Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com www. tongengineering .com e: sales@tongengineering.com t: +44 (0)1790 752771 > Gentle Handling > Advanced Design > Intelligent Control THE COMPLETE SOLUTION Designed with you in mind Latest LEAF Marque Standard Unveiled After an extensive public consultation, LEAF Marque, one of the world’s leading environmental assurance systems for sustainable farming has announced the publication of the latest version of its standard. The new version of the LEAF Marque Standard includes developments in soil health, biodiversity and community engagement. McCain partners with AHDB on schools growing project McCain Foods plc has become the principal sponsor of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) schools project – Grow Your Own Potatoes. Launched in 2005, Grow Your Own Potatoes was one of the first primary school based growing projects. Since then, it has become the largest of its kind with more than three million children having taken part. Last year almost 16,000 growing kits were distributed to over 10,000 primary schools across Great Britain. Education Manager at AHDB, Sue Lawton, said: “The straightforward and hands-on nature of the project makes it perfect for young pupils. We get great feedback from teachers, which is why it’s grown in popularity to the point where nearly half of British primary schools are involved.” The seed potatoes grown by the schools are all donated by local companies, so the project has always benefitted from industry support, but McCain is the first principal sponsor. Head of Agriculture at McCain UK, Daniel Metheringham, said: “It is vital that children know where their food comes from, and Grow Your Own Potatoes provides a real connection to the food on families’ plates. We’re proud to have the opportunity to extend our support from a seed supplying regional partner to principal sponsors. The extra funding means the project can grow. More schools can get involved and even more children will be getting their hands dirty while making that mental connection between food and farming.” Cygnet PB is the scheme’s national seed partner, providing the variety Rocket to all schools. While McCain is one of eight regional seed partners along with Agrico UK, Meijer Seed Potatoes, Caithness Potatoes, E Park & Sons, Branston, Pu n Produce and Solana; who all provide a ‘local variety’ for the children to grow. Polish agricultural machinery suppliers Agrarada which supplies used potato equipment in the UK and Europe, celebrated its 20th anniversary last month (December). Agrarada, based in South-Western Poland, was founded by two Dutch entrepreneurs: Maarten Uyterlinde and Johan Kruijtho . The company’s history began with a six-month traineeship, as part of their study at the Dutch HAS Dronten Agricultural College, at Decopol, a farming and agricultural contracting company. This ended with the establishment of the company’s own sales network for agricultural machinery. Decopol, owned by J.H. Dekker, dealt with the cultivation of 1,500 hectares of potatoes. A group of Dutch professionals supervised the supply product stream for the new McCain processing factory, in South-West Poland. Agrarada became the distributor for Grimme and Euro-dealer in 2000. In 2017, Agrarada invested in a unique multilingual online parts store. The focus is on spare parts for machinery for potato and vegetable cultivation, from planters and drills, through to irrigation systems, trailers and harvesting technology. 20 years providing used machinery