ENGINEERING TEA - IAgrE

THE MAKING OF AN AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER Across the ages, agricultural engineers continue to make a difference. Profiles of John Fox, Graham Thompson and Robert Fillingham.

SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY?Report by Rothamsted Research

ENGINEERING TEA Matthew Ingram on the challenges working on an African tea estate

IAgrE Professional Journal www.iagre.org Volume 66, Number 4 Winter 2011

Biosystems

Engineering

Biosystems Engineering, owned by IAgrE,

and the Official Scientific Journal of

EurAgEng, is published monthly with

occasional special issues.

Reduced subscriptions are available to

members of IAgrE.

To view the full article list of the current

edition, visit

www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/15375110

For further details of the depth and breadth

of articles accepted for publication in

Biosystems Engineering, visit

www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journalbibliographicinfo.

cws_home/622795/description#bibliographicinfo

For details of the preferential rates for

members for subscriptions to both the

paper and electronic versions of

Biosystems Engineering, visit the IAgrE

website at

http://www.iagre.org/bioeng.shtml

The Managing Editor of Biosystems Engineering, Dr Steve Parkin,has kindly summarised some of the papers published in the last

three issues which he thinks may be of interest to IAgrE members

Biosystems EngineeringVolume 109, Issue 4, August 2011, Pages 308-325

Discrete element method modelling of a centrifugal fertiliser spreader C.J. Coetzee, S.G. Lombard

University of Stellenbosch, South AfricaExperimental testing and calibration of new machines and fertiliser can becostly and time consuming. Standard centrifugal fertiliser spreaders aredesigned to achieve a uniform distribution across the entire field. Fruit trees,however, are planted in rows and it would be advantageous to concentrate thefertiliser closer to the tree trunk and hence the root system. This could reducethe amount of fertiliser needed and will also reduce the negative environmentalimpact. A discrete element method (DEM) model of a centrifugal fertiliserspreader was developed. A sensitivity study was used to determine the DEMparameters by comparing the results to experimental results. The effects of thedisc speed, feed position, feed rate and vane angle on the spread pattern wereinvestigated experimentally and compared to the DEM results. It was shownthat the DEM model can be used to make both qualitative and quantitative pre-dictions of the spread pattern under different spreader settings. This indicatesthat DEM can be a powerful tool in the development of new spreader con-cepts.

Volume 110, Issue 1, September 2011, Pages 10-19Vibration levels and frequencies on vehicle and animals during

transportGirma Gebresenbet, Samuel Aradom, Fufa S. Bulitta, Eva Hjerpe

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden During transport, animals are subjected to various stressors, includ-ing vibration, noise and poor handling, and these compromise animalwelfare. This study determined vibration levels and resonance fre-quencies for vehicles and dairy cows. A Volvo FM12 with air suspen-sion, driven at 30, 50, 70 or 90 km h-1 on three road types, wasused for transportation. To study the effect of standing orientation onvibration, animals were positioned parallel or perpendicular to thedirection of travel. For each run, measurements were made over a20 s period on five animals. The highest vibration level observed onanimals was 2.27 ± 0.33 m s-2 when driving on gravel roads at 70km h-1. Vibrations in the horizontal and lateral directions were loweron animals positioned perpendicular to the direction of travel than onthose facing forward. Both road conditions and standing orientationhave a significant effect on vibration levels. The vibration exposurevalues for the vertical, horizontal and lateral directions exceeded theEU daily exposure action of 0.5 m s-2, but were lower than the dailyexposure limit of 1.15 m s-2.

Volume 110, Issue 2, October 2011, Pages 73-82Prediction of the contact area of agricultural traction tyres on firm soil

E. Diserens, P. Défossez, A. Duboisset, A. AlaouiINRA-Ephyse, Villenave d'Ornon, France; ART Research Station, Switzerland;

University of Bern, SwitzerlandEquations were developed to enable reliable calculations to be madeof the contact area for a wide range of traction tyres from independ-ent easily accessible variables taken on firm ground. Given thatwhen tyre size increases the specific contact area decreases andtyre stiffness increases, it is worth taking into account tyre intrinsicproperties by studying the impact of external constraints such asload and inflation pressure on the contact area. Based on a widerange of measurements (64, from a total of 28 tyres used on 12grassland and open ground sites), three classes will be proposed forestimation of the contact area on firm agricultural soil. When consid-ering not only tyre size but also load and inflation pressure asexplainable variables, an increase in correlation was observed. Aftertaking into account intrinsic properties of the tyre, a new tyre classifi-cation was proposed leading to an additional increase in correlation.

FROM the crisis in the Eurozone to ourGovernment’s attempt to bolster theeconomy and drive up growth, the newson the financial front is pretty depress-ing these days.

It is worth reminding ourselves that agri-culture, and by association, agriculturalengineering has hit some rocky andrough times post-War when everyonehad to batten down the hatches.

And whilst the impact of present eco-nomic restraints will hit every industrysector, there are plenty of reasons to beoptimistic for the future.

As ever, it’s the people that matter. So Iwas delighted to find that I could seam-lessly connect three people at differentstages of their career for a feature in thismonth’s issue, The Making of anAgricultural Engineer.

There are fascinating tales of achieve-ment from John Fox, John Deere’sGraham Thompson and Harper Adamsstudent, Robert Fillingham, whichalthough separated by half a century,still speak volumes for the skill, tenacityand commitment demonstrated by many,many others throughout the industry.

We worry continuously, it seems, aboutmaking our industry visible and attrac-tive enough for skilled people to want toparticipate in land-based engineering.

I think however we are starting to see areal step-change in perception of engi-neering in general and our industry inparticular.

Talking to the Head of Engineering at acollege offering land-based engineeringcourses recently, he told me that he hadseen a definite shift in the quality oftechnicians from dealerships over thepast four or five years.

This indicated, he said, that dealers weregetting more choosy about the quality ofthe staff they were taking on.

There are a number of reasons for this,amongst them the creation of the LTA(Landbased Technicians Accreditation)scheme which provides a formal careerpath for existing staff and new entrants.

And here a New Year wish that the LTAscheme is supported and embraced bymore and more suppliers.

So plenty of positive news to end theyear - and time forme to wish everyonein the IAgrE com-munity a Very HappyChristmas andPeaceful New Year.

EDITORIAL

The views and opinions expressed in individual contributions are not those necessarily those of IAgrE or the Editor. Landwards is compiled from information received by IAgrE, butno responsibility can be accepted by the governing Council, the Publishers or the Editor in respect of any errors or omissions. The Editor does reserve the right to edit any materialsent to the journal for publication. Material from this publication may be quoted or reported on condition that full credit is given to Landwards and to the author together with thedate of publication and volume number. In the interest of factual reporting, reference to trade names and proprietry products may be inevitable. No endorsement of the namedproducts or manufacturers is intended and no adverse criticism is implied of similar products which are not mentioned..

© Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) ISSN 1363-8300

Landwards is published quarterly by:IAgrEThe Bullock Building, University Way,Cranfield, Bedford MK43 0GH Telephone: + 44 (0) 1234 750876Fax: + 44 (0) 1234 751319E-mail: [email protected]

PresidentPeter N Leech IEng, FIAgrE

Chief Executive and SecretaryChristopher R Whetnall CEnv IEng FIAgrE MemASABE

IAgrE is a foundermember ofEurAgEng, alicensed body of theEngineeringCouncil and afounder constituentof the Society forthe Environment

The Professional Journal for Engineers, Scientistsand Technologists in Agriculture, Horticulture,Forestry, Environment and Amenity

VOLUME 66 Number 4 2011

THIS ISSUE

PRODUCTION TEAM

EDITOR: Chris BiddleTel: 44 (0) 1722 429570 (direct line)[email protected]

SUB-EDITOR: Steve GibbsTel: 44 (0) 1722 [email protected]

Nelson Publishing Ltd25A New Street, Salisbury, Wilts SP1 2PHTel: 44 (0) 1722 414245Fax: 44 (0) 1722 414561www.nelsonpublishing.co.uk

www.iagre.org

Winter 2011 Landwards 3

Amongst the doom and gloom . . . . THE MAKING OF ANAGRICULTURAL ENGINEERLandwards editor Chris Biddle,talks to three agricultural engi-neers, at different stages of theircareers, to illustrate the opportu-nities available in the industry. Hehears from John Fox, JohnDeere’s Graham Thompson andHarper student, RobertFillingham.

ENGINEERING TEA INMALAWIA brief account of the diversity ofengineering found working withinan African tea estate - byMatthew Ingram.

BUILD, BURN OR BOTHLooking to the Future for BritishTimber. Dr Geoff Freedmanoffers a report on the FEGConference 2011.

CAN ENGINEERING & SCIENCEDELIVER SUSTAINABLE FOODSECURITY?Rothamsted Research believes itcan, as Dr Darren Hughes, Headof Communications and ExternalAffairs, explains.

Biosystems Engineering ..................2News Update ............................4-9IAgrE Council meeting..................10President’s musings ......................11Selcey walkway: Six years on ..16-17Wakeham’s World ..................24-25Membership Matters ..............26-35

16

18

12

20

The views expressed in Landwards editorial are those of theEditor, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institution

CHRIS BIDDLEEditor

[email protected] @chrisbiddle1

4 Landwards Winter 2011

New rural grantsavailable forgreen projects

Forestry Commission bridge awardedFAR Moor Bridge, Selside,Yorkshire has won a JudgesSpecial Award in the 2011British Construction Awardsunder the ‘Small CivilEngineering Project – up to£3m category’. Commissionedby Yorkshire Dales NationalPark Authority, the innovativedesign is probably the largestexample of a stress laminatedarch bridge in the world and hasbeen designed specifically forwalkers, horse riders and moun-tain bikers.

The Judges Special Award isfor a building or civil engineer-ing project of any size, whichthe judges consider to be partic-ularly inspirational in one ormore aspects.

It was designed by Dr GeoffFreedman, Fellow of theInstitution of AgriculturalEngineers and former Forestry

Commission Engineer,with Houseman andFalshaw as the maincontractor. The stresslaminated structureuses short lengths oftimber to create abridge with three archesspanning 53 metresacross the River Ribble nearSelside. It is a part of thePennine Bridleway NationalTrail which runs for 200 milesfrom Derbyshire to Cumbria.

Dr Freedman said, “Theremote and rural setting influ-enced the choice of bridgedesign, as the use of heavymachinery would have beenimpossible. A laminated con-struction allows large spans tobe formed from short lengths oftimber that can be carried andlifted into position by hand. Italso blends in well with the nat-

ural surroundings.” The project was also highly

commended in the structuralcategory of the 2011 WoodAwards – the UK’s premierarchitecture and furniture com-petition for building and designin wood.

This honour further endorsesthe work of members of theForestry Engineering group,who over recent years the grouphave won numerous awardsfrom various bodies againsttough national and internation-al competition.

Far Moor Bridge, Selside, Yorkshire

A NEW scheme under the RuralDevelopment Programme forEngland (RDPE) aims to helpfarmers, foresters and horticul-tural businesses in England toincrease profits and reduce theirimpact on the environment.

Farmers, foresters, contrac-tors, woodland owners and hor-ticulturalists across England areeligible to apply for grants toinvest in green projects and newmachinery so their businessescan grow in an environmentallyfriendly way. The selectionprocess is competitive andapplications will be appraisedagainst one another.

To be eligible for funding,projects must be in nutrientmanagement, energy efficiency,water resource management,animal health and welfare andforestry.

There is £20m availableunder the Farming and ForestryImprovement Scheme (FFIS)until December 2013. Thegrants are for capital items andthe grant rate available is up to40% (50% in upland areas) andthe maximum grant allowableper project is £25,000. Theminimum grant per applicationis £2,500.

IIAAggrrEE mmeemmbbeerrss wwiinnttoopp iinndduussttrryy aawwaarrddssIAgrE members, Dan Massey and Alan Jones, both won pres-tigious awards at the recent Industry Awards Dinner whichtook place at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor, organised bythe Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) and ServiceDealer magazine.

The Awards recognise sales and service excellence amongstdealers in the land-based equipment market comprising farmmachinery, garden machinery, professional turfcare andATV/Quads.

Dan Massey, EngTech, who featured in the profile sectionof Landwards’ last issue, won the Technician of the Yearaward in the Stars of the Dealership category, sponsored byBriggs & Stratton. Dan is lead service technician with dealersJE Buckle based in Stevenage. He is one of the first JohnDeere Master Technicians, holds the LTA Level 4 qualifica-tion, and recently became a member of the IAgrE Council.

The judging panel said of Dan, “Since he joined J E BuckleLtd from school, Dan has made impressive progress andtoday is one of a select band of land-based technicians to holdthe highest level of Landbased Technician Accreditation.”

Kverneland’s Alan Jones was the recipient of the 2011Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by AgriArgo UK.

Alan joined Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies in 1972 after twoyears at Rycotewood College. He moved to Kverneland inMay 1980, initially as parts and service manager, and becameproduct manager for ploughs and cultivators in 1998. Thisyear, he took partial retirement but will continue to adviseKverneland as a Consultant until the end of this year.

Alan is the current Chairman of the Society of Ploughmen,and has written a definitive publication Plough Guide ofwhich over 10,000 copies have been printed and is now avail-able in several languages.

ABOVE: IAgrE President PeterLeech with Technician of the Yearwinner Dan Massey. BELOW: Ray Spinks of sponsorsAgriArgo UK congratulates LifetimeAchievement recipient, Alan Jones

•THE only certainty in the cur-rent grain market is that it willremain volatile, visitors to theUK Grain event learned inNovember.

Alongside the exhibition ofgrain drying, handling and stor-age technology and services,the seminars and GrainStormareas offered visitors a widerange of advice on marketinggrain. Much of the talk wasabout how to help farmers pro-tect themselves from marketuncertainty.

NEWSUPDATE


Reaseheath topsemployment league

IT is encouraging that there isan increasing appreciationamong senior policy-makers ofthe importance of soilresources.

One important new develop-ment is the initiative of the FAOto form a Global SoilPartnership (GSP) for FoodSecurity and Climate ChangeAdaptation and Mitigation.

The launch meeting was heldat the FAO headquarters inRome in early September andattended by towards 200 dele-gates from around 70 countries.Although several scientistsattended from the UK, disap-pointingly, there was no UKGovernment representative.

However, I recently repre-sented IAgrE alongside col-leagues from the British Societyof Soil Science at a positivemeeting with Defra officials,when we briefed them aboutwhat had been decided at thelaunch and the opportunitiespresented by the creation of theGSP.

There is an urgent need for aglobal soil initiative to reportauthoritatively on soil resourcesand the steps needed for theirbetter management. TheUnited Nations Convention onCombating Desertification(UNCCD) has not deliveredsubstantive progress on soilmanagement, even for thosecountries with extreme landdegradation. Soil has not been amain priority at the FAOrecently, with only one soil sci-entist in its headquarters.

Meanwhile, the central roleof soil is highlighted by theUnited Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change

(UNFCC) and by theConvention on BiologicalDiversity.

IAgrE and its membershipcan make an important contri-bution to the GSP which is dis-tinct from the main thrust ofsoil scientists. The scienceambition is to create a newdigital soil informationresource with a pixel resolu-tion of 50m2 covering thewhole land area of the planet.

Technology to deliver thisextraordinary dataset hasalready been identified and theGSP is an excellent vehicle fororganising the necessary inter-national collaboration.However, to be successful, theGSP must also create momen-tum for the faster developmentand wide implementation ofbetter soil management tools,including machinery.

Therefore, IAgrE should becollaborating with its interna-tional colleagues to support soiland water engineering in theGSP.

At the Rome meeting it wasagreed that Rio+20 offers animportant opportunity to bringsoil resources to the top of thepolitical agenda. It was stressedthat policy makers need tounderstand the implications of

urbanisation and the conse-quent loss of productive soils,for food security.

Escalating demands for food,biofuel and other products mustbe met while ensuring sustain-able land use systems (soil,water and biodiversity manage-ment) are resilient to climatechange. The intention is for theFAO to sponsor an Inter-Governmental Panel on Soils toreport to Rio+20.

The GSP aims to enhance thesharing of knowledge, data,methods, and technologies forsoil resources management,making maximum use of collab-oration and coordinationamong key partners, projectsand networks. Practical solu-tions to soil management chal-lenges cannot be found withoutthe effective participation offarmers / land users, especiallyas soil management requireslocal and national solutions.IAgrE can help make the con-nections

A GSP brochure can befound at:http://www.fao.org/nr/water/docs/GSP_BROCHURE_A4.pdf

FAO launches a Global Soil PartnershipIAgrE can make an important contribution - says Mark Kibblewhite

. . IAgrE should becollaborating with itsinternational colleaguesto support soil andwater engineering inthe GSP

GRADUATES from agriculturecourses at Reaseheath Collegein Cheshire are the most suc-cessful in finding jobs, a nation-al survey of students has found.

The National StudentSatisfaction Survey, which ques-tioned thousands of higher levelstudents countrywide, showedthat 95% of Reaseheath’s agri-cultural graduates foundemployment or went into furtherstudy.

The figures put Reaseheathfirmly at the top of the employ-ment league of educationalinstitutions offering degreecourses in agriculture and relat-ed studies, followed by WrittleCollege with 91% and theScottish Agricultural Collegeand the Royal AgriculturalCollege with 85%.

A further breakdown of statis-tics showed that 50% ofReaseheath’s agriculture gradu-ates went directly into higherlevel jobs such as management.The survey also showed that anoverwhelming majority of thestudents (83%) were satisfiedwith their course.

The survey, based on theexperiences of final year stu-dents from leading colleges anduniversities, is carried out by thegovernment and provides datafor the official comparison sitepublished athttp://unistats.direct.gov.uk

Responding to the figures,Reaseheath Principal MeredyddDavid said, “We are delightedwith these results, which showsthat our graduates are muchsort after by industry and havegained the knowledge and skillsthat make them really competi-tive in the jobs market.”

The college has recentlyinvested £3.5 million into itsdairy and livestock facilities andinto a demonstration anaerobicdigester on its commercial farm.The investment is part of a total£35 million spend across cam-pus. Reaseheah has also pur-chased the former GenusMOET herd of high merit dairycows, now renamed ReaseheathHolsteins.

•A NEW Water Management Tool, developed by LEAF (Linking Environment & Farming) was launched byJim Paice MP, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food recently.

The online resource offers farmers a complete health-ccheck for water use on their farm, helping tomake every drop count. Split into 7 sections it looks at better distribution and monitoring; improved irri-gation; more efficient washing systems; protecting water quality; recycling and reuse.

Using the tool, farmers will be able to better understand how to increase their efficiency and, in turn,make significant savings on their water bills.

To find out more visit www.leafuk.org


Oxford FarmingConference 2012THE political and economicline-up at the 2012 OxfordFarming Conference (OFC) willnot disappoint according toCedric Porter, the 2012Chairman.

“We haveCarolineSpelmanand hershadowcounterpart,MaryCreagh aswell as theUSDA Chief Economist Dr JoeGlauber kicking off the firstmorning. We have also securedGeorge Magnus, SeniorEconomic Advisor to the UBSInvestment Bank who willdebate whether emerging mar-kets have already emerged.”

The Conference programmefor the event, which runsbetween 3-5 January 2012, hasbeen launched via the newOFC website www.ofc.org.uk.“For the first time this year wewill be taking online bookingsand we’re urging anyone whowould like to come to book assoon as they can,” Mr Porteradded.

Since 2009 the OFC hasconducted one piece of industryresearch which has previouslyexamined the public perceptionof farming, where future agri-cultural R&D needs to befocused and the value and via-bility of UK farming. “This yearDr Alan Renwick’s team at SACis undertaking the OFCresearch which will examinewho, where and how globalpower is exerted in agricultureand what impact this powerbase will have on British farmersand our domestic food chain inthe future.”

In a session chaired by OFCDirector Nick Tapp four speak-ers will tackle where there iscooperation or confrontation inthe UK food chain.

“We will also raise sustain-able production in the contextof the Foresight Report, ourspeakers are Professor BobWatson, Juan AntonioMarhuenda Berenguer, Directorof Production, at Primaflor inSpain, Martin Harper from theRSPB and Nigel Lok a SouthAfrican Dairy farmer,” saidCedric Porter.

BCPC has awarded its highestaccolade, the BCPC Medal toDr. Richard (Dick) J. GodwinFREng as well as William (Bill)J. Angus, Dr. Peter J.W.Lutman and Dr. John Fisher.

The presentations were madeby BCPC Chairman, Dr. ColinRuscoe on the first day of thisyear’s CropWorld Global con-ference held at the ExCelConference and ExhibitionCentre, London between 31October and 2 November 2011.BCPC medals are awarded topeople who have made an out-standing contribution to envi-ronmentally-sound crop pro-duction.

An internationally recog-nized and multi award winningresearcher and educator in thefield of agricultural soilmechanics, soil and waste man-agement and precision agricul-ture, Dr. Dick J. Godwin holdsEmeritus, Honorary andVisiting Professorships in agri-cultural engineering fromCranfield University, the CzechUniversity of Life Sciences andHarper Adams University. Heis a former Director ofResearch, Dean of the Facultyof Agricultural Engineering,Food Production and RuralLand Use and Pro ViceChancellor of CranfieldUniversity.

A key achievement in Dick’s

career was hisdevelopment anddelivery ofMasters’ coursesin agriculturalengineering, pre-cision farmingand soil manage-ment, and shortcourses for manu-facturers, advi-sors and farmers.Dick has refereedover 100 journalpublications, 130conference pro-ceedings, and delivered numer-ous Keynote presentations andpatents for soil implements andsoil strength sensing systems.

He served as InternationalDirector of the AmericanSociety of AgriculturalEngineers (1992-94) andPresident of IAgrE (1994-96).He is a Fellow of ASAE, theRoyal Academy of Engineering,the IAgrE, the RoyalAgricultural Societies (2009)and the Royal AgriculturalSociety of England. He isEditor of a number of interna-tional journal publications,Chairman of the DouglasBomford Trust, foundingTrustee for the ClaasFoundation in Germany and amember of the AdvisoryCommittee to the Faculty ofAgriculture of the Royal

College of Agriculture.On receiving his award Dick

said, “It is a great honour for asoil and water engineer to berecognised by the BCPC for thecontribution that I have tried tomake to crop production in theUK over the past 4 decades andI would like to thank theCouncil very much for theAward. Whilst good soil andwater management have alwaysbeen vital to both crop produc-tivity and the environment ithas been overlooked in recentyears.

“Thankfully, its importance isnow being recognised as thedemand for improved cropyields and quality, improvedwater efficiency and reducedenergy consumption all impactupon the budgets of the farmer,the consumer and govern-ment.”

BCPC Medals awarded at CropWorld GlobalDr Dick Godwin, FREng, honoured

2011 BCPC medallists. L-RR: Dr Peter Lutman;Dr Dick Godwin; BCPC Chairman, Dr ColinRuscoe; Bill Angus and Dr John Fisher

Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering

THE Queen Elizabeth Prize forEngineering is a new globalaward which celebrates trulyoutstanding advances in engi-neering that have created sig-nificant benefit to humanity.

The £1 million Prize will beawarded in the name of HerMajesty The Queen to an indi-vidual or team of up to threepeople, of any nationality,directly responsible for advanc-ing the positive application ofengineering knowledge.

The Prize will recognise andcelebrate the best – and alsoserve to illuminate the sheerexcitement of modern engineer-ing. It will be international andwill be awarded biennially, the

first being presented in Spring2013.

IAgrE have announced thatthey are in support of the Prizewith President, Peter Leechsaying, “This award is a greatway to show engineering in itstrue light as a cornerstone ofsociety and a key driver for eco-nomic well being. The UK’sagricultural engineers areinstrumental in tackling theworld’s challenges of hungerand drought and have the righttools for the job.

“It is vital that the UK’saspiring professionals aredirected towards and inspiredby a career in engineering.There are some very demand-

ing and exciting challenges fac-ing humanity that will requireengineering solutions. Nonemore so than the expertise ofagricultural engineers withtheir particular knowledge ofsustainable food, forestry, fibreand biomass production, alongwith the management of soil,water and our other finite natu-ral resources.

“Looking forward, agricul-tural engineers are findingways to protect and enrich soiland water resources, using lesswater, energy and landresources to provide betterquality food for an increasingpopulation.”

IAgrE in support of newly launched initiative

NEWSUPDATE


Attention all aspiring professionals!

Professional Registration through IAgrE

Being a member of IAgrE is just part of being a professional.

Adding a professional qualification to your name is a further

important statement which sets you apart from others.

In addition to administering the Landbased Technician Accreditation

schemes (LTA and LTAMEA) on behalf of our sector, IAgrE has licences

from the Society for the Environment and the Engineering Council to

award the following professional qualifications to those who are suitably

experienced and/or qualified:

Chartered Environmentalist CEnv

Engineering Technician EngTech

Incorporated Engineer IEng

Chartered Engineer CEng

One or more of these professional qualifications after your name:Establishes proven knowledge, experience and

commitment to professional standards, and

enhances employability.

Establishes that your professional credentials are on a par with

other Chartered professionals such as Chartered Scientists and

Chartered Accountants

Demonstrates that you have been judged as

being competent by your peers

Provides you with international recognition

To find out more about obtaining professional qualifications through

IAgrE, email us at [email protected], visit our website

or call our Membership department on

01234 750876

www.iagre.org

Christopher Whetnall

WHEN I arrived at IAgrE HQ to start thefirst day in my role as CEO, I noticed astrategically placed copy of Landwards

on my desk.The Winterissue with aseasonal pic-ture of one ofGeoffFreedman’sbridges on thefront cover.The cover had

been annotated with a picture of Chadwith the words “Wot no tractors?”

Whether this was meant to be a warn-ing message I will never know but Iremember it with a wry smile.

The articles in this issue of Landwardsgive the lie to the notion that ag-engi-neering is only about tractors and asso-ciated machinery. And I am pleased thatthis year, our seasonal cover representsother niche areas of our profession -sheep (no doubt wearing EiD tags) andone of Matt Ingram’s hydro-electric

power plants.I have waxed lyrical before in this

column about the profession werepresent. I can do no more in this issuethan to reflect on the careers outlinedwithin. Just look at what our membersdo (and have done).

In his Editorial, Chris Biddle talksabout the skills, tenacity and commit-ment demonstrated by those in ourindustry. I would add to that the depthand breadth of knowledge displayed.• Matt Ingram living the ag-engineers

dream - working in a developingcountry applying a vast set of skills indifficult areas in a climate somewhatmore attractive than ours.

• John Fox - responsible inter alia forthe development of the BomfordSuperflow (congratulations Mrs Fox oncoming up with that name) - animplement that I was able to put togood use in some difficult soils inSudan behind an M-F 174 in spite ofbeing told by others that it wouldnever pull it. Amazing what a bit of

ballast will do!• Graham Thompson - holding a very

senior position within one of our mostprestigious ag-engineering companies

• Robert Fillingham - a HAUC studentwith accolades from companies withsuch diverse interests as fencing andcombine harvesters.There are a couple of messages to be

taken from all of this. Firstly, the common denominator of

IAgrE membership. Like John Fox, I toomade use of the IAgrE AppointmentsService in obtaining jobs which made upthe greater part of my career. Secondly,the fact that those with skills and deter-mination will prevail whatever their edu-cational background.

Finally, on behalf of all at IAgrE head-quarters I would like to wish all ourmembers a very Happy Christmas and aPeaceful New Year.

The common denominator CEOVIEW


A £400,000 investment to trainthe agricultural engineers of thefuture and bridge the skills gaphas been launched at EastonCollege.

As farming gears up to boostfood production to feed a rapid-ly-expanding global populationin the next couple of decades, anew generation of skilled engi-neers and technicians will beneeded, said Peter Leech,President of the Institution ofAgricultural Engineers.

He officially opened the newworkshop at the college, whichrepresented the latest stage in a£33m programme of investmentin teaching facilities in the past20 years.

Mr Leech, who is regionaltraining manager for JohnDeere covering the whole ofEurope, including, Russia, theMiddle East and Africa north ofthe Sahara, praised Easton as“forward-looking” and forinvesting heavily for the futurein buildings, equipment, staffand resources.

He told the audience of about100 employers representing theagricultural machinery industryat a local and national level that“we should look to this fineexample and support it as muchas possible.

“In the 40 years that I’ve beenin this industry, I’ve seenremarkable changes in technol-ogy and amazing innovations.Over the next 40 years we willneed to accelerate the pace ofinnovation to help our farmersmeet the challenges of doublingfood production within the next40 years.

“As technology becomesmore complex and sophisticat-ed the more we need high cali-bre, well-educated people at alllevels to design, manufacture,distribute, sell and supportthese new technologies or solu-tions,” added Mr Leech.

He said that the industry haddeveloped the LTA(Land-based TechnicianAccreditation) to recognisefour levels of achievement andtraining. The programme was

based oncont inu-ing train-ing thatt e c h n i -c i a n sr e c e i v ef r o mmanufac-turers andrecognis-es highergrades asadvancedand master techni-cian.

Mr DavidLawrence, Principalof Easton College,who had studied atKesteven AgriculturalCollege, Lincolnshire,with deputy principal CliveBound, welcomed fellow stu-dent Mr Leech. After college,Peter Leech started his 40-yearcareer with John Deere atLangar, Nottinghamshire, andmost recently became regionaltraining delivery manager basedat Mannheim, Germany, cover-ing Europe and further afield.

The latest investment in a£300,000 training workshop waspart of a strategy to reverse theprolonged decline in agricultur-al engineering recruitment,which has challenged the indus-try for the past decade or more.

“In East Anglia, there is nowminimal provision and national-ly the capability to deliver toindustries’ needs is very limitedand getting worse,” said MrLawrence.

“At undergraduate level thesituation appears even worse.

This cannot go on. The only waywe as a college can help to solvethe current skills crisis is towork in a close partnership withemployers.

“The impact on the much-reduced level of recruitment tothe sector has had a seriousknock-on impact on educationand training provision. We havebeen making very substantialinvestments at the college bothin terms of physical resourcesbut also in staff.”

He said that £300,000 hadbeen spent on a new buildingplus another £100,000 on equip-ment.

Mr Lawrence said that a goodstart had been made with 30service engineering appren-tices, 60 full-time agriculturalengineers, 12 foundationdegree students and 14 to 16year old students attending col-lege one day per week fromschool.

“The industry still offerssome outstanding career oppor-tunities for young people,” headded.

Two student course represen-tatives, Henry Clewlow, ofLong Stratton, who is a studyingfor a national diploma in land-based engineering, and CaitlinCartwright, 17, of Walsoken,near Wisbech, who is a first-year level III diploma student,thanked Mr Leech.

££440000,,000000 aaggrriiccuullttuurraall eennggiinneeeerriinnggwwoorrkksshhoopp ooppeenneedd aatt EEaassttoonn CCoolllleeggee

IAgrE President, Peter Leech unveils the plaque

. . Over the next 40years we will need toaccelerate the pace ofinnovation to help ourfarmers meet thechallenges of doublingfood production

bbyy MMiicchhaaeell PPoolllliitttt,, AAggrriiccuullttuurraall eeddiittoorr,, EEaasstteerrnn DDaaiillyy PPrreessss

Easton College’s new workshop and, below,

Peter Leech talking to students

Agriculture is UK’sriskiest professionNEW figures published by theHealth and Safety Executive(HSE) once again condemnagriculture as the most danger-ous profession in the UK.Accidents on farms account foraround a fifth of Britain’s work-place deaths yet only 1.5 percent of the population work inthe industry.

Agricultural engineers have acrucial role to play, whether inequipment design, distribution,maintenance, or just spreadinggood practice to everyoneinvolved in agricultural technol-ogy and food production.Reaching the next generation atcollege with effective messagesand practical demonstrations isvital.

Workplace transport andcontact with machinery are twoof the main causes of fatal andmajor injuries in farming eachyear. Other common causesinclude falls from height andbeing struck by moving objectsand livestock.

But it’s not just aboutmachine design. It is also aboutlooking at how equipment isused in practice and developingthe right techniques andprocesses to manage opera-tions. Improvements need to bemade in livestock handling andavoiding hazards such as inad-equate guards on machinery,steep slopes and overheadpower lines.

“Everyone in the industryneeds to take this issue serious-ly,” said IAgrE’s Chief ExecutiveChris Whetnall. “We are nottalking about more red tape,just solid no-nnonsense advice.”

IAgrE members include lead-ing experts in agricultural health& safety, tractor and trailerbraking systems, animal han-dling technology and knowl-edge transfer specialists. TheInstitution stands ready to assistmanufacturers, policy makers,insurers and farmers themselvesby facilitating contact with thebest sources of practical andresearch expertise in the sector.

“Significant reductions in on-farm accident rates are achiev-able if all the landbased organi-sations make a concerted effortto work together on this,” con-cluded Chris Whetnall.

NEWSUPDATE


A RECORD 26 students havejoined this year’s CLAASAgricultural TechnicianApprenticeship intake, which issplit between Reaseheath inCheshire and Barony Collegenear Dumfries. Also joining thescheme for the first time arestudents from both northernand southern Ireland.

CLAAS is the only landbasedengineering company to offer amanufacturer’s apprenticeshipwithin Scotland, which this yearsees 18 students joining. TheBarony course was launched in2008, in order to provideCLAAS dealers in Scotland andthe north of England with thesame opportunity as that whichsouthern dealers have to trainand develop the skilled techni-cians they need for the future,with the course based atReaseheath.

The students study for aNational Diploma in LandBased Technology, which isseen as a practical hands-onalternative to Highers or ‘A’Levels. One of the main bene-fits of the Diploma, in additionto higher technical credibility, isthat upon qualification, the suc-cessful candidate will receive aPass, Merit or Distinctiongrade, which will enable themto better demonstrate and gain

recognition for their ability andtheir potential to progress tohigher level qualifications.

During the four-year appren-ticeship programme, studentsspend three years studying theNational Diploma, in whichtime they have the opportunityto train at CLAAS UK head-quarters at Bury St Edmunds,and subsequently the Groupheadquarters at Harsewinkel inGermany.

Drew Easton, Section Headfor Engineering at BaronyCollege said, “Our partnershipwith CLAAS enables us to pro-vide our students with access tostate of the art machinery.CLAAS support to the dealerswhere the apprentices work isexcellent, and the travel oppor-

tunities presented are unri-valled within the industry.”

The new intake of students ispictured above at their recentinduction day, which was alsoattended by CLAAS After SalesDirector Alastair Tulloch, HRManager Jane Broomhall andTraining Manager John Palmer,who said, “Barony college has aproven commitment to Land-based Engineering and com-mands nationwide respect fromevery corner of the sector.

“CLAAS UK is very pleasedto welcome all the entrantsonto the program and to sup-port Barony in delivering it,knowing as we do, that this willprovide the foundation for ourcollective success in the future.”

RReeccoorrdd aapppprreennttiiccee iinnttaakkee ffoorr CCllaaaassTechnician scheme split between Barony & Reaseheath

Barony’s latest Agricultural Technician Apprentice intake

THE perfect storm of sustainability in glob-al agriculture and food production is uponus, with key challenges in soil and waterresource management, population and cli-mate change.

The UK has a fantastic pool of talentedand innovative farmers supported by anadaptable and resourceful cast ofresearchers and engineers.

In order for agriculture to rise to thesechallenges, there is an increasing need foran integrated agricultural research com-munity, covering all strands of plant breed-ing, animal science, technology (hardware& software) and soil and water resourcemanagement, whilst at the same time bal-ancing the sustainability requirements ofsociety.

To facilitate this integrated approach, the

respective communities need dialogue withpolicy makers, the right political landscapeand framework for successful technologytransfer and commercial realisation. Wereally need suitably skilled, experiencedand professional individuals with a passionfor agriculture across all disciplines inorder to rise to the challenge.

The purpose of this conference is:• to inform the debate on future agricul-

tural sustainability;• to demonstrate that the agricultural

research community is ready, willing andable;

• to give a broad view of the depth andbreadth of agricultural engineering andits contribution to food sustainability.This day is for those seeking to be more

actively engaged in the future of the inte-

grated agricultural research community. If you have an opinion, want to be

involved in the debate or want to haveyour say on the future direction of agricul-tural research, come along and getinvolved.

To get involved: visit www.iagre.org,email: [email protected], or call01234 750876.

THE urgent need for farmers toembrace new technologies tomeet increasing demands forfood, was the key messagedelivered by one of the coun-try’s leading plant scientists,Professor Sir David BalcombeFRS, a LEAF’s recent PresidentEvent.

Professor SirDavidBalcombe(right), RegiusProfessor ofBotany at theUniversity ofCambridge,gave the keynote speech atthe event which took place onNovember 2nd. His talk entitled‘Growing Acceptance for NewTechnologies’, urged farmers toembrace new agronomy andplant genetics in order to meetthe food requiremnts of a grow-ing population using sustainin-able practice. Tackling theneeds of a population expectedto grow to 9 billion within thenext 30 years.

Professor Baulcombeexplained, “There is hugepotential within the scientificcommunity, to come up withviable scientific solutions forfeeding a growing population.Farmers, the food industry andwider society have a responsi-bility to help realise this poten-tial.”

Farmers urged toembrace new technology

Weathering the Perfect Storm - who do you want in your lifeboat?Landwards 2012 Conference, Thurs 10th May, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire

CCOOUUNNCCIILL MMEEEETTIINNGG

How are we, as a profession, going to provide the technicians of the future was thetopic for debate following IAgrE’s October Council meeting

Where will theTechnicians oftomorrow comefrom?

HELD at the Claas UK headquarters atSaxham, members listened to presentationsfrom Steve Nott, Warranty Manager atClaas covering advances in the areas oftelematics, GPS/Guidance Steering systemsand remote diagnostics and how these hi-tech developments will impact on the tradi-tional role of the agricultural technician.

As technology is becoming increasinglycomplex there is a need for specialists andyet colleges are not equipped with the lat-est modern equipment. The modern tech-nician needs core engineering skills, anunderstanding of up to the minute technol-ogy, and an ability to effectively use diag-nostic tools and techniques. Not only thatbut they also require customer facing com-munication skills. Tomorrow’s colleges willneed access to modern technology and

equipment and have properly trained staffwith up to date product knowledge andexpertise.

And it’s not just the technical side of thelandbased sector that needs a strategy.Work also has to be done on the image ofagricultural engineering. It is still perceivedas a dirty industry and research shows chil-dren tend to get most careers advice fromtheir parents and yet a third know little atall about vocational training.

So what can we do?One of the solutions could be having the

majority of colleges providing a generaleducation and perhaps three or four col-leges, well supported by the agriculturalmanufacturers, to handle the more sophis-ticated subjects such as telematics,GPS/Guidance steering etc.

Some of the points raised during thedebate were, do we need a UniversityTraining College? What is the scale of theproblem of updating lecturers on a regularbasis? How do we update colleges and staffregularly? As the industry is too small tohave a large number of providers do wecome up with a unified structure thatinvolves collaboration between a limitednumber of colleges supported by manufac-turers?

All the suggestions and ideas will be dis-cussed in more detail by the LE-TECgroup. This group, made up of representa-tives from AEA, BAGMA and IAgrE wascreated to be the single voice for trainingand education within the LandbasedEngineering sector.

ABOVE: John Palmer, Training Development Manager ofClaas UK, with Richard Robinson. BELOW: A service van displaying LTA livery

ABOVE: Peter Redman examines the portable version of ahydraulic power pack designed and built by students of HAUCfor use at Saxham. BELOW: The meeting was well attended

The meeting was held at theClaas UK headquarters, Saxham



PPRREESSIIDDEENNTT’’SS MMUUSSIINNGGSS

I MADE comments in the last edition ofLandwards concerning membership andwhy it is so important to us all from a per-sonal career perspective.

This was brought home to me againquite strongly when I attended the 69thInternational Land.Technik conference inHanover in mid November. This is possiblythe largest single Agricultural Engineeringconference in the world with a sell outattendance of 850 engineers, academicsand industry partners all developing theirknowledge and gaining new perspectiveswhile networking with each other.

This was held in the 2 days precedingAgriTechnica in the stunning ConferenceCentre at the heart of the Hanover Messe.The conference presented 75 technicalpapers on a multitude of highly relevantand exciting themes, the most interesting tome from a future development perspectivewere those concerning vehicle and imple-ment electrification and those concerningelectronics and developments in telematics.All these technologies are leading to intel-ligent machines and intelligent farming.

Visiting the AgriTechnica show highlight-ed this even more, almost every exhibitorwas promoting, electronics, software solu-tions, precision farming, telematrics andusing all this towards intelligent farmingsolutions and decision support. What alsobecame clear from seeing such an amazingdisplay of equipment and services spreadacross 27 exhibition halls is that functional-ity between one make of machine andanother make’s tractor or another’s moni-toring/guidance system is critical for all thisto succeed.

We all take for granted the 3 point hitchand standard linkage categories as well asstandard PTO shaft and hydraulic connec-tions but we need the same simplicity andfully accepted standards across softwareand electronic connections and protocolsto really allow these technologies to suc-ceed. We have strong ISOBUS standardsand these are generally adopted but thereare many other areas of systems and proto-cols where compatibility and thereforemore widespread adoption of these tech-nologies could be improved.

On this same theme of technology andinnovation it is interesting to see the Goldand Silver medals awarded for innovationby DLG at the show. You would expect themajor international companies to collectmost of those medals, but that is not thecase. There are many medals going tomedium and small companies who aredeveloping solutions to problems and inno-vating at the forefront. If you take a look atthe total number of medals awarded to dif-ferent companies over the last 5 years youwill see that the second place in this tableis taken by a European company who does-n’t even make any self propelled machines.

A final point on this subject which mayhelp us all put things into perspective relat-ing to the size of our industry and innova-tion is to make a comparison with AppleCorporation.

As you know this company, developedand driven by the late Steve Jobs has thereputation of innovating and developingproducts that no one knew they even need-ed but once invented very soon could notlive without. This is the power of technolo-gy and innovation combined with slick mar-keting and brand and product differentia-tion. In 2011 Apple had a global turnoverof $108 billion, in comparison the totalglobal market for agricultural machinery isestimated at $68 billion!!

AN exciting announcement that gives all ofus engineers a new sense of pride is theannouncement recently of the QueenElizabeth Prize for Engineering Excellence.

The Prize will be international, and aims,in time, for the stature of the Nobel Prizes.It will be awarded biennially, the first beingpresented in Spring 2013. The Prize is theresult of a growing realisation within politi-cal, business and engineering circles of theneed for a pioneering initiative based inthe UK to focus attention on engineer-ing worldwide.

With the linkage of food pro-duction, global populationgrowth and all the other globalchallenges, wouldn’t it be appro-priate and motivational for ourindustry if the first award of

this prestigious prize went to anAgricultural Engineer. As your institutionwe will be promoting and supporting thisheavily and encouraging some appropriateentries.

IT was my great pleasure to visit EastonCollege at Norwich at the end ofNovember to open their new Ag Eng train-ing workshop.

It is refreshing to visit a college wherethere is real enthusiasm for Ag Eng to thepoint that they are investing heavily notonly in buildings but in teaching staff andresources. They have invested over £33 mil-lion in recent years and are positively look-ing to the future. You can read more onthis in a separate report in this edition.

ONE final comment, it was a great honourto be able to attend the retirement dinnerof John Fox back on October 3rd.

John has contributed so much to ourindustry over his extensive career, both asMD of Bomford, IAgrE President andfounder of the Douglas Bomford Trust, it

was a fitting tributeand is reported

elsewhere inthis edi-

tion.Enjoyyourretire-mentJohn!

Technology & innovationIAgrE President, PETER LEECH muses on the vital importance offunctionality and communication between differing makes of machinery

All these technologies areleading to intelligent machinesand intelligent farming

FOR someone who has made such a last-ing contribution to our industry, JohnFox’s first few months with his newemployer did not bode well

Having gained a National Diploma inAgricultural Engineering during 1954/5,John was sure that this was a career hewanted to follow, but first there was to bea spell with the Army (REME) based inCyprus.

Whilst serving his time, he began toplan for his return to civilian life andplaced his name on a newly createdAppointments listing which had beenintroduced by IAgrE, itself starting toreform after the war.

IAgrE President at the time wasDouglas Bomford who had been a drivingforce behind the diploma course(NDAgrE). He spotted John’s name, andas a recent graduate immediately identi-fied him as someone whom he might bekeen to employ at the family firm ofBomford and Evershed.

Hitching a lift back to the UK with theRAF for Christmas in 1956, John attendedan interview at a deserted factory at SalfordPriors on Christmas Eve with the generalmanager Brian Armitage who then took himto meet Douglas Bomford at his home.

The upshot was that John was offered therole of Technical and Production Manager -

to start on 1 September 1957 immediatelyafter he left the Army.

His recollection of those early days atBomford is still as sharp as ever.

“I remember sitting at my new desk onthe first morning, watching a huge lorrydraw into the yard with what looked like amass of scrap metal.

“When I asked what it was, I was told thatit was the initial delivery of 100 Sapperditchers that the company had sub-contract-ed.

“When I queried such a large commit-ment, Brian Armitage replied cheerily ‘Oh,they’ll all be sold by Christmas’.”

It wasn’t long before John realised all wasnot well at the company. “The factory facil-ities were poor, the company was making asubstantial loss, it was far too reliant on sub-contractors to manufacture straight-forwardproducts such as dozer blades - and as forthose Sapper ditchers!

“They weren’t sold by Christmas - andindeed by any Christmas!” he says.

“Those machines were symptomatic ofthe problems within Bomford at the time.They hadn’t been adequately tested, werefull of manufacturing errors and it took con-siderable time and expense to even get theminto a saleable condition.

“Looking back, had I known about thecompany’s parlous financial state, my deci-sion to join them might have been differ-ent.”

But as ever, it is people that make thingstick, and John had enormous admiration forDouglas Bomford. “Things might have goneawry, but he was dedicated to the industry,an advocate of education and training - anda splendid man to work with”.

And so it was to be the beginning of amore than 50 year association with theBomford family - and the Bomford legacy asa Trustee and Vice-Chairman of the


Scratching the surfaceJOHN FOX

From helping to rescue an ailing manufacturer to a lifetime of supporting research anddevelopment, John Fox has been at the forefront of the agricultural engineering industry forover 50 years. CHRIS BIDDLE talked to him at his Stratford-upon-Avon home.

As a career, agricultural engineering does nothit the national headlines. It is still regarded asa niche sector, yet its contribution to thewelfare of the world, food production and theenvironment is inestimable.

Across the ages, it has offered stimulating andexciting opportunities - but above all, it is anindustry that focuses on people and developstheir talents.

How better to illustrate those opportunitiesthan through the eyes of three ‘practitioners’from across the ages?f

The making of an agricultural engineer

PPRROOFFIILLEE

Douglas Bomford Trust. John stepped downas full-blown Trustee in October, butremains a splendidly titled Emeritus Trusteeand is a former President of IAgrE.

WHEREAS Douglas Bomford was an ideasman but often with limited commercialawareness, John Fox was also an innovatorbut with a keen sense of commercial reality.

During his first year with the company, heset about improving manufacturing capabil-ity and reducing the reliance on out-sourcedproducts.

Soon the benefits started to come throughin reduced costs, which in 1958 onlystemmed company losses.

“It was only much later that I heard thatthe company auditor had put a pertinentquestion to the Directors at a BoardMeeting ‘Gentlemen, are you solvent?’”

There followed a series of managementchanges as the company faced up to movingforward - or going out of business.

“It was clear that nobody was going tocome in for us with our huge liabilities,” saysJohn. “We were on our own - but in manyways it was a very exciting time.”

John took over from Brian Armitage asGeneral Manager in January 1959, andimmediately started rationalising the prod-uct line.

But he soon realised that the Bomfordrange was too narrow, they wanted newproducts that excited the market.

As so often, a series of seemingly uncon-nected events came together.

Bomford had spotted a gap in the marketfor a heavy-duty cultivator that could beused by a typical tractor of the time (60-70hp).

John had been influenced in his delibera-tions by a paper written by Dr Peter Payne(later to become first Principal of theNational College of AgriculturalEngineering) on ‘The Relationship betweenSoil and Tine’.

“We had to produce a cultivator withmuch greater inter-tine, inter-row andunder-frame clearance than anything elseon the market, but it had to be light enoughto be lifted and pulled by the relatively low-power tractors at the time.”

Then browsing through a catalogue fromsteel supplier Stewarts and Lloyds, Johnnoticed that they were now supplying steeltubes in rectangular hollow sections. “WhenI saw that in the catalogue it was a definite‘eureka’ moment,” says John.

Prototypes of the new cultivator werebuilt and tested during 1960, John’s wife Patcame up with a name Superflow - and amachine was prepared for its debut at theSmithfield Show that December.

“Against similar cultivators, it lookedhuge,” says John, “and first reaction fromfarmers was ‘my tractor’s never going to liftthat’.”

However, actions speak louder thanwords, and John and his colleagues rolledup their sleeves several times a day duringthe show and lifted the cultivator to demon-strate its lightness.

The Superflow could be said to beBomford’s ‘signature’ product over the 25years it was in production when more than20,000 machines were sold, some in MasseyFerguson colours through a parallel market-ing ‘deal’ (although no formal agreementever existed).

The success of the Superflow putBomford back on a better financial footing.The machine was easy to manufacture, easyto transport and furthermore with nine tinesper machine, considerable economy of scalein manufacturing was achieved (not to men-tion the satisfaction of the factory staff whowere on piece-work!)

Soon John was able to plan the first exten-sion to the Salford Priors factory for many along year.

Having broken into the soil-engagingmarket, Bomford turned its attention tohedges and edges.

Through an adaptation of an earlierBomford Hedgemaker developed by sistercompany Bomford Brothers, the companyintroduced the Bomford Any Angle mower,the first articulated mowing machinedesigned for highways and the forerunner ofthe flail verge mower.

At first Bomford imported flail headsfrom US supplier Mott to fit the Any Anglemower, but before long had developed amachine specifically for European condi-tions. This was to be the beginning of thecore part of the Bomford business whichcontinues to the present time.

It also spawned the growth of a competi-tive rivalry in and around Salford Priorswhen Bomford salesman Tony Turner decid-ed that hydraulic power was preferable tobelt drive for flail mowers. DouglasBomford disagreed, so in 1963 Turner set uphis own company in opposition.

After a period of ill-health, DouglasBomford died in 1969, but his legacy wasassured in more ways than one. The periodfrom 1960-1980 was a boom time forBomford and the agricultural machineryindustry in general.

The company was even able to buy its ownplane to ferry staff and parts across Europe.

And whilst the recession of 1980 caused

some retrenchment - although not in R&Dexpenditure - the company went fromstrength to strength on a raft of innovativeproducts following the success of theSuperflow with such market leadingmachines as the Highwayman, Bushwacker,Dynadrive and many others.

For these and many other products, in1976 Bomford and Evershed was awardedthe Gold Medal for outstanding contribu-tion to agriculture by the Royal AgriculturalSociety

For someone outside the Bomford family,John Fox has had a huge influence on thefortunes of the ‘family firm’ over manydecades.

Of course, the company has moved on,first through a buy-out by the ElswickGroup, then subsequently by present owner,the Alamo Group.

Following Douglas Bomford’s death,John was appointed executor of the estate.After many lengthy discussions with theBomford and Evershed board and hiswidow, Betty, it was agreed to set up theDouglas Bomford Trust.

Today the Trust manages funds worthover £3m which are used to recognise anduphold Douglas Bomford’s desire to assistin developing individuals’ knowledge andinnovation, to meet the contribution thatengineering can make to agriculture and therural environment.

Douglas was not to know how vital hisTrust was to become in later years in sup-plementing and supporting research thatwould have been carried out by the now-defunct agricultural machinery researchfacility at Silsoe.

Rather aptly for the inventor of an iconicmachine such as the Superflow, we are onlyable to ‘scratch the surface’ of John Fox’scontribution to Bomford in particular, andthe agricultural machinery industry in gen-eral.

On the edge of the lawn which slopesdown to the Avon at his home on the out-skirts of Stratford-on-Avon, John points outa shed.

“That’s my workshop,” he says. “There isplenty of interesting stuff in there!”Although he has ‘stepped down’ - once aninnovator, always an innovator!


John and Pat Fox (seated), flanked bydaughters (l to r) Elizabeth, Julia andRachel.

John receives an Award from JonathanBomford at the dinner held in October tomark his retirement as a Trustee of theDouglas Bomford Trust

GRAHAM THOMPSON is adamant. “Mycareer path was only made possible by thesupport of other leaders who provided methe opportunities, encouragement, and sup-port.”

One of those was Terry Duggleby atLackham College. “I was a full time studenton an agricultural engineering course atLackham College in Wiltshire. Terry put lifeinto the dynamics of agricultural engineer-ing and convinced me there could be no bet-ter industry for a future career. He alsochallenged me in my final report to not setmy sights low - and said, in effect, the sky’sthe limit.

“Thirty years on, I know I made the rightchoice - there IS no better industry to beinvolved in, than that of the agriculturalmachinery industry.”

Growing up, Graham always held a fasci-nation with farming and farm machinery.He enrolled at Sparsholt AgriculturalCollege near Winchester where he took anapprenticeship in Agriculture.

Following his apprenticeship Grahamchose to enroll full time at Lackham wherehe gained an HTC (Higher TechnicalCertificate) in agricultural engineering.

During his college holidays, Grahamworked at nearby John Deere dealership,Roger Hunt Ltd.

Leaving Lackham, he joined Roger Huntfull-time as a technician. “I spent threeyears at the dealership and those were someof the most influential and enjoy-able years of my whole career.”

Like so many youngsters grow-ing up, Graham always had anaffinity to one brand over anoth-er - and in his case it was JohnDeere. Therefore the opportuni-ty to work on Deere products wasone he grasped both both hands.

“I know I work for the compa-ny now, but even today one of myfavourite relaxations is to tinkeraround with my five John Deeretractors of various vintages.

“Through working at a Deeredealership I got to know the peo-ple at Langar, and in 1986 whenan opportunity arose, I appliedfor and accepted the post of AreaService Manager for Deere inthe south west of England.”

Here again, Graham is quick to credit oneof his other ‘mentors’, Peter Leech, the cur-rent IAgrE President. “Peter gave me theopportunity. He also mentored me and pro-vided the support I needed.”

Graham had been in that role for threeyears when an opportunity arose to becomeField Service Engineer for the UK, butbased in Mannheim in Germany.

“I think then I realised it was going to bea one-way ticket from the UK,” he says.

And so it proved, he became Senior FieldService Engineer, a post he held for 9 years,during which time he met his wife Andrea,in Germany and raised a family (two boysnow 11 and 18).

In 1998, a new opportunity arose to moveto the Deere plant in Waterloo to join theinfinitely variable transmission develop-ment team. Then in 2003 a move back toMannheim where he became DivisionalMarketing Manager for Waterloo Tractorsin Region 2 (Europe, North Africa andMiddle East). During this time Graham alsostudied for his Bsc in BusinessManagement.

It was whilst Graham was working as partof the team developing the John Deere 7Rseries, that the call came for him to take uphis present role as Global Manager TractorPlatform Planning.

Despite Deere’s penchant for long-wind-ed and complicated titles, Graham’s title ispretty well ‘what it says on the tin’.

He heads a product planning team involv-ing Deere’s tractor manufacturing plantsaround the world that work on new productsranging from small tractors for India andChina to the planning of the higher horse-power products required for establishedmarkets

Essentially it is a portfolio panning role.“Our team plan the prioritised global trac-tor portfolio based on the input from thecustomer requirements in the four globalregions. This encompasses planning prod-ucts to meet needs of the key global valuechains as well as meeting the advancingglobal emissions regulations.”

At any one time, Graham andhis team will be working on along term portfolio of projectsthat may or may not come tofruition in anything from two toeight years.

“Everybody in developed mar-kets looks on the ever-growingsophistication and technical fea-tures of new and larger tractors,but our focus is also on the newand emerging markets.

“We work on a full portfolio oftractors including those that willpossibly be the first tractor that asmallholder in India or Africawill buy. It has to be affordable -and it has to be user-friendly tothose who have not experiencedmechanisation in the past.

“Those projects are just asimportant to Deere as the ongo-


GRAHAM THOMPSON

Taking the stepsLandwards editor Chris Biddle talks to GRAHAM THOMPSON whohas progressed from technician at a dealership in Hampshire tohead of global tractor planning for John Deere in the US.

PPRROOFFIILLEE

Field research: Graham Thompson (r) discusses mechanisation witha sub Saharan smallholder

There is no betterindustry to be involved in

than the agriculturalmachinery industry


THERE would have been a clue to RobertFillingham’s future career whilst he was atschool.

For GCSE, his project was on developinga reversing sensor for tractors, whilst for his‘A’ levels, he wrote about a new electronicsensor for ensuring that fencing posts wereput in straight.

It was a piece of research that won 18-year Robert, the Gripple Award forInnovation held at Hallam University.

Gripples are used worldwide in the instal-lation of agricultural fencing, which is whyDerek Boaler, director of Gripple’s innova-tion and ideas centre, was attracted byRobert’s entry for the 2007 Young Engineerfor Britain contest.

He said, “I was greatly impressed byRobert’s well-researched and innovativeapproach to finding a practical solution tothe problem he had himself identified,which is why he deserved to be awarded theGripple prize.”

Robert grew up on a small farm nearDriffield in East Yorkshire, and his fatherran an engineering company, so it was natu-ral that he should combine an interest inboth.

From school, Robert enrolled at HarperAdams on a 5-year Masters Engineeringcourse.

Now in his last year, Robert has recentlybeen recognised as one of the world’s bestyoung agricultural engineers after beingrevealed as one of only nine internationalwinners of Claas scholarships, presentedduring a ceremony at the agricultural

machinery company’s customer servicecentre in Harsewinkel, Germany.

The ‘Helmut Claas Scholarships’ were pre-sented after each student made brief pre-sentations to the Board of Trustees of theClaas Foundation, a panel of judges andmany guests.

Board member Dr Hermann Garberssaid, “We want to awaken the younger gen-eration’s interest in agricultural technologyand other agricultural issues and supportthe global importance of agriculture to thegeneral public.”

The prizes were presented by HelmutClaas himself, the board chairman. Robertwas awarded the third prize, of 3,000 euros,for his research into the cause of damage toequipment by a mini excavator.

He said, “I submitted a report on ‘Thefailure modes of agricultural and off roadmachinery’ to the Claas foundation earlierthis year.

“I was then asked to attend the award cer-emony and visit to their headquarters,where I gave a presentation to trusteesabout my report and was awarded 3rdprize.”

Robert was also awarded the ClaasScholarship for Agricultural Engineering in2008. He received a bursary to assist hisstudies and completed various work place-ments with the company, including a 12week placement in the UK and 15 monthsandwich-placement in Germany.

He added, “I am very grateful to theClaas foundation for presenting me withthis prestigious award which will help me to

complete my MEng degree this year atHarper Adams, and continue my personaldevelopment.”

His sandwich placement in Germany withClaas enabled him to learn German - some-thing that came in extremely handy duringhis recent three day trip to Agritechnica.

The massive show was an ideal opportuni-ty for Robert to approach a wide-range ofEuropean manufacturers for possible jobopportunities after he graduates next sum-mer.

“I’m taking my time,” he says, “becausethere are a host of opportunities out therefor me to further my career.”

Until then, Robert is determined to con-tinue his studies at Harper Adams, gain hisdegree - and enjoy everything that collegelife has to offer.

He has been closely involved with theStudents Union and was the site managerfor the HA Summer Ball with overall budg-et of £40,000 which he says he had no prob-lem in allocating!

So the future for Robert in the agricultur-al engineering field looks assured. And toillustrate the close-knit and often-seamlessnature of the industry, Robert ties straightback to John Fox.

He has recently been awarded a grantfrom the Douglas Bomford Trust which heintends to use to cover some of the cost ofattending external conferences on agricul-tural engineering in order to further devel-op his knowledge of technological advancesin the industry.

ROBERT FILLINGHAM

Exciting futureFrom school, Robert Fillingham has been developingnew ideas and winning prizes, now he is ready tostart work for real Rob Fillingham (right) receives

his prize from Helmut Claas

ing development of new tractors in the high-er horsepower range.”

IT is clear talking to Graham that he viewshis career as a vocation. “The opportunitiesin our industry are growing. All of us play asignificant role in bringing food to the tablefor a global population of now 7 billion peo-ple, and growing,” he says.

“The industry constantly grows in esteem- and I am extremely optimistic about thefuture and prospects for everyone involved,

whether they work for manufacturer ordealer.”

Now 53, Graham Thompson’s storyembodies the opportunities that exist withinthe industry.

“Of course I often reflect on how I movedfrom being a farm machinery technician inHampshire to my present role - and whilstthere is no glib answer, I would say that toadvance you do have to ‘take the steps’ asthey open up to you and you should also notbe shy to push open some doors.

“That might mean advancing through theranks as a technician, becoming better andbetter at your job - or it might mean accept-

ing new challenges as they come along, as inmy case. There is no set formula, no rulebook.

“But one thing is for certain, listen to oth-ers, heed advice. There is a wealth of expe-rience available from those who have doneit, made mistakes along the way and stillsucceeded.”

And perhaps it was all in the stars andGraham’s destiny was established right fromthe start, for he shares his birthday (7February) with none other than John Deerehimself!

. . . continued


SSAALLCCEEYY WWAALLKKWWAAYY

by Graeme White IN 2005 the Forestry Commission erected atree-top walkway in Salcey Forest,Northamptonshire.

The project came together relativelyquickly and at a low cost, but the net resultwas a highly regarded structure that man-aged to pick up the Environment Award atthe prestigious BCIA awards in 2006.

The walkway has now been in place forsix years and has helped to carry thousandsof visitors up into the canopy of the sur-rounding trees allowing them to experiencethe forest from a whole new prespective.With this amount of pedestrian traffic ithas carried, it has became important toinspect the structure to see how it wasbearing up.

So in July of this year a team of engi-neers and others trained in rope-accesswork was put together to give the walkwaya thorough check-up. To put the scale ofthe task into perspective, the overall lengthof the walkway is 225m gradually ascendingalong its length, so that at its highest pointit is 20m above ground level.

The goal of the inspection was to checkall of the elements that had caused concernto the designers, while also looking out forany other defects that may have appearedsince the walkway was opened. The areasto concentrate on included the bolts hold-ing together the sections of ‘aerial-mast’that form the main spans of the walkway.These spans are up to 24m, and as they are

quite lightweight, they will give a lot of‘bounce’ should someone want to try to getthem resonating.

With the amount of vertical movementexperienced on these spans we wanted tocheck that the connections in the aerialmast were not becoming loose.

Another section we were paying closeattention to was the steel cleats that con-nected the main spans to the steel towers.

These connections were a key part of thedesign allowing the ends of the beams torotate as the midspan deflected but stillholding them in place securely. With thecontinual movement in these joints it ispossible that fatigue cracks could appear in

SalceyWalkwaySalceyWalkwaySix years on

Mobile access platform

Rope access Fatigue in welds


the welds. Given the potentialfor a sudden failure in thesejoints it was important that everyone was closely inspected.

We had to get close enough totouch and inspect the walkwayand this required differentmethods as it got higher andhigher. To begin with it was pos-sible to reach from ground level,but quite quickly after we need-ed to use ladders. This waseffective in reaching up toaround 4-5m but beyond thisother means are needed to getat the parts we wanted to inves-tigate.

From this point onwards weused a mobile access platform to get atthings from underneath. Also we lifted updeckboards on the walkway and used ropeaccess to reach sections while working fromabove. With this two-pronged approach wecould get at all the key elements of thestructures.

Our main findings were that those areaswhere we expected to find problems turnedout to be okay, while other areas where wethought would be fine turned out to haveproblems.

Despite checking all of the support cleatsfor signs of fatigue in the welds, no cracks

were seen.However, onthe same con-nection manyof the boltsholding themain spansonto the tow-ers hadbecome loose.These were alltightened aswe came

across them, and this should help in reduc-ing the amount of bounce in the spans.

On the main aerial mast spans we foundsome loose bolts, but it was only around10% that required half a turn.

Many more loose bolts were found onthe steel towers. On checking just a sampleof these, around 50% could take up to 3turns in some instances. Luckily though itis not as critical for these bolts to be fullytight as it is for those that hold the mainspans together. This is because in the towerthe bolts are acting in shear, while in thespans they are all in tension.

As part of a maintenance programme wewill have to go round all of these bolts andtighten them up.

Elsewhere on the walkway we cameacross other defects such as the oddrotten timber bearer, bent rods inthe aerial masts, and loose handrailposts.

None of these were critical to theoverall structure and can easily formpart of ongoing maintenance.

When the walkway was built all of

the deckboards had a non-slip insert toprovide grip. However after the passage ofthousands of feet, the inserts are wearingdown and becoming as smooth as the sur-rounding wood. We will have to add extragrip onto the boards by painting on someadhesive and sprinkling chips onto the sur-face.

Overall, the main timber and steel ele-ments of the six year old structure are last-ing well. The bounce in the spans hascaused bolts to loosen, but has not affectedthe welds. Now knowing this we can con-centrate on checking the bolts during rou-tine inspections which are carried out everytwo years.

Also we now know how the inspectionshould be done. Rope access is invaluablewhen working at height with the deck-boards taken up. The MEWP also is indis-pensable in reaching the higher parts andgoing alongthe trackbelow.Also ittook 6 peo-ple aroundthree daysto carryout thiswork.

All thisis invaluable knowledge and should helpkeep the walkway in good shape for theyears ahead.

. . . those areas where we expected to find problems turned outto be okay, while other areas where we thought would be fine

turned out to have problems

Damage to aerial masts Minor damage to bars and angle sections

Using ladders for low level access

Loose bolts intower bracing Lifting of plates

Salcey Walkway


AAGGRRIICCUULLTTUURRAALL EENNGGIINNEEEERR PPRROOFFIILLEE

Engineering tea in MalawiA brief account of the diversity of engineering foundworking within an African tea estateby Matthew HA Ingram, CEng, MIAgrE

MOVING to Lujeri Tea Estate in Malawiwas a complete lifestyle change for my wifeand I; as well as a great change in work forme.

When I was working as Engineer andProject Manager for Cornelsen Ltd in theUK, I thought I had a highly varied jobwhere most days were different and eachnew project brought about the need fornew approaches - if only to make us morecompetitive; however being here bringsabout a whole new meaning to job diversi-ty!

Fundamentally my job as EngineeringDirector involves the planning, develop-ment and coordination of the estates’mechanical and physical infrastructure aswell as overseeing of machinery mainte-nance and the complete management ofthe engineering department.

The estates contain a number of very dif-ferent assets within them, these range fromirrigation systems, hydro-electric powerstations and the associated HV/LV distri-bution systems, tea and macadamia nutprocessing facilities, bridges and gradeddirt roads, water delivery systems (domes-tic / factory water) to domestic housing,office buildings, parts stores, food storageand milling facilities, fertiliser storage andmedical clinics. Planning the developmentof all these and coordinating the mainte-nance of them brings a number of differentengineering disciplines into use on a dailybasis.

Fortunately I have always been strong inthe electrical area of engineering, as this isnot taught to great depth within any of theformal engineering training I have had; myjob at Cornelsen brought me up to datewith modern automation and highly strin-gent control and electrical safety tech-niques; that learning now being invaluableas I bring more process control andautomation into our tea factories to give amore consistent product.

However, what has become very apparentfrom both my previous position and thisone is the unique diversity of an agricul-tural engineering course structure, andhow valuable that can be. WithinCornelsen, the obvious bridge it makesbetween soils & the environment andmechanical engineering principles reallypaid off as I could normally fully under-stand the problems our clients faced,(environmental consultants for the most

part) with the soil aspects, and then applythe needs to a mechanical plant which waswhere our expertise lay.

Here in Malawi as I design and erectstorage buildings, low level bridges, housesetc the structural, soil mechanics/civilsand building design & materials modulescome in really useful. The truly ‘agricultur-al’ side of my training fitting right in withirrigation schemes and design of trailersand application of field mechanisation;leaving the mechanical and mathematicalcomponents of the course well suited tofactory machine design, failure analysis,budgeting and future project planning andstaff management.

Since being in Malawi, the range of proj-ects has seen me:• re-design a major part of the tea process

and successfully implement a new sys-tem saving up to 65% of the power andmuch less labour than that used in theformer process; upgrade the control ofthe hydro-electric systems (some datingback to 1929) to a highly sophisticatedyet surprisingly simple modern controlsystem, giving us much more consistentpower;

• completely refurbish a tea factory;• install and calibrate a weighbridge

(made in UK to be split down into a con-

tainer);• subsequently use two short old balance

type weighbridges and build one longbridge with digital cells;

• oversee irrigation expansion of so far55Ha; investigation of a new irrigationdam site as well as investigation into anew hydro electric system that now hasan approved EIA;

• construction of a medical clinic as wellas design and construction of septic sys-tems for this;

• design and construction of 5 houses;• design and installation of chlorination;

systems for our domestic water supplies;• as well as several other projects.

On a more daily basis, my office locationimmediately adjacent to the fabricationand machining workshop means I regular-ly get to advise on machine repairs. Thevast array of ways in which parts can failoften shows scope for improvement ratherthan just re-make repairs. These bring inanother interesting part to the job in that Imay be sat compiling a project justifica-tion on Excel, but five minutes later in aworkshop working out why a shaft hasfailed or a pulley cracked and is there abetter way or material we can make thereplacement if there is not an on-shelf

MATTHEW graduated fromHarper Adams in 2005 with aBachelor of Engineering Degree inAgricultural Engineering. This hadfollowed a 2 year top up degreefrom an HND in AgriculturalEngineering at Lackham College,Wiltshire.

Prior to this he had been work-ing within farms & contracting,repairing machinery and doingfabrication work, mostly mobile onsite. During this time he complet-ed several practical qualificationssuch as City & Guilds mechanics& plant operators certifications.

At about the age of 22 he decided that engineering was the right career andenrolled at Lackham, following successful outcomes throughout the two years atLackham, a degree top up was an obvious choice.

Becoming an IAgrE member upon starting at Lackham, he has progressed to fullMember status and was registered on the Engineering Council Interim Register of engi-neers in late 2005. In September this year he obtained Chartered Engineer Status.


• Tea is reputed to have first been drunk by Emperor Shen Nung in 2737BC when some leaves from a tree fell into a cup of boiledwater and the resulting brew proved stimulating!

• Despite tea being very much thought of as an English drink, it was in fact brought to Europe by Portuguese and Dutch traders in the17th century.

• All tea comes from the evergreen bush Camellia Sinensis; it is then processed to form ‘Oolong, Black, Green or White tea’.• Black tea is fermented (oxidised) before it is dried, whereas green tea is merely cut then dried. Oolong tea is partially fermented.

White tea on the other hand is plucked before the leaf has opened, and then sun dried-tthis small volume process hence giving it itshigh prices.

• The black tea process consists of: plucking leaf, transport of leaf, withering leaf (chemical changes within leaf and loss of 30% mois-ture), maceration and cutting, fermentation (oxidisation), drying (to <3% MC), fibre removal, sorting, storage and packing. Leaf mustbe at the factory within 2hrs of plucking or degradation impacts quality; it is then processed within 24hrs.

• Black tea should be brewed for 5 minutes before drinking-tthink of this next time you dip a tea bag for 20 seconds, you are not get-ting the full flavour you are paying for!

• Malawi was the first country in Africa to grow tea on a commercial scale, one of the original ancestor bushes still lives in the city ofBlantyre, sown around 1886. Many bushes in full production on Lujeri estate date back to pre-11939.

• Most tea propagated now is cloned-tthat is to say it is grown from cuttings grafted onto rootstocks produced from tea seeds; thisallows for a consistent product that is not subject to cross-ppollination and produces tea closer to the buyers tastes.

• Tea tree oil is nothing to do with tea bushes, neither is Roibus tea!• Tea contains many anti-ooxidants, those in green tea differ to those in black tea.• Tea packagers and retailers buy tea from all over the world and blend this to produce the tea that they sell as theirs; these blends

can be unique to them hence the different tastes and colours from different brands.

Some tea facts

CORNELSEN Ltd is a supplier ofSystems, Technologies, Products andServices for the Landfill Leachateand Soil and Groundwater Sectors.

Located in the SW, they offer sys-tem design & build, sales andrentals of equipment for extractionand treatment of chemicals in soil,groundwater and landfills.

Key strengths include:• Decades of combined technical

experience of remediation systems• Highly skilled team of Chemical,

Process, Mechanical & Electricalengineers, geologists & techni-cians.

• Systems are designed & built inhouse in new workshop facilities,under ISO 9001 & 14001 qualityprocedures

• In house expertise on ATEX andDSEAR design & legislation.

For more information visit the web-site at www.cornelsen.co.uk

LUJERI TEA ESTATES Ltd grows and processes high quality tea on its estates aroundMt Mulanje, the highest point in Malawi. Its tropical location and superior cultivarplant varieties produce excellent quality teas that are unusually high in health promot-ing anti oxidants.

Lujeri also buys tea from local small holder farmers and processes this to place onthe market.

Approximately 30% of its energy requirements are met by its own hydro-electricityinstallations, whilst the fuel for drying tea is Eucalyptus that is grown on site in rotationand hence carbon neutral.

Lujeri is accredited by:• Lujeri is accredited by:• Ethical Tea Partnership• Rainforest Alliance• UTZ• Fairtrade• Malawi Bureau of StandardsFor more info and descriptions of tea processing, see www.lujeri.com

option (many parts have to be fabricatedor machined from ‘blank’ material due tothe nature of the tea machines - some aretailored to our needs; the manufacturersalso have a habit of very frequent upgradesso there is not a standard machine per se).

Later in that same day I may well bestood on a riverbank deciding how best we

can repair an irrigation pump platformthat was eroded and fell into the river thenight before and desperately needed backin use (gabion baskets were promptlymade). I may then walk through the vehi-cle workshop to see what has come in fromthe vast tractor & vehicle fleet.

If anyone is looking for a job that is full

of variety and challenges, then I wouldhighly recommend the African tea industry- another thing worth mentioning is thattea prefers to grow at altitude, and withina temperate climate, so the scenery is oftenstunning and the weather - well it’s notbad as you may guess!


RReeppoorrtt bbyy DDrr GGeeooffff FFrreeeeddmmaannTHE Forestry Engineering Group of the Institution of AgriculturalEngineers held a very successful symposium at the University ofCumbria’s Newton Rigg campus at Penrith on 8th September 2011on whether to utilise the UK timber resource for products or ener-gy or both.

Currently there is severe competition for forest products fromboth sectors. On the one hand there is a growing market for greenenergy from wood as a biofuel to combat global warming and helpachieve political targets for CO2 reduction, while the traditionalmarkets of sawn timber, wood based panels and paper competewithout subsidy.

Sir David Read opened with a keynote address based on the excel-lent report, bearing his name, launched in 2009 entitled ‘CombatingClimate Change - a role for UK forests’. It is difficult to summarisehis contribution in one line, but he put forward credible science-based arguments to show that trees very effectively and efficientlyabsorb CO2 from the air and lock carbon into the wood, where itremains. The obvious conclusion is that this very cost-effectiveoption for reducing global warming must be maximised.

Robert Matthews, of Forest Research, followed with an explana-tion of some of the science and particularly the value of ‘substitu-tion’. This is the term used to describe the CO2 saving made byusing a wood product rather than other materials. These speakersconvinced delegates that we must grow more trees and utilise mar-ginal agricultural land. It was noted that conifer species are moreeffective at absorbing and storing carbon than broadleaf species.

Jason Sinden of UPM Tilhill followed, to put the financial casefor forestry and revealed that he had clients with £100m to invest,but could not find land to buy that could get permission for plant-ing. He further revealed that forestry has returned 10% on capitalover the last decade, making it the top performing investment class.What is it that stands in the way of profitable investment that cre-ates jobs and helps save the planet? The answer seems to be plan-ning constraints usually involving conservation issues.

As an example, Jason revealed that 40% of Scotland is estimatedto comprise golden eagle range. Conventional thinking asserts thatthese areas cannot be planted. However, Jason suggested that usinga scientific approach, golden eagles and forestry can co-exist. Asimilar case could be made for many other constraints which arecurrently preventing planting. There is a paradox which needs to beurgently addressed. Perhaps the conservation case requires scientif-ic scrutiny.

Scott McG. Wilson followed with an excellent paper on alterna-tive tree species which would flourish in the UK and possibly besubstitutes for Sitka Spruce. We have a limited choice of produce

FFOORREESSTTRRYY

Build,burnorboth

Build,burnorbothLLooookkiinngg ttoo tthhee FFuuttuurreeffoorr BBrriittiisshh TTiimmbbeerrFEG Conference 2011

LLooookkiinngg ttoo tthhee FFuuttuurreeffoorr BBrriittiisshh TTiimmbbeerrFEG Conference 2011

The Conference speakers



. . . surely the time has come for a science-basedapproach to conservation

for structural timbers - principally ScotsPine, Larch and Douglas Fir - which areavailable in commercial volumes. Scott waslooking into the future when suggestingwhat we might plant that would improvevolume or durability.

This information, published in conjunc-tion with the Forestry Commission as'Using alternative conifer species for pro-ductive forestry in Scotland', is useful at atime when forestry is becoming a very prof-itable enterprise as pressure builds on theavailability of the declining naturalresources of the World.

The first argument for ‘Build’- as opposedto ‘Burn’ was put by Peter Wilson, an archi-tect by profession, from the Forest ProductResearch Institute at Edinburgh NapierUniversity. He showed excellent examplesof the use of wood in building and bridgesand introduced us to ‘Wood ProductsInnovation Gateway’ which is a project tofoster innovation in timber products.

This use of timber locks the carbon awayfrom the atmosphere for perhaps another100 years and can often have the ‘substi-tute’ factor to augment the value of thecarbon capture. Peter stressed that woodproducts add monetary value to the rawtimber material which burning does not.

Alastair Kerr, Director General of theWood Panel Industries Federation, contin-ued the plea for the ‘Build’ argument byasking for a ‘level playing field’. His casecentred on the massive capital investmentby the industry and the jobs created in theUK.

Wood based panel products are an inte-gral part of the construction and furnitureindustries and if fibre becomes too expen-sive or in short supply because of competi-tion from the ‘Burn’ market, they will beimported with a consequent loss of jobs.He is concerned about the Governmentsubsidies to the ‘Burn’ market which couldresult in higher fibre costs and other knockon industry effects.

Steve Luker, a private consultant, exam-ined the Government’s Renewable EnergyStrategy and he highlighted the fact that itdoes not mention wood as such, only bio-mass, which comes in many forms, includ-ing woody biomass. He showed that thedemands of the targets cannot be achievedbecause there will be a lack of supply ofbiofuel.

He showed that 20% of the UK’s energycomes from wood while 10% comes fromwind - and the surprise is that landfill gas isthe biggest contributor. He looked at theincrease in wood energy that would berequired for Government targets to beachieved and concluded that adequatewood supply would not be available and

investment in wood-fired boilers and relat-ed electricity generating plant could not bejustified. His conclusions were that weneed to plant more trees and concentrateon heat production.

Bill Watson of Angus Biofuels gave apicture of his substantial business whichprovides heat to housing, schools, hospitalsand other public and commercial buildingsfrom wood fired boilers. The science is verysophisticated and efficiencies depend ongood maintenance and regular supply ofthe correct type of chips.

His argument for ‘Burn’ relies onGovernment subsidy (40% for boilers)which is driven by Government policy tar-gets to reduce emissions to levels interna-tionally agreed. The question is how longwill the subsidy remain and will ‘Burn’ con-tinue to be profitable in the future.

Cameron Maxwell,Policy Adviser onrenewable energyfor ForestryCommissionScotland, pulledthe subject togeth-er and he tooemphasised theshortfall of woodsupply to achievethe Government’sCO2 reduction tar-gets.

He highlightedthe ScottishGovernment’smore sensibleapproach, which concentrates on local heatsupply, rather than large-scale electricitygeneration. However the targets are eitherover-challenging or unrealistic and willrequire major imports of pellets or chips tosupply the capacity that is policy driven.There is clearly a significant threat to exist-ing UK wood supply chains and woodprocessors. He also concluded that weneed to plant more trees.

The final speaker, John Lyons, fromCoillte in Eire gave a report on his visit tothe 4th International Forestry Engineeringconference in South Africa. He was theonly attendee from the British Isles to aninternational initiative started in Scotlandin 1999 and begs the question - how rele-vant do we see Forestry Engineering in theUK?

He concluded that many of the paperswere indeed not relevant but the contacts,innovation and ideas make such an invest-ment in attending worthwhile. The industryin the UK is small and can benefit fromkeeping abreast of the big players inforestry around the World. The conclusion

of the conference was ‘Innovation is thekey to adding value to forest products’.

The conclusion from our Symposium wasthat ‘Build’ creates most jobs, locks up car-bon for long periods and is a more sustain-able use of the limited and valuable woodresource in the UK.

The ‘Burn’ camp knows they rely onGovernment subsidy, but they can quicklyhelp delivery of some of the Government’spolicies on emissions. The show of hands atthe end of the Symposium was unanimous-ly in favour of a balance between build andburn, which would be profitable toinvestors / landowners and Government.

Everyone agreed that, although our glob-al contribution will always be limited byour small land area, we should maximiseour contribution by PLANTING MORETREES.

The contrast between the scientificapproach taken by the Read Report onforestry’s role in combating climate changeand the seemingly ‘arbitrary’ planning/con-servation constraints was striking. Thevalue of a sheep on the hill was shown tobe £86 against an equivalent forestry bene-fit of £770 and the consequent carbonsequestration. Each pair of breeding eaglesoccupies 10,000 hectares. If the wholerange could not be planted, this would pre-vent approximately 100,000 tonnes of CO2

sequestration per year!Are so many sheep necessary in

Scotland? Also, it is worth noting thateagles are known to be successful huntersin woodland.

Surely the time has come for a science-based approach to conservation - what weneed is a sensible balance between theneeds of conservation on the one hand andraw material production on the other so asto ensure sustainable economic develop-ment.

This report is not necessarily the views ofFEG or the conference speakers.


FFOOOODD SSEECCUURRIITTYY

Rothamsted Research thinks it canRothamsted Research thinks it can

by Dr Darren Hughes,HHeeaadd ooff CCoommmmuunniiccaattiioonnss aanndd EExxtteerrnnaallAAffffaaiirrss,, RRootthhaammsstteedd RReesseeaarrcchh

THE Government’s Chief ScientificAdviser, Sir John Beddington, has said thatthe world is heading for a ‘Perfect Storm’of events, as food, energy and waterdemands increase in the order of 30 to50% in the next 20 years.

He has stated that, “The challenge forglobal agriculture is to grow more food onnot much more land, using less water, fer-tiliser and pesticides than we have histori-cally done”. In other words, it is the chal-lenge for agricultural engineers and scien-tists to create the tools and technologies todeliver sustainable food security, byincreasing crop quality and quantity whilstminimising negative environmentalimpacts.

Rothamsted Research is rising to thischallenge with a new and refocused strate-gy, which it published in November.

Rothamsted is the longest running agri-cultural research station in the world, pro-

viding cutting-edgescience and innova-tion for over 168years. It has contin-uously deliveredagricultural innova-tion, for example itsfounder, Sir JohnBennet Lawes wasresponsible for theproduction of theworld’s first com-mercial chemicalfertilisers, and after forming a unique part-nership with Chemist Sir Henry Gilbertthey together unearthed the fundamentalprinciples of plant nutrition.

Rothamsted Research is also responsiblefor the discovery of synthetic pyrethroidinsecticides (for example permethrin,cypermethrin and deltamethrin), whichrevolutionised the insecticide market and

today make up around a quarter ofpest control agents used worldwide.Indeed some argue that, with its con-tinuous experiments that have been

running for nearly170 years (Figure 1),RothamstedResearch is respon-sible for shapingmodern agriculturalpractice.

The real strengthof RothamstedResearch and one ofthe reasons why ithas been around forso long, as DirectorMaurice Moloneyputs it, “is in its abil-ity to move with thetimes and embracethe evolving scientif-

ic challenges through creativity and ingenu-ity”, for example through using innovativeengineering and scientific techniques. Thishas been helped by its unique approach todealing with engineering and science ques-tions, by utilising its extensive multi-sectorcollaborative networks and its truly multi-disciplinary workforce, bringing togetherknowledge from many different fields, forexample bringing agronomists, ecologists,molecular biologists, mathematicians andengineers together to think up novelapproaches from new perspectives.

The new strategy at Rothamsted Researchis led by a mission to deliver the knowledgeand new practices to increase crop produc-tivity and quality and to develop environ-mentally sustainable solutions for foodand energy production.

This new strategy focuses on a dynamicand integrated approach to crop science,allowing plants to be studied from within(e.g. molecular level) as well as from theirinteractions with the environment (air, soil,water etc).

This strategy will be delivered through 4themes (Figure 2):

1. 20:20 wheat: Increasing wheat productiv-ity to yield 20 tonnes per hectare in 20years.

Can engineering and sciencedeliver sustainable food security?Can engineering and sciencedeliver sustainable food security?

Figure 1: The Broad balk Wheat Experiment which has runcontinuously at Rothamsted Research since 1843

Figure 2Rothamsted Research strategy, 2012-2017


Ensuring food security is a major chal-lenge for the future. Wheat provides afifth of the calories used by man, butsince 1980 the rate of increase in wheatyields has declined (Figure 3). The aver-age farm yield of wheat in the UK is cur-rently 8.4 tonnes per hectare. Our aim isto provide the knowledge base and toolsto increase UK wheat yield potential to20 tonnes of wheat per hectare withinthe next 20 years.

2. Cropping carbon: Optimising carboncapture by grasslands and perennialenergy crops (such as willows).The UK has an ambitious target of 80%reductions in greenhouse gas emissionsby 2050. We will aim to provide renew-able and sustainable alternatives for fos-sil fuel-based products and to translatethese into robust technologies and prac-tices that can be used by policymakers,agribusinesses and energy companies tohelp underpin the UK’s transition to alow carbon economy and contribution tofuture energy security and mitigation ofclimate change (Figure 4).

3. Designing seeds:Harnessing our expertise in seed biologyand biochemistry to deliver improvedhealth and nutrition through seeds.Seeds are major components in a widerange of foods and animal feeds, so theircomposition is an important determinantof nutritional value. We will focus onunderstanding and optimising the nutri-tional value of the seeds of two crops,wheat and Brassicas, with the aim ofenhancing their impact on health andwell-being (Figure 5).

4. Delivering sustainable systems:Designing, modelling and assessing sus-tainable agricultural systems thatincrease productivity while minimisingenvironmental impact.We believe that it is possible to providesecure and increasing amounts of healthyfood and make a contribution to the sup-ply of renewable energy without reducingother ecosystem services. We aim toshow how such systems can be deliv-ered through research into better waysof managing pest control, biodiversity,grazed grassland and soils with theoverall goal of designing and quantify-ing sustainable systems (Figure 6).

Agricultural engineers and scientists haverisen to the challenge before, through bothmechanisation and the Green Revolutionof the 1960s and 70s. The father of the firstgreen revolution, Norman Borlaug, whoreceived the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for

his contributions to worldpeace through increasingfood supply, said that“Civilization as it isknown today could nothave evolved, nor can itsurvive, without an ade-quate food supply”.

Our next challenge isto create a new andGreener Revolution,which will require furthergreat leaps in innovationand one the UK agricul-tural engineers are morethan capable of deliver-ing. The agricultural

engineering industry reduced the labourrequirement of agriculture, through mech-anisation, by a factor of 10 over the sameperiod as the green revolution making foodfar more affordable.

Rothamsted future strategic direction isdependant on working in collaborationwith Engineers to convert cutting-edge sci-ence into practical outcomes. The IAgrE iscurrently preparing a UK manifesto foragricultural engineering so the Councilmeeting at Rothamsted Research nextFebruary offers an ideal opportunity to dis-cuss these issues.

Rothamsted Research is a national institute ofbioscience strategically funded by the BBSRC.Further details about Rothamsted Research, itsstrategy and its recent research success stories

can be found at www.rothamsted.ac.uk

Our next challenge is to create a new and GreenerRevolution, which will require further great leaps ininnovation and one the UK agricultural engineers

are more than capable of delivering

Figure 3: Current UK wheat yield increases are slow-ing down. Rothamsted aims to increase UKwheat yield potential to 20 tonnes of wheatper hectare within the next 20 years.

Figure 4: If both CO2 capture into biomass and sequestration of carbon in soils are maximised, cropscan be an effective way of ‘cropping carbon’; providing renewable low carbon products forthe future and land based solutions to mitigate climate change and helping deliver a low Ceconomy. Willow (above right) and Miscanthus (above left) plants.

Figure 6: Delivering sustainable systems relies onunderstanding biogeochemical cycling, spatialecology and crop protection that are criticalfor delivering food security

Figure 5: Building on a strong capability in seed development and com-position, Rothamsted will focus on promoting the enrichment ofbeneficial components of grains and oilseeds to promotehealth and well-being.


GEOFFREY WAKEHAM says as Christmas and the pantomime season is on us, here is astory of feckless people, magic and a need for a happy ending . . .

WWAAKKEEHHAAMM’’SS WWOORRLLDD

ONCE upon a time long, long ago there wasa land high in the hills, rich with fertilefarms, growing cereals, fruit and fat cattle.

The people of this land included brewersand bakers, builders and writers of ballads aswell as farmers. They had free time and feast-ed in their homes and palaces and all waswell with their world.

One day an exotic traveller passed throughtheir country and marvelled at their riches.He did however; notice only the lords couldkeep staff to grow bananas or pineapples,while in his homeland these grew freely. Heagreed to supply all the bananas and pineap-ples they needed and very soon nearly everyone stopped eating cherries and apples andthe orchards fell into ruin.

The pineapples and bananas were paid forwith fat cattle but as the consumption rose itwas not possible to find enough cattle and noone was willing to convert the orchards intopastures. To ensure the continuation of sup-ply of exotic fruit our hill people asked theirwizards to make magic tablets that promisedto supply cattle in the future. The travellerwas amazed and stored up these tablets as hebelieved in the strength of the magic.

For years this worked well. One day thetraveller returned with a magic tablet anddemanded payment of five hundred cattle aspromised. There was no way payment couldbe made. The total of the tablets he had

equated to three quarters of every thing pro-duced each year; not just fat cattle and cere-als but every new building, the out put of thebakers and brewers even three quarters of allthe new ballads and feasting.

Leaders came from the distant land andtook over the farms and shipped much of theannual production back to their homeland.They then persuaded the brewers and bakersand builders to come with them and theyfeasted in their new homes and magnificentpalaces.

The hill people had to work for foreignmasters and survive on meagre rations whilsttheir houses slowly decayed and their palacesfell into disrepair.

IF we are not to follow the fate of the hillpeople we must stop borrowing money andstart earning it again.

There is a clear need to export more andimport less. If we are to re-establish ourwealth and re-establish our way of lifethere is a need to produce products andservices that are in demand by both theUK market and around the world. It islikely that this will take hard work andrequires our industries to become far moreinnovative.

We need to find ways to improve the waywe work and regain our confidence as lead-ers in technology and inventiveness.

Organisations need to have trust in theirstaff and construct working environmentsthat encourage innovation and commit-ment. Targets and reviews do not producehappy staff. Bonuses go to staff that natu-rally work hard often to meet unimagina-tive goals. The majority, who don’t get thebonus, are disillusioned and may even sab-otage the efforts of those that do.

Soulless open plan offices with no readilyaccessible quiet spaces or relaxed commu-nal meeting areas lead to an increase insickness both real and constructed.Informal meeting areas lead to cross fertili-sation of ideas and a shared desire to suc-ceed. Does your staff have any say as to thedécor or layout of their personal work-space, are they pleased to come into work?

Do you hold regular formal meetingswith staff? If so, do they achieve anything?Do these meetings report to other groupslargely populated by the same staff?

Would a truly involved management,or asimple memo to just those it concerns elim-inate most of these time consuming activi-ties. Should you schedule your work firstand meetings last; it is claimed that such anapproach can triple your daily productivity.

Have you looked at your product rangelately? I was amazed that a brochure for anew car that came through the post recent-ly could only find it worthwhile to mention

pineapplespineappleswill you be able to affordwill you be able to afford

next Christmas?next Christmas?


. . . If we are to re-eestablish our wealth andre-eestablish our way of life there is a need to

produce products and services that are in demandby both the UK market and around the world

that it had “white acrylic glass interiorledges”.

Are your latest designs no more than lastcentury’s designs fitted with “red acrylicglass control knobs”? Would any one makea journey to their local dealer to look at it?Or does it use technology that provides aclear advantage over your competitors?

There is a need for valuable new prod-ucts in any business if only to attract cus-tomers to your current core products.Selling these technological advances shouldbe done at a premium so limiting salesuntil teething problems are eliminated. Amajor warranty problem in a distant mar-ket will damage your reputation and couldbankrupt the enterprise.

In the end there is a need to produceproducts that are more valuable to the cus-tomer than the purchase cost. Design mustbe carried out with the cost to value ratioas the first priority. Products need to bedesigned for easy manufacture within yourown control. Manufacturing needs to belooking to eliminate waste whether it iswasted energy, time, movement, scrap,unnecessary stock, paperwork or layers ofmanagement.

Task your staff with the elimination ofwaste and give responsibility as close to theactivity as practical. Design and manufac-ture for less than your competitors and beable to sell your products for more.

When you lay down the design specifica-tion do you detail how many must fit into astandard container or does your shippingdepartment have to curse when it is 25mmtoo wide or 50kg to heavy? If we are to bal-ance our books with our overseas tradingpartners we must minimise the cost oftransport of products that are often bulkyand of relatively low value per cubic metreor tonne.

When I started work at least seventy fiveper cent of our trade was export lead orproduced in the region of the world theywere designed for. But remember productsthat displace imports are as valuable to ourbalance of payments as exports.

IF our hill people could have found a way togrow pineapples at a lower ‘cost’ than theircurrent suppliers then good for them. If theyhad grown them at a higher quality as well,then they could have shipped them to thosefrom distant lands.

AS it is the pantomime season maybe someof our favourite characters can help by pro-viding examples of how to improve ourproductivity and general wealth.

Cinderella teamed up with a wealthypartner and installed gas fired heating soeasing her work load. Jack took a risk whenhe changed from being a dairy farmer andwent into GM vegetables, however stealingcompetitors wealth creating assets shouldbe frowned at. Dick Whittington’s tenacityand clever use of his major asset, the cat,turned his fortunes about.

I am sure you can think of ways toimprove your organisation’s fortunes.Make Friday ‘ideas day’, when a majoradvance is agreed let everyone go home.

What ever you do, make work an excit-ing place, give credit and responsibilitywhenever you can. AgriculturalEngineering is vital to everyone’s future, ifyou don’t take the world wide opportuni-ties someone else will.

Have a good Christmas and help make ita prosperous New Year for us all.

THE Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) hasannounced plans to take wave energy tothe next level with a project to design anddemonstrate a low-cost wave energy con-verter system.

Marine energy technologies have thepotential to play an important role withother offshore renewables in enabling theUK to meet its long-term CO2 emissionsreductions targets given the significant nat-ural energy resources available within UKwaters.

Extracting energy from waves usingWave Energy Converters (WECs) is onemethod of exploiting the energy potentialof the waters around the UK.

To do this effectively, these machinesneed to be able to capture as much ener-gy as possible from the waves whilst with-standing the often very harsh environmentassociated with deployment at sea.

The long-term viability of wave energydepends on it becoming competitive withother low-carbon energy sources includingwind power as quickly as possible through

the significant reduction of energy deliverycosts.

Dr David Clarke, Chief Executive of theETI said, “Wave energy offers a potentialclean energy source for the UK withoutneeding to import fuel but we need toensure that it is affordable and competitivewith other technologies. There are manycompeting concepts being developed butnone yet demonstrate a clear route tolarge scale commercial deployment.

For wave energy to realise its potentialthere will need to be reductions in thecosts of building, installing and operatingthe devices and associated infrastructure,as well as improvements to device techni-cal performance and reliability.”

“This project will identify the areas majorimprovements could be made and, if aswe hope, significant savings can bedemonstrated, the intention is that we willinvest in the development and demonstra-tion of them.”

The project will be commissioned in twophases, the first providing a fully detailed

designconcept fora waveenergyconvertersystemcapable ofdeliveringat least10MW of power before a second phasewhere the new innovations are developedand demonstrated at full scale at sea.

It will also assess the potential marketopportunities of the technologies in the UKand abroad.

The ETI is looking for teams that have abroad range of skills including devicedevelopers and engineering and technolo-gy development companies from a rangeof industries with the experience andexpertise to demonstrate a step-change incost improvements.

It is expected that the project will start insummer 2012 with the first phase lastingaround 12 months.

ETI project to take wave energy to the next level

iMEMBERSHIP MATTERS

SOUTHERN BRANCH

LLaattee SSuummmmeerr vviissiittssLeckford, the Waitrose Farm

THE late summer visit was to the 4,000 acreLeckford Estate near Stockbridge inHampshire.

It is part of the John Lewis partnershipand its founder John Spedan Lewis boughtthe farm in 1928. He was an environmen-talist and was keen to develop new ways offarming, producing good quality food andworking in harmony with the environment. Itis a working farm supplying under theLankford brand milk, free-range chickenand eggs, mushrooms and more toWaitrose branches throughout the country.

There is a large area of cereals andorchards. Also a plant nursery, water gar-den, and the fast flowing brown trout chalkstream, River Test, on which the estate has16 fishing beats. It is understood fly-fishingwas invented here.

We were taken around the farm by a pur-pose built tractor drawn passenger trailerand our enthusiastic guide John Malleygave a detailed commentary throughout themorning .We were shown the extensive freerange poultry unit with its large number ofsheds. The chicken have easy access to thegrass paddocks but it seem most prefer tostay inside. The heat and light for the shedscomes from wind turbines and solar panels.

The eggs are produced by ColumbianBlack Tailed hens and mostly sold in the testvalley area. The chicken sold for consump-tion are slower growing and take two weeksmore to mature than most. Therefore theyhave a good flavour when eaten.

The mushrooms are grown in a computer-controlled environment, which imitates themushroom growing cycle. Production totals28 tons annually and is of the cup variety.We were told they double in size every 18hours. The mushrooms are pre packed andsold at Waitrose stores throughout the coun-try within 24 hours of picking.

We watched a large container truck as it

unloaded compost material currentlybrought in from Belgium.

There is a 600-cow Holstein Friesianherd, which graze on pasture in summerand are housed in winter in sheds with mat-tresses to lie on. They are milked in a 32unit Rotary Parlour installed 6 years ago.The majority of the milk is sold in Waitrosestores throughout the country.

A large part of the farm is used for arablecrops; the wheat is used in producingLeckford flour and barley sold for maltingand oats for cereals. Poppies are grownunder strict Home office supervision. Andthe harvested seed taken to Scotland whereit is milled and used in the production ofmedicinal opiates.

The 80 Hectares of orchards are used forapples and pears, some of which are usedfor production of apple juice and cider. 85%of the crop is Cox Orange Pippin. Thechalky soil is not ideal for apple trees butdespite that they grow well and produce fruitthat is crisp and of good flavour.

We saw apple picking in progress andwere surprised by the almost carpet layer offallers. These are not picked up and left torot.

A new venture is a £100,000 investmentin 10 acres of vines. Three varieties are

grown and the objective is to produce ablend of wine similar to champagne. Thefirst crop of grapes will be harvested thisyear. It is hoped to produce 50,000 bottlesof wine for Waitrose stores.

Whitchurch Silk Mill

IN the afternoon members visited theHistoric Grade 2 Georgian Whitchurch SilkMill, one of only three in the country.

Now a working museum it has been usedto produce bespoke silk since 1830.

A Victorian water wheel via line shafting,pulleys and belts drives some of the powerlooms and other textile machinery.Depending on orders between one and fiveweavers are employed to produce silk andother textiles mostly for the theatrical cos-tumes including costumes for the TV dramaDownton Abbey. Locally the hanging deco-ration in Winchester Cathedral andGuildhall were produced at the mill.

The General Manager gave the group avery detailed guided tour and such was theinterest and questions he was kept busy forover two hours.

Denis Welstead

EAST MIDLANDS BRANCH

VViissiitt ttoo tthhee NNaattiioonnaall FFlluuiidd PPoowweerrCCeennttrree4th October 2011

SOMETIMES on holiday people report onstumbling across one of Britain’s Best KeptSecrets.

Without criticism the National Fluid PowerCentre could be described as fitting this bill.Based on the northern edge of Worksop it ishardly on a through route but once visitedcan only be described as a jewel in thenation’s training facilities.

It started from very humble beginningswith skills and expertise from the coal indus-try in small huts in rural Nottinghamshire. Astrong link was formed then with their skills

locally and in Lincolnshire on pea viner andpotato destoner problems.

Now it is a purpose built training facilityto include hydraulics, pneumatics and elec-tronics at an introductory or seriouslyadvanced level. All training is conductedsurrounded by or actually being involvedwith components, systems or interactive pro-grams simulating use.

The instruction to the evening included

BRANCH REPORTS

MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIESIAgrEThe Bullock Building, University WayCranfield, Bedford MK43 0GHTelephone 44 (0) 1234 750876Fax: 44 (0) 1234 751319e-mail: [email protected]

Issue 66 Number 4 Winter 2011


Southern Branch members in front of the purpose-bbuilt tractor-ddrawnpassenger trailer which took them around the Leckford Estate

NORTHERN IRELAND BRANCH

VViissiitt ttoo MMoooorree CCoonnccrreettee

THE Northern Ireland branch of IAgrErecently enjoyed a visit to Moore Concreteat Ballymena, Co Antrim. Thiswas hosted by Moore’s Sales Co-ordinator ( Keri McGivern), whotook the group on a tour of theproduction facilities.

The Quality ControlDepartment, where all the inputsare sampled to ensure that theconcrete can meet all the speci-fied standards for strength andquality, was the first stop beforeseeing the working modern pro-duction facilities for the extensiverange of precast concrete prod-ucts. The batching and mixing ishandled by a Danish sourcedand serviced plant. The groupwas fascinated to see the work-shop where the moulds are made

up for new and bespoke projects. Later Keri McGivern presented a well illus-

trated talk about the Company history andthe development of its products for the agri-cultural industry. In 1978 Wilbert Moore(owner and Managing Director) recognised

demand in the expanding agriculture sectorand started making cattle slats. Since thenthe demand for quality concrete productshas resulted in the development and pro-duction of a wide range of precast items forthe agriculture, construction and civil engi-

neering sectors.The company moved to its

present production facility in1984. Further expansion andupdating took place in 2008.Precast products for the agricul-ture, construction and civil engi-neering sectors are now suppliedto customers throughout the UKand Ireland.

There is an obvious strongpeople based ethos (now reward-ed by official ‘Investor in People’status) and as MD Mr WilbertMoore states, “Our aim is toexceed the expectations of ourcustomers by providing qualityprecast solutions, while at thesame time fulfiling our duty of

WESTERN BRANCH

TTeecchhnniiccaall lleeccttuurree bbyy JJoohhnn MMoooorree ooffWWiinnddccrroopp - ‘‘SSmmaallll WWiinndd SSyysstteemmss’’23rd November 2011

THE Royal Agricultural College, Cirencesterplayed host to 19 IAgrE Western Branchmembers and guests for a technical lectureby John Moore of Windcrop entitled ‘SmallWind Systems’.

John, Managing Director of Windcrop for2 years, began his lecture with the definitionof a small wind system, i.e. wind powergenerating systems with a capacity ofbetween 1.5 and 100 kW, but the mostcommon types that he deals with arebetween 5 and 15 kW.

John identified that it is vital to conduct awind survey prior to an installation. Typically,weather forecasting results can be used, butthe best method is to site a wind meter for a12 month period in the area of considera-tion. It is also vital to access generation andconsumption cycles to maximise efficiencyand to remember that small wind systemsutilise a mast of between 15 and 18 metresin height and as such require planning per-mission.

The power generated by these systems area ‘3 phase wild AC’ which has to be recti-fied to DC and then inverted back to gridmatched voltage and frequency. The gener-ator works in parallel with the grid supply;monitoring supply and demand with the useof export and import meters. Currently theFeed-In Tariff is 28 p/kWh for 5 to 15 kWsystems, i.e. the amount of revenue theNational Grid will pay the operator for ‘sur-plus’ energy.

John discussed installation methods andpresented his company’s preferred process:screw piles. At this point IAgrE’s RichardRobinson gave a short talk with respect tothe history and benefits of screw piles; theyare cleaner, greener and quicker than con-crete foundations and when considering thewhole installation costs (including excava-tion and disposal), they can be typicallybetween a quarter and half the cost of aconcrete foundation.

The typical design life of screw pilesaround 60 years, but Richard pointed outthat the screw piles holding up Brighton Pierare still going strong after some 180 years!Richard also explained the basic principleand mathematics behind the practice:Capacity (kN) = Empirical Torque Factor(1/m) x Installation Torque (kNm)

John finished his presentation by outliningthe planning permission and connectionlegislative procedures that must be compliedwith and ways in which farmers andlandowners can obtain such systems.

Windcrop can supply systems outright fora capital cost, but the most attractive offerfor the consumer is where Windcrop supplyand maintain a system for 20 years com-pletely free of charge. Here the customergets free electricity from the system whenrequired, but Windcrop collect the Feed-Infor surplus energy.

For further information visit the website atwww.windcrop.co.uk.

Nick Handy


Winter 2011

identifying sponsors and companies on theadvisory panel to the centre. All of whichrepresented worldwide major players in theindustry with fluid mechanics fromAerospace to Off-shore and fromAgriculture to Fishing. Such companies haveprovided all the hardware and consumablesto the centre, all of which are the latestlevel.

Throughout the centre’s work training wasthe main thrust with contamination to oilsbeing identified as the main limitation to

efficient and reliable hydraulic function.Horror stories across a range of uses high-lighted preventable failures.

Agriculture could be described in theirterms with hydraulics as a mobile use andwithin their main training hall there wereexamples of fork trucks, loading shovels anda small digger all modified to allow functionand monitoring with all components identifi-able and monitored in use. A similarapproach is taken with fixed plant, also withpneumatics and electronics.

The centre’s web site is www.nfpc.co.ukand is well worth a visit and contact withNFPC is to be encouraged by all of ourmembership engineers whether for aware-ness, CPD or service training. In fact ourBranch Chairman Paul Skinner was actuallyattending a course there whilst the Branchvisited, a trend setter if ever one was need-ed.

Bill Basford

John Moore of Wincrop

Keri McGivern (extreme left) welcomesthe IAgrE group to Moore Concrete


IAgrE MEMBERSHIP MATTERSi

Available in full on Landwards e-Xtra - www.iagre.org

SummaryThe 5th World Congress on ConservationAgriculture was held in Brisbane, Australiain September 2011.

During the Congress, and especiallyduring the field day, equipment for CA atseveral levels of sophistication was dis-cussed and demonstrated. This accountreflects on some of the technology onview.

No till planters for two-wheeled tractorsare becoming increasingly demanded inAsian and African CA systems. The ACIARRogro and strip-tillage machines were onview. CA planters suitable for smallerfarms include the Turbo Happy Seeder

and chain-driven residue managementsystem planters.

For smaller farms yet there is the novelYunfan jab planter from China which maybe set to challenge the Brazilian domina-tion of the market.

Narrow tine openers for no-till plantershave been the norm in Australia. Buttimes are changing with both double andsingle disc openers increasingly beingincorporated in commercial no-tillmachines.

Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is anatural partner for CA as it eliminateswheeling compaction in the croppedarea. Aspects of precision farming are

also relevantto CA sys-tems as theycan ensuremore preciseapplicationof inputs andameliorationof problemareas.

Crop mapping with tractor-mounted redand near infrared light reflectance, motor-cycle-mounted soil parameter sensors andhelicopter-mounted cameras are all play-ing a part in improving the efficacy andefficiency of CA.

by Brian G Sims

Some advances in mechanization optionsfor Conservation Agriculture systems: Reflections from the V World Congress of Conservation Agriculture, Brisbane, Australia, September 2011

care to the environment and ensuring thatour people are safe, happy and prosper-ous”.

The company actively ensures that all rel-evant quality production ISO quality stan-dards are met and ISO 1400 environmentalstatus is due soon.

There is a strong emphasis on servicingthe needs of livestock farms such as thecomprehensive range of suspended livestockflooring systems including gang slats of alltypes. An example of considering individualcustomer needs is the special slat to carryand retain straw bedding for young stockwhilst still being able to carry machinery forcleaning purposes.

The range of precast support beams, pas-sage covers and cubicle bases facilitate effi-cient and fast onsite installation. Completesystem installations are common and com-plemented by precast end cubicle walls andin-house drinkers. The latter have roundedcorners to avoid animal injury and maximisethe number able to drink at one time.

Other precast products include interlock-ing slurry channel systems, feed trough sec-tions and field drinkers. The drinkers haverounded profiles for added strength. Otherspecialist products include counter ballast

weights for tractors and a precast base onwhich to mount the latest Lely robot milker.

There is an extensive range of pre-stressed portable wall panels and highstrength self standing units for storage ofbulk materials. These are now popular for awide range of applications for both agricul-ture and other industries.

Moore Concrete above ground slurrystores are now a common sight on farmseverywhere. They are based on the provenDanish Lundsby design, have a 50 yeardesign life and are built with curved post-tensioned panels. Installation can be aboveor below ground. A recent development istheir use in the Lundsby system for anaero-bic digestion biogas production plants.Moore Biosystems was formed in March2009 and offers ready to use installationswith technical back up for on farm energyproduction from farm waste and specialistcrops.

Although the primary focus of the visit wason products for agriculture, Moore Concretealso uses its expertise and experience tomake an extensive range of precast itemsfor both the construction industry and largescale civil engineering projects. Examplesinclude precast arches for railway / roadprojects, reinforced beams, box culverts andother quality structural items. Details of allthe products produced by Moore Concretecan be viewed on their comprehensive web-site at www.moore-concrete.com. They canalso be contacted on 028 2565 2566

The excellent presentation was followedby a discussion around specific products,innovation and new application for existingitems, trends in livestock farming, working

with the civil engineering sector and use ofthe internet by local manufacturers to extendtheir markets. The members thanked Keriand all those at Moore Concrete who madesuch an interesting and enjoyable visit possi-ble.

Terence Chambers

Keri McGivern (second left)with IAgrE members and guest

Moore above ground slurry store Moore installation on Ayrshire farm


Winter 2011

I JOINED the Institution in 1961 whilstworking for Allis Chalmers at Essendine,Lincolnshire, where I was attached to theproduct development department.

This proved a complete contrast to fol-lowing City and Guilds courses atLackham in Wiltshire and I quickly learntthe importance of sizing ‘sky hooks’ andspirit level bubbles. My work with thedepartment involved field testing the firstHillside Gleaner combine to enter the UKand assessing the hand clutch on the ED40 tractor, designed to improve Rotobaleroperation, but best remembered as theforerunner of the ejector seat!

Following Technical Teacher training atWolverhampton I joined the teaching staffat the East Riding Institute of Agricultureunder the tutelage of the late John Turnerand worked with both agricultural andengineering students. After completing theNational Diploma in AgriculturalEngineering at Writtle I joined Shellstar asengineer to the development teamsresearching new pesticides for the UKmarket.

I introduced load cell weighing for plotcombines and wrestled with sensors formonitoring grain flow along elevators totell operators when plots had been com-pleted. My interest in spray application

lead to being appointed team leader of amultidisciplinary group working on terres-trial and aerial spray application problemson a worldwide basis for ShellInternational.

This appointment coincided with a peri-od when considerable interest in sprayefficiency was gaining momentum and Imoved to Shell Research in Kent to estab-lish a dedicated laboratory for spray stud-ies. The lab was equipped with a highspeed camera for spray impact studiesand a particle size analyser using a laserdiffraction technique to measure dropletsize. Matching laboratory results to fieldpractice was always demanding but mov-ing from studies with blank formulationsto working with live chemicals forimproved comparisons generated vastquantities of spray liquid for disposal.

The effect of different pump design onspray liquids was monitored and innova-tive spray techniques, such as electrostaticspraying and tree injection, were fieldevaluated as part of the team’s work bothat home and overseas. The understandingof field spray technology has improvedconsiderably and today’s equipment test-ing has helped, but the spray operatorremains the most important factor in safeand efficient pesticide use.

Following the sale of Shells agrochemi-cal business in 1994 I continued workingas an independent consultant and com-pleted overseas missions for the Food andAgricultural Organisation (FAO) of theUN, around the world running trainingcourses on safe use of spray equipmentwith the added distinction of being one ofthe first UN consultants to work in NorthKorea.

During my Shell career I completed adegree in Environmental Studies and in2004 I was awarded a PhD by theUniversity of Newcastle upon Tyne after aperiod of private study and the support ofSanatogen!

Today we share a barn conversion inHerefordshire with Cluster flies and otherwildlife and I continue to spray weeds ingrassland on farms adjacent to my home.I am involved with the local Council andremain on the board of the HerefordTechnical College where we still offertraining in agricultural engineering, black-smithing and farriery.

All a long way removed from 1965when I showed students the Ford film strip‘Farming in the year 2000’ and we allagreed that driver-less tractors and roboticmilking would never catch on.

LONG SERVICE CERTIFICATEAAllaann LLaavveerrss,, MMIIAAggrrEE - 5500 yyeeaarrss mmeemmbbeerrsshhiipp

NNEEWWSS OOFF IINNTTEERREESSTT TTOO MMEEMMBBEERRSS

GERMAN entrepreneur and ManagingDirector of Grimme, Franz Grimme wasawarded the EurAgEng Award of Merit atLAND.TECHNIC-AAgEng2011.

The Award is the society’s most presti-gious award which is given to a leading fig-ure in the world of agricultural engineering.

Franz Grimme is the fourth generationmanaging director of the companyrenowned for machinery for growing andharvesting potatoes, sugar beet and rootvegetables. The prize was awarded to FranzGrmme at a special ceremony, during theconference, by Professor Peter SchulzeLammers, President of the European Societyof Agricultural Engineers.

Also recognised during the ceremonywere Dr Detlef Ehlert and Engineer RobertHonzek. They both received the Max EythCommemorative medal from ProfessorStefan Böttinger, the President of Max Eyth

Society for Agricultural Engineering (VDI-MEG), Germany, for their contributions toeducation and design.

LAND.TECHNIC-AAgEng2011 broke allrecords for attendance with over 850 dele-gates during the two day conference held inHannover as a prelude to one of the world’slargest agricultural machinery fairs,Agritechnica.

Many delegates were from industry andenjoyed presentations on harvesting technol-ogy, robotics, automation and machinecontrol, product development, sustainableenergy and much more. Key note addressescame from Heinrich Flegel onMANUFUTURE’s pathways to futureresearch and development in the EU andMarkwart von Pentz, President, Agricultureand Turf Division of John Deere &Company who was thought provoking andentertaining.

Franz Grimme wins the EurAgEng Award of Merit

Franz Grimme receives the EurAgEngAward of Merit from EurAgEng President,Peter Schulze Lammers


IAgrE MEMBERSHIP MATTERSiNNEEWWSS OOFF IINNTTEERREESSTT TTOO MMEEMMBBEERRSS

DURING an endurance per-formance test conducted inLincolnshire on September1st and 2nd, a CLAAS LEX-ION 770TT established anew Combine HarvestingWorld Record for wheat of675.84 tonnes harvested, bymaintaining an average har-vesting rate of 85.5tonnes/hour over an eighthour period.

This new record is some22.5% higher than the previ-ous record established in2008 by another brand.

The record was set as partof the endurance perform-ance test during which the770TT harvested over 1400tonnes of wheat in 20 work-ing hours, a feat made pos-sible by the APS HYBRIDthreshing & separation sys-tem which allows for contin-ued high output in dampconditions.

The combine was a stan-dard 586hp LEXION 770TT, equipped withTERRA TRAC rubber tracks and a 12 meterVARIO cutterbar and APS HYBRID threshingsystem. It was driven by CLAAS combinedemonstrators Jens Broer and ChristianMecmann, supported by a team of five trac-

tors and trailers driven by staff from CLAASUK and the local CLAAS dealer Marsh.

The endurance test was conducted onfour fields of wheat totalling 183ha atHaugh, near Louth in eastern England.Cropping was split between two varieties,Conqueror and Duxford, which between

them averaged9.7t/ha with apeak yield of13t/ha, andmoisture con-tents rangedfrom 16-18%.

Theendurance testwas overseen byex-ADASmachinery con-sultant BillBasford, with thenew WorldRecord con-firmed byGuinness WorldRecords adjudi-

cator Jack Brockbank. The crop was har-vested to a height determined by the farmer,all the straw was chopped and the tonnagerecorded over a neighbouring public weigh-bridge.

The endurance test was being conductedto assess the ability of the APS HYBRIDthreshing system on the LEXION 770TT toallow farmers to start harvesting earlier andfinish later than is possible with rotary typecombines.

After 15 minutes spent setting the combineand calibrating the on-board yield monitor-ing equipment to the weighbridge figure, theendurance test started at 9.45am.

With good harvesting conditions and the770TT maintaining average throughputs of85.5 t/hr and peaks in excess of 100t/hrduring the day, it soon became apparentthat the eight hour World Record would becomfortably beaten, and at 5.45pm the newWorld Record figure of 674.84 tonnes wasconfirmed.

During this time, the combine cleared69.7 ha of crop, but only used 11.21

CCllaaaass LLeexxiioonn 777700TTTT ssmmaasshheessWWoorrlldd HHaarrvveessttiinngg rreeccoorrddEvent overseen by Bill Basford of the East Midlands Branch

Claas Lexion 770TT

World Record breakers: left to right - Jack Brockbank (GuinnessWorld Records), combine operators Jens Broer and ChristianMecmann and Bill Basford (independent machinery consultant)


Winter 2011

litres/hectare, or 1.15 litres/tonne, of fuel,which was some 3.75 litres/ha less than wasused by the record breaking LEXION 580TTin 2008, and 10.8% less than the previousworld record.

Such is the capacity of the 770TT, work-ing at this World Record breaking rate of85.5 tonnes/hour and at a feed wheat priceof £171/tonne (the September 8th averageHGCA for November), the LEXION 770TTwould have paid for itself in under 34hours.

After a short break, the LEXION then con-tinued its endurance test, working into thenight. With dawn having broken, the com-bine was finally shut down at 6.30am, bywhich time it had spend 20 hours harvest-ing, had threshed 1361 tonnes of wheatand had only stopped for two short servicingand refuelling breaks.

Despite working through the night, overallthe 770TT still maintained an averagethroughput of 70.94 tonnes/hour during the

20 harvesting hours it worked, which in itselfwas 4 tonnes/hour higher than the LEXION580’s eight hour average in 2008.

The fact that the LEXION 770TT couldmaintain this high harvesting rate over sucha long harvesting period, and through thenight , answered the objective of theendurance test and demonstrated the effec-tiveness of the APS HYBRID threshing systemin allowing the combine to work longerhours when other threshing systems wouldstruggle to cope.

In holding this endurance test, and in theprocess setting a new World Record, CLAASsay they would like to thank landowners andfarmers Mike Daniells of J Wharton Farms,Robbie Heath of J Heath Farms andAnthony Turnbull. Also Bill Basford whooversaw the whole event, Micronized FoodProducts at Driby for the use of their weigh-bridge and local CLAAS dealer Marsh.

Watch a video of the record being brokenhere tinyurl.com/d2nwjbs

Helmut Claas celebrates the newCombine Harvesting World Record. Withhim are Mrs Cathrina Claas-MMühlhäuser(left), Mrs Erika Claas and Mr JackBrockbank from Guinness World Records.

THE Arkwright Scholarships Trust hasmade its 2011 award of sixth formScholarships for aspiring leaders in engi-neering and design. 298 Scholarshipswere awarded to students from acrossBritain – the largest ever annual number.

Scholars received their awards at twoprestigious Ceremonies hosted by TheInstitution of Engineering and Technologyin London and Glasgow on November4th.

The Scholarships support studentsthrough their sixth form studies andencourage the students to study engineer-ing or related areas of design at universi-ty. Scholars are selected following a rigor-ous selection process comprising anassessed application form, a two-hhouraptitude paper and a university-bbasedinterview.

Arkwright Scholarships consist of anannual financial award to the Scholar andto her/his school, and a range of enrich-ment activities, such as mentoring andindustry visits, that enhance a Scholar’sunderstanding of engineering and theworld of work. The Scholarships are high-ly regarded by university AdmissionsTutors and enhance Scholars’ universityapplications.

This year, the Arkwright ScholarshipsTrust is celebrating its 20th year ofScholarships - the first 5 Scholarshipswere awarded in 1991. Scholarships aresupported by an expanding group ofcommercial companies, ProfessionalInstitutions, Trade Associations, CharitableTrust and individual donors.

Arkwright’snew NationalDirector, DrMartinThomasCEng FIET,commented,“TheseAwardsCeremoniesrepresent thepinnacle ofthe Arkwrightyear. It hasbeen fantas-tic to meetthe dynamicnew Scholarsand to wel-come sup-porters oldand new.Arkwright tal-ent is growingin breadthand depthand this hascome acrossvery clearly inthis year’sAwardsCeremonies.”

Arlene McConnell, the Institution ofEngineering and Technology’s YoungWoman Engineer of the Year 2011, asystems engineer at SELEX Galileo,Edinburgh said, “Young people, especial-ly girls, need to hear about how important

and rewarding a career in engineeringcan be both to them, and to the UK as awhole. It is important for Engineers tospeak at high-pprofile events such as theArkwright Scholarships Award Ceremoniesto get that exciting message across toyoung people and their parents.”

298 engineering scholarships awardedBy the Arkwright Scholarships Trust

ABOVE:Scholars,parents andguests at theLondonAwardsCeremonyRIGHT:Scholars withtheir Sponsorat the cere-mony


Membership changes

IAgrE MEMBERSHIP MATTERSi

The Editor, 25A New Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 2PH.Email: cchhrriiss@@nneellssoonnppuubblliisshhiinngg..ccoo..uukkOr the IAgrE Communications Officer, Marion King on

[email protected]

AdmissionsA warm welcome to the follow-ing new members:

MemberTerry L A (Bedford)

Associate MemberJones D A (Cornwall)Lawlor J (Ireland)O’Toole O (Ireland)

AssociateBarkley J A (Northern Ireland)Cullen M P (Cheshire)

Student

Ashcroft TechnologyAcademy Glen J (London)

Brooksy Melton College Aldridge JBlythe SBond IBranston ABridges SChiswell DCotterill DCox NDuffin LEllis RGiannotta DGoodacre GGray NHarris KHensman GHeath SJames D TMorrison LPearson TRoss JTaylor D

Toon JVenables AWyatt D

Cranfield University Aziz SBouffier VCastillo Garcia MDziankowska JEdmonds OEhmann J MGaja Jarque MGay MHaggerstone RJames TMartinez Morlanes M PNalwadda CPrzewozny SSanchez Barrera AStella DTait JWeeks MWhicheloe R

Easton College Amess BBarber DBarnard J MBlake BBreeze R WBurleigh ABush O Carlston TCartwright C R ECooper LCullum M ACurrie LDelph BEverett AHerbert DHigh MHoughton K JLeech ALey JManning S

Mayhew O EMoore TOxborough LPratt DSalmon D JSaunders HSimmons LSmith J AVenni T WWhite J J

Re-aadmissionsMemberWhiting M (Gloucestershire)Toothill C J N (Hants)

AssociateGold T J (Buckinghamshire)Williams J A (Herts)

DeathsBowen M E (Wiltshire)Crolla D A (Yorkshire)Harvey P E (Norfolk)Russell J H (Yorkshire)Ward E G (Nottinghamshire)

TransfersMemberBound C T (Norfolk)Olley W J (Oxfordshire)

Associate MemberCoker B B (USA)Fryer A S (Lincolnshire)

AssociateCaple M C J (Bristol) Hathaway-Jenkins LJ (Oxon)

EngineeringCouncilCongratulations to the followingmembers who have qualified asIncorporated Engineer,Engineering Technicians andChartered Engineers, entitlingthem to use the designatory let-ters IEng, EngTech and CEngafter their names.

Registrations

IEngBound C L T (Norfolk)

EngTechJones D A (Cornwall)Lawlor J (Ireland)O'Toole O (Ireland)

CEngIngram M H A (London)Olley W J (Oxfordshire)

Name Grade Date of anniversay60 yearsEdgar Raymond Halstead MIAgrE 16 Oct 2011

35 yearsWilliam David Parnell IEng, MIAgrE 7 Oct 2011Andrew Bryan Howard MIAgrE 26 Oct 2011Simon Robert Glazebrook EngTech, MIAgrE 3 Nov 2011Peter George Nelson IEng, MIAgrE 4 Nov 2011Antony Couling IEng, MIAgrE 16 Nov 2011Fraser Milne MIAgrE 7 Dec 2011David Andrew Hay MIAgrE 19 Dec 2011Thomas Julian Morley Brassington CEng, MIAgrE 19 Dec 2011Alasdair Maclean Philips MIAgrE 19 Dec 2011Stuart Donald Christie EngTech, MIAgrE 30 Dec 2011

25 yearsMichael Eric Chamley MIAgrE 23 Oct 2011Robin Andrew Chase IEng MIAgrE 23 Oct 2011Richard Francis Flach AMIAgrE 2 Nov 2011Stephen Anthony Crowther MIAgrE 20 Nov 2011Ben Ndobe Epie Ewang MIAgrE 20 Nov 2011

Long service certificates

SSeenndd bbrraanncchh rreeppoorrttss oorr ccoorrrreessppoonnddeennccee ttoo::

We want to hear from members


Askham Bryan CollegeAskham BryanYorkYO23 3FR

Babcock International GroupMere WayRuddington Fields BusinessParkRuddingtonNottinghamshireNG11 6JZ

Barony CollegeParkgateDumfries, DG1 3NE

Bicton CollegeEast BudleighBudleigh SaltertonDevonEX9 7BY

Bishop Burton CollegeYork RoadBishop BurtonBeverleyHU17 8QG

Brooksby Melton CollegeAsfordby RoadMelton MowbrayLeicsLE13 0HJ

Coleg sir GarPibwrlwyd CampusPibwrlwyd CarmarthenSA31 2NH

Cranfield UniversityCranfieldBedfordshireMK43 0AL

Easton CollegeEastonNorwichNorfolkNR9 5DX

Greenmount CampusCAFRE22 Greenmount RoadAntrim, Northern IrelandBT41 4PU

Harper Adams UniversityCollegeNewportShropshire, TF10 8NB

Institute of Technology TraleeClashTraleeCo KerryIreland

Myerscough CollegeMyerscough HallBilsborrowPrestonLancashire PR7 0RY

Oatridge Agricultural CollegeEcclesmachanBroxburnWest LothianEH52 6NH

Pallaskenry AgriculturalCollegeCo LimerickIreland

Plumpton CollegeDitchling RoadLewesEast SussexBN7 3AE

Reaseheath CollegeReaseheathNantwichCheshire, CW5 6DF

Royal Agricultural CollegeCirencesterGloucesterGL7 6JS

Scottish Agricultural CollegeSAC Ayr CampusAuchincruive EstateAyrKA6 5HW

Sparsholt CollegeSparsholtWinchesterHampshireSO21 2NF

Willowdene Training LtdChorleyBridgnorthShropshireWV16 6PP

Wiltshire College - LackhamLacockChippenhamWiltshire SN15 2NY

Academic members

Winter 2011

Agricultural EngineersAssociation (AEA)Samuelson House,62 Fodder Way, HamptonPeterborough, PE7 8JB

British Agricultural & GardenMachinery Association(BAGMA)Middleton House, 2 Main Road, Middleton Cheney, Banbury, Oxon, OX17 2TN

Alvan Blanch DevelopmentCo LtdChelworthMalmesburyWiltshire SN16 9SG

Autoguide Equipment LtdStockley RoadHeddingtonCalne, Wiltshire SN11 0PS

Bomford Turner LimitedSalford PriorsEveshamWorcestershire WR11 5SW

David Ritchie (Implements) LtdCarseview RoadSuttiesideForfar, Angus, DD8 3EE

Douglas Bomford TrustThe Bullock BuildingUniversity WayCranfieldBedford MK43 0GH

FEC ServicesStoneleigh ParkKenilworth Warwickshire CV82LS

Garford Farm Machinery LtdHards LaneFrognallDeeping St JamesPeterboroughPE6 8RR

Huntaway ConsultingIvy CottageTorlundyFort WilliamInverness-shirePH33 6SW

John Deere LtdHarby RoadLangarNottinghamshire NG13 9HT

Shelbourne ReynoldsShepherds Grove Ind. Est.StantonBury St EdmundsSuffolkIP31 2AR

SSAB Swedish Steel LtdDe Salis CourtDe Salis DriveHampton LovettDroitwichWorcestershireWR9 0QE

White Horse Contractors LtdLodge HillAbingdonOxfordshireOX14 2JD

CCoommmmeerrcciiaall mmeemmbbeerrss

i IAgrE MEMBERSHIP MATTERS


EVENTS

IAgrE Branch Meetings and Events

South East Midlands Branch Mon 12 December 2011, 19:30 REVIEW OF AGRITECHNICASpeaker: Martin Rickatson, JMR AgricultureVenue: Maulden Church Hall, Maulden, Beds MK45 2AU A report on items of interest and new releases found atAgritechnica 2011 by Martin who will provide an overview of differ-ent products and services. For further information please contactthe Branch Secretary, John Stafford.Tel: 01525 402229 Email: [email protected]

Wrekin Branch Mon 12 or Thurs 15 Decemver 2011 - tbc SPRAYERS - TBC Speaker: tbc Venue: Harper Adams University College. For For further informa-tion please contact the (acting) Branch Secretary: Jim Loynes.Tel: 07836 602750 Email: [email protected]

South East Midlands Branch Mon 9 January 2012 19:30 ECONOMICS OF FARMING SYSTEMS Speaker: Gary Markham, Grant Thornton Venue: Maulden Church Hall, Maulden, Beds MK45 2AU Gary Markham will look at the key aspects that differentiate thosewho are in profit above subsidy and those who are not, primarily onarable farms. He will also express his view on the uptake of newtechnologies and whether there is a close link between those thatembrace new ideas and those that are more profitable. Gary willalso touch on the likely implications of the CAP reform in terms ofcropping. For further information please contact the BranchSecretary, John Stafford.Tel: 01525 402229 Email: [email protected]

West Midlands Branch Tues 10 January 2012 19:30 SOLAR PANELS Speaker: George Hughes, Active Renewables Venue: Friends Meeting House, Maidenhead Road, Stratford uponAvon CV37 6XT Mr Hughes will talk about solar panels, their value and variousapplications in domestic and commercial situations. For furtherinformation and to book your place for this visit, contact the BranchSecretary, Michael Sheldon.Tel: 01926 498900 Email: [email protected]

Yorkshire Branch Thurs 12 January 2012 19:30 TEAC THE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY COMPANY Venue: Meet at The Fox & Hounds, 39 Top Lane, Copmanthorpe,York YO23 3UH Wind turbine selection and solar electric power generating equip-ment for estates and businesses. For further details please contactthe Branch Secretary: Mark AndrewsTel: 0191 569 2380 Email: [email protected]

Wrekin Branch Mon 16 Jan uary 2012 AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY (TBC) Speaker: tbc Venue: Harper Adams University College (tbc) For further informa-tion please contact the (acting) Branch Secretary: Jim Loynes.Tel: 07836 602750 Email: [email protected]

Northern Ireland Branch Weds 18 January 2012 19:30 TRANSPORT SYSTEMS OF TODAY AND TOMORROW Speaker: Andrew Wilson Venue: Wright Bus, Ballymena. For further details please contactthe Northern Ireland Branch Secretary: Ian DuffTel: 028 8673 6977 Email: [email protected]

Western Branch Weds 25 January 2012 VISIT TO ALVAN BLANCH LTD - MANUFACTURERS OF GRAIN DRYINGAND HANDLING EQUIPMENT Venue: Alvan Blanch Ltd, Chelworth, Malmesbury, Wiltshire SN169SG. For further information please contact the Branch SecretaryRupert CaplatTel:01235 522828 Email: [email protected]

East Midlands Branch 1 or 2 February 2012, 19:00 SIMBA GREAT PLAINS - DEVELOPMENTS AT SLEAFORD FOR THEEUROPEAN MARKET Speaker: Mr Alan Davies, Engineering Manager Venue: Simba Great Plans, Woodbridge Road, Sleaford, NG34 7EW Mr Davies will give an overview of Simba Great Plains. This will befollowed by a tour of the Training centre and production facility.For further information please contact Philip Wright (details below) .Alternatively, contact the Branch Secretary, Sandy Donald (Tel:07977 521231 or 01526 320228, Email:[email protected]: 01205 355689 Email: [email protected]

Yorkshire Branch Thurs 9 February 2012 19:30 RITCHEY LTD Venue: Meet at The Fox & Hounds, 39 Top Lane, Copmanthorpe,York YO23 3UH Tags for livestock and links to weigh equipment and other automa-tion. For further details please contact the Branch Secretary: MarkAndrewsTel: 0191 569 2380 Email: [email protected]

South East Midlands Branch Mon 13 February 2012 19:00 STUDENT MEETING AND BRANCH AGM Speaker: Students Venue: Maulden Church Hall, Maulden, Beds MK45 2AU Presentations will be: "Management zone delineation by an on-the-go near-infrared sensor fusion platform (Graham Halcro); "Risk-based application of vis-NIR-DRS in the rapid assessment of ahydrocarbon-contaminated agricultural soil" (Reuben Okparanma);"Combined impedance and visible - near infrared spectroscopytechniques for non-invasive in situ measurement of soil com-paction" (Raed Al-Asadi). For further information please contact theBranch Secretary, John Stafford.Tel: 01525 402229 Email: [email protected]

Wrekin Branch Mon 13 February 2012 CARBON FOOTPRINT FOR THE DAIRY SECTORSpeaker: Chris Brown, ASDA Venue: Harper Adams University College (tbc). For further informa-tion please contact the (acting) Branch Secretary: Jim Loynes.Tel: 07836 602750 Email: [email protected]

Northern Ireland Branch Mon 20 February 2012 - tbc EMISSION REDUCTION TECHNOLOGIES - THE WAY AHEAD - TBC

Winter 2011


Speaker: Declan Hayden, AGCO - tbc Venue: AFBI Hillsborough - tbc. For further details please contactthe Northern Ireland Branch Secretary: Ian DuffTel: 028 8673 6977 Email: [email protected]

West Midlands Branch Tues 21 February 2012 19:30 CNH TIER 4 ENGINE Speaker: Nigel Fawdry, CNH Venue: Murley Agriculture, Nelson Lane, Warwick CV34 5JB For further information and to book your place for this visit, contactthe Branch Secretary, Michael Sheldon.Tel: 01926 498900 Email: [email protected]

East Anglia Branch Mon 27 February 2012 BRANCH AGM Venue: tbc. For further information contact the Branch Secretary:Clive BoundTel: 01603 731207 Email: [email protected]

East Midlands Branch Early March 2012 - tbc LTA - HOW IT HAS RAISED THE PROFILE OF THE SERVICE ENGINEER Speaker: Claas, RW Marsh and East Midlands Branch Member Venue: R W Marsh, London Road, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 8NX For further information please contact the Branch Secretary: SandyDonaldTel: 07977 521231 or 01526 320228 Email: [email protected]

South East Midlands Branch Mon 5 March 2012 19:30FUTURE OF LIVESTOCK FARMING: ENGINEERING A REVOLUTION INBIOLOGICAL MANUFACTURING Speaker: Tomas Norton, Harper Adams University College An industrialised approach to livestock farming can transform live-stock farming not only in technology and production practices, butalso in value creation beyond the farm gate. The presenta-tion will discuss an acceptable and practical approach to the adop-tion of smart technologies and practices by livestock procedures.For further information please contact the Branch Secretary, JohnStafford.Tel: 01525 402229 Email: [email protected]

Wrekin Branch Mon 5 or Mon 12 March 2012 (tbc) WIND POWER AND ALTERNATIVES? & BRANCH AGM Venue: Harper Adams University College (tbc). For further informa-tion please contact the (acting) Branch Secretary: Jim LoynesTel: 07836 602750 Email: [email protected]

Western Branch March 2012 - date to be confirmed CASE GPS AUTOSTEER TECHNOLOGY AND BRANCH AGM Venue: Lackham College, Chippenham Details to be advised. For further information please contact theBranch Secretary Rupert CaplatTel: 01235 522828 Email: [email protected]

Yorkshire Branch Thurs 8 March 2012 19:30 TRACTION ENGINE Venue: Meet at The Fox & Hounds, 39 Top Lane, Copmanthorpe,York YO23 3UH. For further details please contact the BranchSecretary: Mark AndrewsTel: 0191 569 2380 Email: [email protected]

West Midlands Branch Tues 20 March 2012 19:00 BRANCH AGM + TECHNICAL TALK (TOPIC TBC) Venue: tbc. For further information and to book your place for thisvisit, contact the Branch Secretary, Michael Sheldon.Tel: 01926 498900 Email: [email protected]

East Midlands Branch Weds 4 April 2012 17:15 DAVID SHELTON SPORTS FIELD DRAINAGESYSTEMS & BRANCHAGM Shelton has become leader in the design and manufacture ofadvanced equipment for draining sports fields and has won nation-al and international awards. Their machines are exported world-wide. They have designed a number of new drainage techniquesalso which have been used to drain pitches for world cricket, foot-ball and rugby competitions. They have hire and contracting depart-ments serving the UK.There will be a machine demonstration at 17:15 followed by a pres-entation and light refreshments. The AGM will take place 19:00.For information about the company please visit their website below.For further information please contact Paul Skinner (details below).Alternatively, contact the Branch Secretary: Sandy Donald (07977521231 o r01526 320228, Email: [email protected])Tel: 01205 480431 or 07941 604177 Email: [email protected]

Yorkshire Branch Thurs 12 April 2012 19:30 BRANCH AGM AND CARLISLE BRAKES Venue: Meet at The Fox & Hounds, 39 Top Lane, Copmanthorpe,York YO23 3UH Brake components and their selection for a variety of applications.For further details please contact the Branch Secretary: MarkAndrewsTel: 0191 569 2380 Email: [email protected]

West Midlands Branch Tues 17 Apr 12 19:30WATER AND IRRIGATION - TBC For further information and to book your place for this visit, contactthe Branch Secretary, Michael Sheldon.Tel: 01926 498900 Email: [email protected]

Other Events:Weds 28 March 2012 IAgrEYOUNG ENGINEERS COMPETITION Venue: Terex UK Ltd, Central Boulevard, Prologis Park, Coventry,CV6 4BX. Anyone wishing to enter a team or teams, please contactIAgrE Secretariat asap to obtain kit(s). See website for rules of thecompetition.Tel: 01234 750876. Email: [email protected] Web: www.iagre.org/careers/devcareeryecomp

Thu 10 May 2012 IAgrE WEATHERING THE PERFECT STORM - WHO DO YOU WANT IN YOURLIFEBOAT? Speaker: Various. Venue: RASE Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV82LZ. Further details will be published in due course. Check theIAgrE website for details and on-line registration when available.Tel: 01234 750876 Email: [email protected]

Full details of forthcoming events can be found on www.iagre.org/events

Conference 2012

AGRICULTURE FORESTRY ENVIRONMENT AMENITY HORTICULTURE

www.iagre.org

Innovation,science and technologyinA

griculture and the R

uralEnvironm

entWeathering the Perfect Storm- Who do you want in your lifeboat? A CONFERENCE FOR ALL SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS AND MANAGERS WITH AN INTEREST IN HOW OUR SECTOR WILL INTRODUCE INNOVATIONS TO COUNTERACT THE EFFECTS OF THE “PERFECT STORM”

A "perfect storm" of food shortages, scarce water and insufficient energy resources threaten to unleash public unrest, cross-border conflicts and mass migration as people flee from the worst-affected regions. The IAgrE Landwards 2012 conference will allow representatives from various sections of the landbased sector to demonstrate how they will be offering innovations to ameliorate the effects of climate change whilst focussing on the need for the sustainable intensification of agriculture. The landbased engineering sector will then articulate how they will use engineering solutions to bring these innovations from concepts to reality. The Conference will be of interest to all those involved with the management of:

Energy resources Water resources Livestock Crop production

The conference, to be chaired by David Llewellyn, Principal of Harper Adams University College, will feature noted speakers from across industry sectors including:

soils water plant breeding livestock

Each speaker will summarise their sector’s contribution towards tackling the problems giving current contemporary examples and will give their views on what the future holds and their sector’s possible part in it. Others from the engineering sector will then outline their views about how these ideas will be put into practice.

LANDWARDS 2012 Conference

May 10th Venue:

RASE Stoneleigh

For further information, please contact: IAgrE Secretariat:

[email protected] 01234 750876

For online booking, please visit www.iagre.org

The professional body for engineers, scientists, technologists and managers in agricultural and allied industries including food, forestry and biological systems IAgrE is a licensed body of the Engineering Council and

a founding constituent body of the Society for the Environment

Convened by In association with

ENGINEERING TEA - IAgrE

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