Speciality fertilizer producer arranges a study tour for top Irish growers

PRESS RELEASE: UK fertiliser specialist Solufeed and their Irish distributor Deker Horticultural Supplies recently co-sponsored a study tour for 14 leading growers drawn from the bedding plant, hardy nursery stock and soft fruit sectors of the Irish horticulture industry.

Leading Irish growers together with Dick Holden and Rob McHale of Solufeed Ltd (UK premier supplier of speciality water soluble fertilizers and chelated micronutrients) and Derek and David Warren of Solufeed distributor Deker Horticulture.

First port of call for the whole group was to the multi accredited NRM testing laboratories at Bracknell where Solufeed send fertiliser samples for testing and which currently processes 350,000 other soil, leaf and nutrient samples per year. 'We usually aim to turn standard soil samples round straight away so that the farmer or grower has his results by email within 24 hours of receipt' says NRM's Business Development Manager, Sean Stevenson. 'though at peak times in spring and autumn when we receive 6,000 samples every day, it can take a little longer.' This fast turnaround is only possible because of NRM's investment in the latest automatic analytical equipment, with automatic analysers in some cases costing an eye watering £160,000 each.

With a total population in Ireland of only 4.5 million approximately, Irish nurseries are often small to medium sized family businesses supplying the domestic market. So a tour of UK nurseries which specifically target volume sales through major retailers was not to be missed by these growers.

For the bedding plant group, this meant that a visit to the 22 acres of highly automated production at Roundstone's Runcton site was a must see, while the soft fruit growers had a guided tour of the state of the art 16 acre strawberry unit at the Hall Hunter Partnership's Donaldsons Nursery next door. Meanwhile, for the hardy nursery stock specialists, a visit to New Place Nurseries liner unit at Sidlesham was followed by the chance to see the main New Place production area at Pulborough which extends to 100 acres.

'This tour was a great opportunity to see how big UK growers tackle volume production' said the Irish growers' spokesman Matt Lohan. 'Intelligent capital investment in automation together with top quality management ensure that these nurseries are able to produce consistently high quality despite the huge scale of their operations.'

Study tours can be hit and miss, but with the majority of growers on this trip already asking for invitation to next year's Solufeed study tour, it seems that this one simply whetted their appetite for more.
 

For more information contact:

Rob McHale  (Solufeed Commercial Manager) + 44 (0)1243 554090

Written and distributed by Clive Marlow Marketing Ltd.