Article taken from the FarmBusiness
Businesses that concentrate on the enterprise and lead by action and detailed management will always stand out – that’s why Agrovista is sponsor of the Progressive Farmer of the Year category of this year’s Food & Farming Industry Awards.
Agrovista has been sponsoring the category since 2004. The company, one of Britain’s top suppliers of inputs and expertise to the industry, a position it has held through many changes and many forms for over 60 years, recognised early that the farming industry needs its leaders, its innovators and those prepared to come up with something new and make it happen, profitably and sustainably. With 150 agronomist providing advice to growers, it’s important to be able to look at the whole scenario and give informed and proven advice utilising the latest technologies and research platforms.
The profit a business makes is vitally important,” says Nick Rainsley, Agrovista’s head of marketing. “There’s no point just coming up with unusual crops, ways of growing crops or doing business. We’re looking for people who have taken new ideas, utilised their resources skilfully and made commercial successes out of them. Utilising resource and finance is important to maximise return and profit, and those are the enterprises we are looking for.
“We’re looking for people who are doing something new,” he says. “That’s what makes them progressive. That’s what makes them innovators.
“The ideal entrant is someone who has responded to the challenges of farming in the second decase of the twenty-first century, taken the available technology and made the best use of it in a sustainable way. Utilising the farm resources – staff, buildings, land, proximity to markets, environment, expertise, precision technology and finance – in a holistic package to create a return on investment.”
It has to be viable, business focussed farming. “We’re not looking for hobby farmers or charities,” says Mr Rainsley. “If you aren’t making money then you aren’t making the right use of innovation – profitable, viable, proven business are what will stand out.”
The 2014 winner, Overbury Farms, demonstrated great farming practice, great environmental management, connecting with education – both future farmers and consumers. Farm manager Jake Freestone leads a team the judges highlighted as an example of progressive commercial farming at its best.
Agrovista as sponsor is doing what the company is looking for from farmers. It has proved consistently that it is an innovator in its own right and plays a vital role in making new ideas, new techniques and new technology. It’s bringing new people into farming and agronomy to do it.
Agrovista’s new online grower hub, called Axis, marketed under its Plantsystems brand and designed to link up the technology to beat the yield plateau that faces arable farming, is a great example of company’s progressive approach. It links precision farming tools with specialist weather services and offers a future-proof platform for effective modern farm management. The new services include an app to transfer information directly from a mapping program on a smartphone to the cloud-based management system. This allows growers and their staff the ability to share vital information about their business quickly and efficiently. The latest development is to allow growers to transfer data from recording systems, such as combine maps and green area maps up to Axis, and download it as variable rate nutrition or seed maps and input directly to the spreader or drill.
“Politicians have become aware of the need to produce food for a growing population,” says Mr Rainsley. “With resources limited, land at the premium and society insisting that we must work with the environmental and a strictly controlled chemical toolbox, innovation is vital. The professional staff and investment in training and education has a big impact on a business’s success. That’s why we believe in giving the greatest possible encouragement to those farmers who are progressive and who show the way forward to the whole industry.”
Businesses that concentrate on the enterprise and lead by action and detailed management will always stand out – that’s why Agrovista is sponsor of the Progressive Farmer of the Year category of this year’s Food & Farming Industry Awards.
Agrovista has been sponsoring the category since 2004. The company, one of Britain’s top suppliers of inputs and expertise to the industry, a position it has held through many changes and many forms for over 60 years, recognised early that the farming industry needs its leaders, its innovators and those prepared to come up with something new and make it happen, profitably and sustainably. With 150 agronomist providing advice to growers, it’s important to be able to look at the whole scenario and give informed and proven advice utilising the latest technologies and research platforms.
The profit a business makes is vitally important,” says Nick Rainsley, Agrovista’s head of marketing. “There’s no point just coming up with unusual crops, ways of growing crops or doing business. We’re looking for people who have taken new ideas, utilised their resources skilfully and made commercial successes out of them. Utilising resource and finance is important to maximise return and profit, and those are the enterprises we are looking for.
“We’re looking for people who are doing something new,” he says. “That’s what makes them progressive. That’s what makes them innovators.
“The ideal entrant is someone who has responded to the challenges of farming in the second decase of the twenty-first century, taken the available technology and made the best use of it in a sustainable way. Utilising the farm resources – staff, buildings, land, proximity to markets, environment, expertise, precision technology and finance – in a holistic package to create a return on investment.”
It has to be viable, business focussed farming. “We’re not looking for hobby farmers or charities,” says Mr Rainsley. “If you aren’t making money then you aren’t making the right use of innovation – profitable, viable, proven business are what will stand out.”
The 2014 winner, Overbury Farms, demonstrated great farming practice, great environmental management, connecting with education – both future farmers and consumers. Farm manager Jake Freestone leads a team the judges highlighted as an example of progressive commercial farming at its best.
Agrovista as sponsor is doing what the company is looking for from farmers. It has proved consistently that it is an innovator in its own right and plays a vital role in making new ideas, new techniques and new technology. It’s bringing new people into farming and agronomy to do it.
Agrovista’s new online grower hub, called Axis, marketed under its Plantsystems brand and designed to link up the technology to beat the yield plateau that faces arable farming, is a great example of company’s progressive approach. It links precision farming tools with specialist weather services and offers a future-proof platform for effective modern farm management. The new services include an app to transfer information directly from a mapping program on a smartphone to the cloud-based management system. This allows growers and their staff the ability to share vital information about their business quickly and efficiently. The latest development is to allow growers to transfer data from recording systems, such as combine maps and green area maps up to Axis, and download it as variable rate nutrition or seed maps and input directly to the spreader or drill.
“Politicians have become aware of the need to produce food for a growing population,” says Mr Rainsley. “With resources limited, land at the premium and society insisting that we must work with the environmental and a strictly controlled chemical toolbox, innovation is vital. The professional staff and investment in training and education has a big impact on a business’s success. That’s why we believe in giving the greatest possible encouragement to those farmers who are progressive and who show the way forward to the whole industry.”