Many growers are busy enough
running their main growing business to have much time to
devote to lobbying or industry promotion. Some also find
time to work on a second business, such as a diversification
enterprise, or act as agronomists or consultants, adding to
their workload.
One the other hand, there are those individuals who seem to
be able to contribute to every committee and initiative which
comes along, often working tirelessly not only for the benefit
of their own business, but for the industry as a whole. Adrian
Tatum’s profile of Sarah Dawson in this issue provides a
picture of one such person.
Over the last ten years or so, Sarah has been one of the most
high profile and outspoken supporters of British horticulture.
As the article points out, while she is no longer chair of the
NFU Board for Horticulture, Mrs Dawson is still an active
member of it and is working on a number of other key issues
for the sector, as well as working on the family farm and
being involved in a number of other industry initiatives.
Her successors as Board chair, Guy Poskitt and the current
incumbent Ali Capper, are both equally passionate and
eloquent in their defence of our industry and equally
forthright in their views. Horticulture is fortunate to be able
to utilise their support.
It is easy to be focused on your own business. The Managing
Director of a very large produce grower once told me that he
was pleased that they kept to themselves and did not attend
meetings and conferences. However, their main supermarket
customer had just reduced their business volume. Such a story
shows that even the largest players in our industry are
relatively small fish.
As an industry we will only get solutions to the big issues we
face, such as labour, production costs and access to
technology, by presenting a united front. We may not always
agree with everything said by those who represent us. But it
is only by finding the time to engage with organisations such
as the NFU, the grower associations, AHDB and others, that
we are able to influence them.
At times representing your industry can be a thankless and
difficult task, and is certainly not one that everyone would
envy. This makes it all the more important to support those
people who do so on our behalf.
CONTENTS
Farmer confidence high
...................................................................
4
Anti-microbial workshop
.................................................................
6
Fiona Fell to stand down
......................................................................
8
2017 vegetable trends
......................................................................
9
SarahDawson interview
...............................................................
12
Managing sulphur
............................................................................
14
Improving IPM
.....................................................................................
16
SPot Farm East results
..............................................................................
19
Agromekmachinery review
........................................................
22
New Bejo salad lines
........................................................................
24
Agri-Tech East
......................................................................................
26
LEAF five year strategy
...................................................................
27
Resource efficiency
...........................................................................
28
Classified
..................................................................................................
30
Buyers Guide
...................................................................................................
31
3
OPINION
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