisons cuts prices as investors leave

Morrisons has said it will cut the average price of its fresh produce by 17 per cent as part of wider price cutting moves which the retailer hopes will shore up its market position.

1,045 products, including meat and toiletries, have been reduced in price in the third round of price cuts by the retailer this year. Morrisons called them its ‘biggest ever price crunch.’ Fresh produce prices will be cut by 17 per cent on average and up to 56 per cent on some fruit and vegetable products.

Andy Atkinson, Morrisons’ customer and marketing director, said, “We are constantly listening to our customers and know they are concerned about whether food prices will go up following the Brexit vote, especially on imports. We are British farming’s biggest supermarket customer, which means we can better control our prices, and this latest round of crunches demonstrates our commitment to offering the best possible value to our customers this summer.”

However, newspapers reported that investors sold shares in the retailer after the announcement, with the share price falling 2 per cent to 182.05 pence on Monday afternoon.

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Univeg announce joint venture with Bardsley Farms

Leading top fruit grower Bardsley Farms and UNIVEG UK, part of Belgium-based Greenyard Foods, have formed a new joint venture.

Farming 420 acres of orchards, Bardsley Farms has a number of long term relationships in the industry, including supplying Tesco for over 25 years. The new, formal tie-up with UNIVEG UK follows strategic collaboration over the last two years.

“It is clear that Bardsley Farms and UNIVEG’s aspirations for the market are aligned to the point where putting together a Joint Venture was the next logical step”, said Alan Forrester, UNIVEG UK’s Joint Managing Director.

Nigel Bardsley, chairman of the new Joint Venture, commented, “With the changing nature of the UK top fruit market it makes total sense to pull together the two businesses, where not only is the thinking aligned, but the strengths of the two businesses will deliver a model which is unseen in the market place to date.”

Ben Bardsley, Managing Director of the Joint Venture added, “UNIVEG has already demonstrated their willingness to share with all of the growers the opportunity to be involved in the innovation and varietal development that sits both in their UK trial orchards but also in the breeder relationship we and the wider UNIVEG grower base have access to across the globe.

“The first stage of the £6 million, 5-year investment program in Bardsley Farms is nearing completion, and will be up and running for the upcoming 2016 UK top fruit season. We have invested in world leading grading and packing technology that not only delivers vitally important efficiencies, but allows us to target customer products that best fits the fruit, and by managing quality.”

Photo Caption: Ben & Nigel Bardsley.

Photo Credit: Bardsley Farms

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Vitacress invests

Vitacress says it will spend £4 million on expanding intake operations at its St Mary Bourne salads factory in Hampshire.

Work on the new facility will begin this autumn and finish in 2017, with the company proposing to close its current operations at nearby Amesbury.

Vitacress CEO Toby Brinsmead said, “Two years ago we started an investment programme to support our ambition to be leaders in our core markets of fresh herbs and salads. In 2016 we completed a £6 million investment in Chichester, West Sussex, creating the UK’s leading fresh herbs facility. This new investment in our St Mary Bourne factory is the next step to ensure that we remain competitive and continue to provide the best produce available in the rapidly evolving salads market.”

The company has entered into consultation with its employees to accommodate the closure of its Amesbury factory and adapt to changes in working patterns and shift structures required at the St Mary Bourne site.

Photo Caption: Toby Brinsmead

Photo Credit: Vitacress

The post Vitacress invests appeared first on Hort News on 28 July 2016.