| Energy
AD secures farming future for young entrepreneur
Rob Greenow, a Staffordshire based young farmer, has
successfully established his own AD business, allowing him
to secure his future in farming - all before the age of 30.
ombining an
interest in
renewable energy
with his farming
experience, Rob
established AD
management business, BioG UK
just a couple of years after leaving
university. The success of the
business has seen him become a
partner of choice for AD finance
company, Privilege Finance.
“While studying at Reading
University I completed my
dissertation on ammonia
volatisation and the spreading
application types of digestate from
AD Plants,” explains Rob.
“At the time AD was only just
becoming popular in the
agricultural industry but I could
see the future potential. So, after
graduation, I joined an AD
company and was involved in the
planning and running of various
sites.
“But, in 2012 I decided to go it
alone and set up BioG UK, hoping
that one day I would be able to
establish my own AD plant.”
Although initially Rob hoped to
support farmers through the
feasibility and planning stages of
an AD plant build, he explains that
the business soon changed
direction.
C
“After two years I shifted the
focus of the business to
concentrate on helping existing AD
plant owners troubleshoot and
manage their plants.
“And in 2016 I completed the
purchase of my own 162-acre
arable farm. This was around the
same time two years’ worth of
planning came off for the
development of my own AD plant
at Batchacre Hall Farm,
Staffordshire,” he explains.
“Finance for the £1.9m plant
was secured in May 2016 with
Privilege Finance. I explored other
options however Privilege were
willing to take a measured risk on
us without securing large bonds
against the farm.
“The great thing with Privilege is
that they trust me to get on with
the job. As long as I meet the
parameters they essentially leave
me to it, although I know they’re
always there if I need support.”
Rob concludes that although it’s
been a challenging few years he
wouldn’t change any of it. “I’m
really looking forward to the future,
AD is an exciting area to be
involved in and I encourage
anyone looking to diversify to
consider it.”
40 | Farming Monthly | September 2017
Focus on grains per ear for
better hybrid rye yields
Operators of anaerobic digestion (AD) systems could
improve performance levels by moving to hybrid rye
varieties carrying more grains per ear.
ccording to John
Burgess, KWS
maize and hybrid
rye product
manager, growers
should focus on
grains per ear, rather than plant
height to increase wholecrop
yields.
“There is a balance to be had
between plant height and grains
per ear when seeking to maximise
wholecrop yields, but with the ear
contributing roughly 50% of the
final yield variety choice and
diligent use of plant growth
regulators are essential,” he says.
There is a belief, he says, that
plant height is the key to achieving
high yields, but that this overlooks
the valuable contribution that
comes from managing the canopy
to increase ear development.
“Breeding advances have
focussed on improving yields
through bigger ears while making
canopy management easier
through better stability and
standing power. New AD varieties,
such as KWS Propower and, for
A
2018 KWS Eterno and KWS
Edmondo, deliver higher yields
than the benchmark variety KWS
Progas, but are slightly shorter and
more manageable,” says John
Burgess.
Nutrient management too is
important with trials performed by
KWS in 2017 suggesting that the
wholecrop yield of KWS Propower
for example, increase by more
than 15% with a small increase in
nitrogen rate.
“Across all our specialist AD
varieties we observed a yield
increase when nitrogen
applications rose form 50 kg N/ha
to 80 kg N/ha with KWS Propower,
KWS Edmondo and KWS Eterno
showing the biggest responses of
between 10 and 15%,” says John
Burgess.
Application timing is equally
important as hybrid rye is quick to
move through stem extension.
“Nitrogen should be applied in
two splits between growth stages
29 and 32 which coincides with T0
and T1 fungicide timings,” he
adds.
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