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uitg
r
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.co.uk
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •MArCh 2017
Ag
r
ovista
h
as st
r
engt
h
ened its national f
r
uit ag
r
onomy team
wit
h
two new appointments cove
r
ing t
h
eWestMidlands and
sout
h
of England.
he
r
efo
r
ds
h
i
r
e-basedDavid Taylo
r
will se
r
vice bot
h
top f
r
uit
and soft f
r
uit g
r
owe
r
s, mainly in t
h
eWestMidlands, but also
nationally as demand fo
r
Ag
r
ovista’s se
r
vice builds. Davidwas
bo
r
n on a t
r
aditional fa
r
ming estate inhe
r
efo
r
ds
h
i
r
e, w
h
e
r
e
h
is
fat
h
e
r
was fa
r
m fo
r
eman, and
h
as spentmost of
h
iswo
r
king
life in t
h
e
r
egion. he sta
r
ted in t
h
e f
r
uit secto
r
in 2001wit
h
Wit
h
e
r
s F
r
uit Fa
r
m, Ledbu
r
yw
h
e
r
e
h
e spent seven yea
r
s,
ending up as gene
r
al manage
r
. he t
h
enwo
r
ked as g
r
owe
r
manage
r
fo
r
S&A
P
r
oduce inhe
r
efo
r
ds
h
i
r
e
fo
r
fou
r
yea
r
s, followed
by a simila
r
spell as an
ag
r
onomist fo
r
Be
rr
y
Ga
r
dens.
David is looking
fo
r
wa
r
d to t
h
e c
h
allenge.
“T
h
is is an exciting time
tobe involved in t
h
e f
r
uit
business,”
h
e says.
“W
h
ile t
h
e
r
e a
r
e some
inte
r
esting c
h
allenges
a
h
ead, not least t
h
ose
stemming f
r
omB
r
exit, I
believe t
h
at t
h
eUK f
r
uit
indust
r
y
h
as a ve
r
y b
r
ig
h
t
futu
r
e. I
r
eally like
Ag
r
ovista’s app
r
oac
h
to
delive
r
ing
r
esults fo
r
its
custome
r
s, w
h
ic
h
givesme plenty of scope to set and ac
h
ieve
my own goals anddi
r
ectionsw
h
ile ac
h
ieving t
h
e best
r
esults
fo
r
my clients.”
SimonWa
rr
enwill cove
r
t
h
e sout
h
of t
h
eUK f
r
om
h
is base in
Kent. he b
r
ings plenty of knowledge to t
h
e
r
ole. his fat
h
e
r
wo
r
ks in soft f
r
uit b
r
eeding, andSimon
h
as been engaged in
t
h
e soft f
r
uit secto
r
all
h
iswo
r
king life. hewas employedby
Edwa
r
dVinsonPlants inKent fo
r
12 yea
r
s as a p
r
opagation
manage
r
and t
h
enwo
r
ked fo
r
fou
r
yea
r
s at S&AP
r
oduce in
he
r
efo
r
ds
h
i
r
e as a g
r
owingmanage
r
, wo
r
kingwit
h
table-top
st
r
awbe
rr
ies andbluebe
rr
ies.
Wo
r
king fo
r
an advice-led company likeAg
r
ovistawit
h
indust
r
y-leading tec
h
nology is an oppo
r
tunity not tobemissed,
h
e says. “I enjoy t
h
e ag
r
onomy side of g
r
owing, aswell as t
h
e
c
h
allenge of g
r
owing a good
h
ealt
h
y c
r
op, maximising c
r
op
quality and yield, wit
h
minimumwaste. I will also eventually
cove
r
top f
r
uit and stone f
r
uit at Ag
r
ovista, and I am looking
fo
r
wa
r
d to imp
r
ovingmy knowledge in t
h
ese secto
r
s and
wo
r
kingwit
h
in t
h
e team to ac
h
ieve t
h
is.”
Ma
r
kDavies, comme
r
cial
h
ead of f
r
uit at Ag
r
ovista, says t
h
e
appointmentswill st
r
engt
h
en t
h
e team as it continues to
expand. “Bot
h
Simon
andDavid
h
ave awealt
h
of soft f
r
uit expe
r
ience.
T
h
eywill focus on
building suppo
r
t in t
h
e
use of ou
r
r
ange of bees
andbiological cont
r
ol
p
r
oducts in t
h
e field,
w
h
ilst developing t
h
ei
r
knowledge of t
r
ee-f
r
uit
c
r
ops. Ou
r
team is
r
elatively young, wit
h
an
ave
r
age age of 40, and
t
h
is investment illust
r
ates
Ag
r
ovista’s long-te
r
m
commitment to t
h
e f
r
uit
business in t
h
eUK.We
will continue to invest in
people and se
r
vices t
h
at
will p
r
ovide sound
tec
h
nical advice toou
r
custome
r
s nationwide.Wewill also
evaluate new tec
h
nologies and, w
h
en app
r
op
r
iate, delive
r
t
h
ese to t
h
ema
r
ketplace.”
Ag
r
ovista’sUK f
r
uit business
h
as g
r
own yea
r
-on-yea
r
since
its inception 10 yea
r
s ago. T
h
e top f
r
uit ag
r
onomy-ledbusiness
model
h
as been a g
r
eat success, integ
r
atingAg
r
ovista’s
G
r
owe
r
s’ C
h
oice Inte
r
active pest anddiseasemodelling
se
r
vice tomaximise t
h
e effectiveness of c
r
opp
r
otection
p
r
og
r
ammes. T
h
e soft f
r
uitma
r
ket
h
as been d
r
iven by t
h
e
indust
r
y’smove f
r
omg
r
owing in soil to subst
r
ate-based
p
r
oduction. Ag
r
ovista pa
r
tne
r
edwit
h
Botanicoi
r
to lead t
h
e
development of de
h
yd
r
ated slab tec
h
nology and continues to
lead t
h
eway in te
r
ms of p
r
oduct development.
8
Two new appointments toAg
r
ovista’s f
r
uit ag
r
onomy team
Wednesday 26April 2017at 3.30pm
AtMole End Fa
r
m, Babylon Lane, C
h
a
r
t Sutton, Maidstone,
Kent, ME173Er, by kindpe
r
mission of Paul Wa
r
d, winne
r
of
t
h
e Tastiest AppleCompetition at t
h
eNational F
r
uit S
h
ow
2016.
This event is sponsoredby:
•UKCA Ltd., T
h
eOldDai
r
y,Wake
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ams Fa
r
m, Pett Level
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t, East Sussex, TN354ED, and
•Weat
h
e
r
byshamilton/OFh, hill Fa
r
m, Dulling
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am, Suffolk,
CB8 9UT.
Aswell as a tou
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e o
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