| Root Crops
New Zealand grower
processes loads more onions!
Leading New Zealand grower, Bostock New Zealand, is processing a whopping 100 tonnes of onions per hour with new
automated handling equipment from Tong Engineering.
ased in Hawke's
Bay, New Zealand,
in what is claimed
to be one of the
cleanest and
purest growing
environments in the world,
Bostock New Zealand has been
exporting a wide variety of quality
produce including onions, apples
and kiwi fruit for over 30 years. As
part of the company's commitment
to producing premium produce,
Bostock needed to increase the
capacity and efficiency of their
onion handling process, and Tong
equipment, supplied by their local
Tong dealer Dobmac Agricultural
machinery, was a natural choice.
"After many years of positive
growth, we are now exporting
produce to over 20 different
countries throughout Europe, the
Middle East, Asia and North
America," explained Neville
Gillespie, at Bostock New Zealand.
"With demand for our onions
continuing to grow, we needed to
upgrade our handling equipment
B
to allow us to achieve a much
higher throughput whilst improving
our cleaning and inspecting
capabilities."
"We chose to purchase Tong
equipment, as our experience has
proved it to deliver on capacity,
and at a quality which lasts," said
Neville. "We have a good
relationship with their New
Zealand dealer Dobmac, so we
were confident that our new
equipment could be specified to
do the job we required."
Simon Lee, Sales Manager at
Tong Engineering comments "The
first phase of equipment upgrades
at Bostock New Zealand allowed
them to effectively receive their
harvested onions with a 2.4m wide
Tong Caretaker machine,
incorporating 6 rows of adjustable
coils for effective removal of onion
waste prior to a 4 man inspection
area. Further to this we have just
commissioned two fully automated
custom built EasyFill-style box
fillers to suit their large 5 tonne
onion boxes."
Neville adds "Following the
increased capacity achieved with
the Caretaker, we added
automation to the bin filling
function on our bulk unloading
line. We fill 5 tonne harvest bins at
up to 100 tonnes per hour in good
product conditions, which means
we are now capable of a
throughput of over 1000 tonnes
per day. Even better, when Tong
and Dobmac last visited the
facility, we shaved an extra 17
seconds off the time to fill each
bin. Across 200 bins for the day,
that's the equivalent of another
hour of operation, allowing us to
process another 100 tonne into
storage. The Caretaker, coupled
with the fully automatic fillers, has
resulted in our throughput growing
out of sight!"
“By upgrading their handling
systems to higher capacity,
autom atic onion loading, cleaning
and filling equipment, Bostock
have really turned the efficiency of
their processes around. With our
dedicated Tong dealer Dobmac
Machinery on hand, Bostock have
a local point of contact to discuss
any future projects to ensure
labour continues to be utilised in
the most efficient way, whilst
keeping downtime to a minimum,"
added Simon.
GB potato area could rise for second year running
After strong prices in the 2016/17 season it is likely we will see an increase the area dedicated to potato production in
the UK.
HDB Potatoes
Analyst Amber
Cottingham says:
“There are a range
of factors that
affect planting
decisions when growing a potato
crop including available land and
machinery and the likelihood of a
profitable season. However the
potato market is notoriously
volatile which can make this last
point difficult. Whether current
prices are an accurate guide of
prices the following year or not,
there are relationships between
market prices one year and
planted areas the next.”
A
The GB planted area in 2016
was 116,200, an increase of 4% on
the previous year, a surge largely
driven by price. This increase was
reflected in Scotland which saw
the potato area grow by nearly
3,000 hectares. Looking
specifically at seed, 2016 was also
a buoyant year; the land dedicated
to this crop in Scotland increased
by 13% (12% in total GB) with
export favourite Hermes the most
popular variety.
While the area increased, 2016
was not a strong year for
production. Scottish yields were
on average 46.4t/ha which
compared favourably to a GB
16 | Farming Monthly | April 2017
average of 44.9t/ha, however that
figure was still down on the last
couple of years (in 2015 the
average was 47.8t/ha and in 2014
46.9t/ha). This meant prices
started high this season and after
a brief seasonal decline, started to
rise again. The typical expectation
would be that high prices last
season could encourage growers
to increase their area planted
again for the 2017/18 season.
“So far this season, the overall
average price is approximately
£32/t above the same period last
year, while the free-buy average is
nearly £60/t higher.” Amber
explains. “When considering that
70% of the time a higher average
price has meant an increase in
area the following year, it is likely
that this year will also see an
increase in planted area.”
“It is worth mentioning that if
area does increase this year and
yields return to average, there
could be a higher level of
production than over the last two
tight seasons. Should yields
perform above average,
production could be higher again
and we could see lower prices for
potatoes across GB continuing the
volatility cycle of high and low
price years.”
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk