15 November 2023
|
Storage engineering company joins crop protection provider and processor in championing UK event.
HAVING served the potato industry for more than half a century and being a keen participant at many industry events, Lincolnshire business Farm Electronics has this year pledged its support to the National Potato Industry Awards by becoming a major sponsor.
Specialising in refrigerated cooling, ventilation, electronic control systems and automated controls, Farm Electronics is a fully-established crop storage engineering business, which has been serving the potato industry for 50-plus years, with projects covering everything from spare one-off parts to fully-integrated systems for multiple stores.
The Grantham-based company uses the latest 3D and 2D design software to meet customers' specific requirements, with consultations being conducted on sites throughout the UK.
Its offering covers one-off parts such as sensors and louvres up to a full refrigerated storage solution including roof fans, gas heaters and its Cropscan touch screen controller which can be connected remotely via an app.
This year the company has shared advice and exhibited at Potatoes in Practice and various trial days. It will also be present at the British Potato show, which runs alongside the National Potato Industry Awards.
Commercial Director Adam Fryer has been involved with all aspects of design engineering, having previously worked with crop Sprayers and seed drills before moving onto crop storage engineering. He is an Associate Member of AgreE's Executive Committee and the Advisory Council.
He enjoys seeing a project through to conclusion, highlighting that at the end of a project, Farm Electronics will conduct a project installation check and commissioning of the system, as well as working closely with approved contractors, using its time-served experience to ensure it can provide the correct solutions for a customer, whether that be a new building or a conversion.
Earlier this year, Potato Review ran an article about a 1,600m² pig shed which Farm Electronics converted into a potato store when the owners decided to make a change of career. The company created an ambient bulk storage design using multiple small EC ventilation fans fitted directly at the end of an above floor air duct so that they didn’t have to disturb the existing concrete floor.
Brothers James and Alastair Heath, who had previously farmed pigs and only grown a small quantity of potatoes, decided to re-focus in the wake of increasing production costs. The conversion means they can now store up to 1,300 tonnes of potatoes per zone.
"The support from Farm Electronics exceeded our expectations," Alastair said, adding: "They didn’t leave until everything was working correctly.”
