Potato Review

62 POTATO REVIEW NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 INDUSTRY UPDATES When Wireless meets wellies Start-ups 30MHZ, Breedr and LettUs Grow are part of a new breed of technology companies aiming to improve productivity and sustainability in agriculture, but are quick to stress that domain knowledge has been essential for success. Dr Belinda Clarke is director of Agri- Tech East, the independent membership organisation that has been facilitating the growth of the agri-tech cluster. She said: “Few market sectors are as dynamic as agriculture. e value-chain has to manage volatile prices, changeable weather, 24/7 consumer demands, regulatory changes and global challenges – so technologies that can improve decision-support and productivity are being met by a receptive audience. “Farming is data-rich but until now it has been di cult to extract meaningful insights. is is changing and the greater availability of wireless technologies and the increasing sophistication of multi-factorial analysis is creating some interesting solutions as the agri-tech companies 30MHZ, Breedr, and LettUs Grow clearly demonstrate.” Second mobile washer for Whole Crop Marketing Whole CropMarketing is the rst company to purchase Haith’s new 2019mobile washer. e newmachine developed by the UK’s leading designer andmanufacturer of vegetable handling equipment o ers several improvements on the previousmodel. For the last year, Whole CropMarketing has been using one of Haith’s older mobile washers, but an increase in demand for its potatoes meant a secondmachine was required. Designed speci cally aroundWhole Crop Marketing’s requirements, the newwasher can handle up to 50 tonnes of crop per hour. It features an integrated Supa-Flume de-stoner with slewing stone elevator which rotates allowing the washer to travel on roads; Haith’s e ective sludge removal and oating debris removal systems; the inspection area has LED lights and infrared heaters; andHMI touchscreen controls. As well as the innovative features speci ed byWhole CropMarketing, if requiredHaith can also incorporate an insulated GRP inspection area; optical sorters for removing defect potatoes and foreign objects; metal detectors; on-board pressure washers for cleaning and on-board generator so that the washer can self- power any additional features. Haith’s sludge removal systemmeans there is no on-site water treatment or drainage required and any oating debris, such as plastic, wood or hollowheart potatoes can be separated from themain crop. Ken Hollingsworth, UK Sales at Haith, said: “We’ve invested a lot of time, e ort and money on innovating and improving the mobile washer since Whole CropMarketing rst bought one from us. e 2019 version of the mobile washer is an incredibly e ective and well-made machine, which will serve them well for many years to come.” Mark Tomlinson, Managing Director at Whole CropMarketing says there were several factors in their decision to buy a secondmobile washer. “Despite being over ten years old, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with our current Haithmobile washer. It has never let us down and is still going strong. It doesn’t have some of the features found on the 2019model, but it has been e ective and reliable, and that played a part in our decision,” he said. “We did have a look at other manufacturers but after talking to Ken and the teamat Haith, decided to stay with them. e fact that they would tailor the washer to our exact requirements was amajor factor in our decision.” Optimised packing process Brillopak has installed a range of fully automated pick and place packing lines at three of Morrisons’ fresh produce and fruit manufacturing sites. All three sites are delivering improved in-store presentation for apples, potatoes and other root vegetables. What’s more, the turnkey systems can be easily adapted to handle reusable and renewable packaging formats according to Rushden’s site manager Andy Day. Historically, the Rushden packhouse, which cleans, stores, packs and distributes thousands of tonnes of potatoes every year, loaded bags of ow wrapped potatoes manually into crates. Now, thanks to two fully-automated and two semi-automated pick, pack and palletising lines, the Northamptonshire site has enhanced its potato packing precision and transformed its operation from an unergonomic roundtable manual crate separation and case loading method, to a safer, high speed, optimised potato packing process. Similar turnkey lines were installed at Gadbrook Breedr co-founder and CEO Ian Wheal with the new all-in-one industry app.