The Farming Express February #1 | Page 24

£2.7m funding too boost food grade oats Polaris Dealers of the Year THE award-winning oats breeding team at Aberystwyth’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences has secured £2.76 million of new funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council for research aimed at further improving the nutritional value and economic sustainability of oats. Demand for high quality food grade oats is said to be increasing annually, driven by its proven health benefits and through product innovation by the milling and cereals industries. But despite an expanding market, oat growing continues to be challenged by the high investments being made in alternative crops and this intensifies competition. This new BBSRC LINK 5-year project will address some of the major challenges facing UK agriculture in terms of the sustainable production of safe and nutritious food. Professor Athole Marshall, head of plant breeding at IBERS, said: “This new project is strategically important, specifically in enhancing oat crop productivity, quality and nutritional composition, increasing the sustainability of crop production and understanding and exploiting genomics and the genetic diversity in crop science. “It will apply the latest genetic tools and resources, including genomic selection, to improve key traits that will increase the production and utilisation of oats, and enhance grain yield, quality and composition. “Oats are unique in composition and enhancing the desirable nutrient traits is important to both the oat value chain and to consumers who are demanding more nutritious and healthy foods. “So improving the functionality of the grain is a key economic driver.” Polaris dealers gathered in mid January for the annual dealer meeting and awards for 2014. This was the first opportunity to see the full line-up of the extensive range of new Polaris models for 2015 and the dealers were impressed by what they saw. There was cause for additional celebration with Polaris reaching 60 years of manufacturing in 2014, and expansion of the dealer network to over 70 appointed dealers. The award winners were JP Baker, The Rocket Centre; Peter Ellis, Ellis Quads and Andrew Shepherd of All4 Ltd. The awards are judged not purely on sales and unit numbers but equally on taking several other factors into consideration. For the North, Ellis Quads were recognized for a very positive approach to understanding and providing exceptional customer service, assisting Polaris with stock movement and a balanced product mix between ATVs and UTVs. The East Region’s The Rocket Centre was commended on a year of successful sales and ‘going the extra mile’ in customer service and support. In particular they were singled out for assistance to other dealers and an outstanding ability to react to all situations in finding solutions for customers. Covering the West, All4 were praised for the expansive approach taken in after-sales service and developing new sectors to move the business forward. Strength lay in sales of the Polaris Diesels with an emphasis on supplying large estates. They were thanked as well for providing support for Polaris at shows. All three dealerships showed excellent sales figures complemented by extensive customer support, working with Polaris District Managers. Polaris Britain Ltd. 0800 915 6720 www.polaris-britain.com GrainTek UK Ltd is the producer of the Tornado grain dryer. advanced touch screen control or Formed in 2008 by Kenny Addison and Phillip Crow, GrainTek has maintenance and repair work, let GrainTek engineer your solution. become a prominent supplier and installer of Tornado grain dryers and With offices in Cambridgeshire and grain handling equipment. Building Aberdeenshire we cover the entire on a vast knowledge base and many UK in terms of sales and servicing, years of world-wide experience in we also have regional dealers in grain drying, grain system installation Yorkshire and Estonia. We provide extensive harvest and complex process control, GrainTek is able to offer its customers breakdown support for all makes and models of grain dryer throughout the exceptional grain handling system UK. Whether you have a problem design, project management and with your burner, fans, discharger or after sales care. So whether you are control panel, our highly experienced looking at a complete new drying engineers will be able to assist you. system, drying or handling equipment, If you would like to request a Grain Dryer and/or Grain Store service online then please fill out the form provided on our website Alternatively directly contact Phillip Crow. Our in-house team of installation engineers take care of most new Tornado grain dryer projects, but we also offer a wide range of sales and installation services. These include seco