Mechanical pruning

Robert Fovargue, the agronomist for Pearce Seeds, was kind enough to invite a group of Somerset growers to meet the Hereford contractor Rob Collins who has had a lot of experience with mechanical pruning.

Robert and John Worle first showed us round several orchards with trees at different ages and pruned in different ways, including mechanically.

We were intrigued by Rob Collins’ machinery, seen above.

      

Growers that have tried mechanical pruning are all continuing to experiment; none of them have rejected the method in favour of solely hand pruning. It tends to be done in the summer, after eight true leaves have formed. 

Hereford and Somerset do however have very different needs and it is clear that the vigour of the Hereford orchards is a great deal stronger than ours here in Somerset. With Hereford’s historical connections with hop growing and intensive horticultural production we have a lot to learn from them.

Although none of us in Somerset yet has the kit to try mechanical pruning we are keen to give it a go. Perhaps we can get Rob Collins to come down and give us a demonstration.

For an article by Rob Collins please see here

and for the YouTube video please see here

SIVAL, France

We were extremely impressed with the the SIVAL horticultural exhibition in Angers, France.

What caught our attention most was the sheer number of businesses that have a role to play in the industry. This is the largest horticultural exhibition in France and we certainly saw more apple related people, equipment and businesses in one place than we could ever dream of seeing in the UK. 

This is possible because of the participation of such high income generating businesses as the wine industry and we found lots of crossover innovations that we can use in our own business.

We have never come across a situation where we could see every single brand of orchard tractor in one place, but they were all here. 

We saw exhibits of everything from posts and wires to harvesting machinery and bottling equipment. 

It was not hard to get to and completely free to enter. Lots of business seemed to be being transacted and we met up with some old friends. 

We would encourage everybody to attend next year - perhaps we will hire a charabanc!

SIVAL and Vegepolys, France

Vegepolys is a symposium that takes place on 14 January 2014 during the SIVAL horticultural exhibition in Angers, France.

Working with GIS Fruits, a French consortium specialising in research, training and innovation, this year’s Vegepolys event is entitled Protection of Tomorrow’s Orchard and Pome Fruit.

The programme for 14 January starts at 2.00 and ends at 5.00. It will consist of presentations on orchard protection and fruit quality, sustainable production systems, post harvest problems and storage diseases.

Included is a presentation from IFPC (Institut Francais des Productions Cidricoles) on The Cider Orchard of Tomorrow.

The good news for non-French speakers is that simultaneous translation facilities are available with a headset.

SIVAL is a big trade exhibition taking in all aspects of the plant production business, including viticulture, horticulture, arboriculture, seeds, medicinal and aromatic plants, cider, mushrooms, vegetables and tobacco.

You have to register with SIVAL to attend the Vegepolys symposium and we must warn you that the SIVAL website is very difficult to navigate! Registration is free and there will be about 600 exhibitors.

We will report back in our January newsletter.