Exhibitor Press Releases

AP Air Ltd, the UK’s leading supplier of air-conditioning parts for agri and construction vehicles, has recently announced the appointment of Mungo Riddell to fortify its national sales coverage.

The Hands Free Hectare (HFHa), a project run by Harper Adams University and Precision Decisions, a Map of Ag company, has received funding from Innovate UK to create a ‘Hands Free Farm’.

Albutt are showing their range of Shear Buckets. This is a time saving attachment designed for the livestock farmer. This attachment allows the cutting of silage and handing of feed materials, elimina ...

  Fast and efficient handing of large straw bales is now made simple using the new bale grab from Albutt. F650HX will handle 4 x mini Hesston 4 string bales. Bales are secured by hydraulically control ...

The Albutt F470 Bale Grab is a contractor quality, heavy duty bale handler aimed at high intensity users. The side squeeze operation provides a simple yet effective tool for moving both square and rou ...

Openfield Group, the British farmer-owned co-operative, has been named as one of the leading co-operatives in the UK. The National business is listed as the seventh largest on the Co-op Economy top ten co-ops, published by Co-operatives UK yesterday.

Openfield is proud to be Britain’s only national grain marketing and arable inputs co-operative. It is owned by 4,152 farmers and sells around four million tonnes of British grain every year to some of the biggest and most well-known food and drink brands in the UK.

James Dallas, Openfield’s Chief Executive Officer said, “Having celebrated our 10th anniversary last November, we are really pleased to be the UK’s seventh largest co-operative. We work hard to provide excellent service in an integrated and innovative supply chain, which makes our UK co-operative scale and position unique.”

Co-ops are organisations owned and controlled by their members. They operate across all sectors, from community-owned pubs to multi-billion pound high street retailers and from the UK’s biggest farmer owned agriculture businesses to supporter-owned football clubs. The UK co-op economy is worth £37.7 billion – up £400m on the previous year - with 7,215 independent co-ops employing over 233,000 people and 13 million members who own and have a say in how the UK’s co-ops operate.

 

Ed Mayo, Co-operatives UK Secretary General, said: “The entire UK economy could learn a lot from co-operative businesses such as Openfield. More co-ops can help pave the way for an economy that doesn’t just serve the rich – those already at the top of the food chain.

 

“Co-ops are more equitable; wealth is shared amongst members and they enrich the communities in which they operate. Not only are they better for society, but they’ve also got a much greater chance of surviving the difficult first few years of a new business.”  

 

The 2019 report reveals that almost three out of four co-op start-ups (72%) are still flourishing after the difficult first five years of existence. In stark contrast, more than half of all new companies (57%) have ceased to exist before reaching that same milestone.

 

The Co-op Economy Report 2019 is compiled by Co-operatives UK, on behalf of the co-operative movement. It reveals turnover, membership and employee figures for thousands of co-op businesses. You can read the full report: http://www.uk.coop/economy

Peter Alderslade will compete in the 2019 world ploughing championships in Minnesota, USA. He is the reigning British champion in the reversible class and will compete using a Kverneland plough coupled to his 2004 Valtra A95 which has recently been fitted with Continental’s new Tractor 85 tyres.

Openfield Group Limited, the British farmer-owned co-operative, and the Bristol Port Company have today announced that they have agreed to extend their unique working relationship. The continued partnership secures access for Openfield to export grain from Bristol’s deep-water port using exclusive access to elevation through the Portbury grain terminal until June 2021.

When market conditions permit, Openfield are one of the UKs largest exporters. In 2015 they exported a quarter of the UK’s total grain market, when 750,000 tonnes of grain was exported from Portbury and Avonmouth.

 “We are delighted to extend our relationship which allows Openfield exclusive grain elevation access to one of the UKs largest deep-water port facilities. We have the ability to load Panamax vessels, connecting us with global destinations away from traditional EU countries.” said Jonathan Mordaunt, Commercial Director for the Bristol Port Company.

 

Openfield’s Chief Operating Officer, Mark Worrell, added “Openfield's strategy is to work with our members and connect them with some of the best-known global food and drink brands. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue to offer a link between the Openfield member and the wider international market.”

 

Tipping times at the facility can be as little as five minutes and it is capable of handling up to 9000 tonnes of grain per day which is equivalent to over 300 trucks. The deal allows Openfield to provide export contracts for farmers based local to the Bristol port and as far away as Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Dorset.

 

Openfield Group Limited, the British farmer-owned co-operative, has today announced it has further strengthened its non-executive management team by appointing, Ranald Forbes to its Board.

Mr Forbes has over thirty years’ of valuable senior leadership experience of logistics and transport distribution, working in a variety of management roles across both the retail and food manufacturing markets. Most recently he has been Group Supply Chain Director for AF Blakemore, the £1.2 bn retail, wholesale and foodservice organisation.

 “My role at Openfield is a great opportunity for me to share my extensive supply chain experience to improve logistics and transport efficiencies,” he said. “I’m delighted to be working with Britain’s only national grain marketing and arable inputs co-operative to bring my wide ranging and comprehensive knowledge of running large scale distribution and related businesses to the team.”

Openfield’s Chairman, Philip Moody added “We must ensure that we have a diverse skillset in our senior leadership team to support the large and complex business of Openfield. We will always maintain a strong farmer presence on our Board, however we are also recognising the need to embrace further expertise. Ranald’s experience and passion for logistics and supply chain management will play a significant role in helping to further improve our service offering to both our farmer members and the great British food and drink brands that we supply.”

Mr Forbes has a Masters degree in Transport Planning & Engineering and his previous roles include being Managing Director at the Brakes foodservice group. He has also been Director of Construction for Wincanton PLC, the UK’s largest contract logistics company and he is a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport.

John Deere, the American world market leader, has approved 30 different sizes of Continental agricultural tyres to be fitted to its 6MC, 6RC, 6M and 6R mid-sized tractors.

Openfield Group, the British farmer-owned co-operative, has been named as one of the leading co-operatives in the UK. The National business is listed as the seventh largest on the Co-op Economy top ten co-ops, published by Co-operatives UK yesterday.

Openfield is proud to be Britain’s only national grain marketing and arable inputs co-operative. It is owned by 4,152 farmers and sells around four million tonnes of British grain every year to some of the biggest and most well-known food and drink brands in the UK.

James Dallas, Openfield’s Chief Executive Officer said, “Having celebrated our 10th anniversary last November, we are really pleased to be the UK’s seventh largest co-operative. We work hard to provide excellent service in an integrated and innovative supply chain, which makes our UK co-operative scale and position unique.”

Co-ops are organisations owned and controlled by their members. They operate across all sectors, from community-owned pubs to multi-billion pound high street retailers and from the UK’s biggest farmer owned agriculture businesses to supporter-owned football clubs. The UK co-op economy is worth £37.7 billion – up £400m on the previous year - with 7,215 independent co-ops employing over 233,000 people and 13 million members who own and have a say in how the UK’s co-ops operate.

Ed Mayo, Co-operatives UK Secretary General, said: “The entire UK economy could learn a lot from co-operative businesses such as Openfield. More co-ops can help pave the way for an economy that doesn’t just serve the rich – those already at the top of the food chain.

“Co-ops are more equitable; wealth is shared amongst members and they enrich the communities in which they operate. Not only are they better for society, but they’ve also got a much greater chance of surviving the difficult first few years of a new business.”  

The 2019 report reveals that almost three out of four co-op start-ups (72%) are still flourishing after the difficult first five years of existence. In stark contrast, more than half of all new companies (57%) have ceased to exist before reaching that same milestone.

The Co-op Economy Report 2019 is compiled by Co-operatives UK, on behalf of the co-operative movement. It reveals turnover, membership and employee figures for thousands of co-op businesses. You can read the full report: http://www.uk.coop/economy

Openfield Group Limited, the British farmer-owned co-operative, has today announced it has strengthened its non-executive management team by appointing, Nicholas Marston to its Board.

Mr Marston oversaw significant growth of the UK berry growers’ co-operative Berry Gardens between 1996 and 2017. In this time the company grew from a turnover of £18 million, with a profit of £100,000, to a turnover of over £340 million and an annual profit of over £10 million. This staggering growth saw the business become one of the UKs largest co-operatives and fresh produce businesses.

“My role at Openfield is a great opportunity to help deliver Openfield’s strategy to grow its market share and improve its supply chain efficiencies,” he said. “It’s really exciting to be working with Britain’s only national grain marketing and arable inputs co-operative and bring my deep understanding and experience of running large scale, successful farmer co-operatives to the team.”

Openfield’s Chairman, Philip Moody added “We recognise that Openfield is a large complex business which needs a variety of skills in our senior leadership team. There will always be a strong farmer presence on our Board, however we are also recognising the need to embrace other expertise. Nicholas’ experience and passion for the UK co-operative sector will play a major role in our next stage of development.”

Since standing down from the full-time role of CEO of Berry Gardens, Mr Marston has maintained his involvement in the British food industry. In addition to his role at Openfield, he serves as Chairman of the UK berry industry trade body British Summer Fruits, as a non-executive director of large-scale berry growers Hugh Lowe Farms, as Chairman of start-up vegetable crisp manufacturer Growers Garden, and as a non-executive director of field vegetable co-operative East of Scotland Growers.

Continental has released a range of new agricultural tyres to help reduce the impact of heavy machinery on the soil. The tyres contain two forms of new technology that Continental has applied to an agriculture tyre for the first time.

BULK material handling company, Mitchells Group has acquired Lincolnshire-based Guttridge Ltd in a deal which further cements the company’s global presence. Privately owned Mitchells is one of the wor ...