Long-established stages successful two-day event industryspecialist

Kent-based NP Seymour Ltd, which celebrates 50 years serving the fruit and viticulture industries next year, hosted two well-attended demonstration days in late July. David Williams attended.

A wide range of specialist machinery was displayed, working in orchards and vineyards belonging to JL Baxter & Son, based at Hunton, near Maidstone. The rst day was targeted at top fruit and soft fruit growers, and the second focussed on machinery solutions for vineyards. Specialists from the main suppliers were on-hand to assist the Seymour team dealing with the large number of enquiries from visitors.

Premium brands

Brands represented at the popular event included Fendt, Berthoud, Braun, BMV, Carrarospray, Clemens, ERO, iMetos, and Felco hand tools. NP Seymour took on the Fendt specialist tractor franchise 45 years ago, and the workshop team has unrivalled experience looking after the 79–114hp narrow tractors.

Wide appeal

“People attended from as far as Devon, Wales and East Anglia to view the machinery we o er,” explained NP Seymour sales and marketing director Claire Seymour. “There is always considerable interest in the Fendt specialist tractors, but many visitors wanted to see and compare mechanical vegetation control solutions as they move away from chemical control, and there was also plenty of interest in defoliators for orchards and vineyards as labour for hand stripping leaves. becomes harder and more expensive to source.

“Both days were very well attended, although pressures facing fruit growers currently meant that most sales enquiries were for our vineyard machinery.”

Precision crop management

Munckhof owner, Han Smits promoted systems for monitoring and managing crops at individual tree level to optimise results. “The objective is to achieve produce of uniform size and quality which is what markets require,” explained Han. Aerial images of the orchard are obtained using smart drones, which are then analysed to pinpoint anomalies. Agronomists work with growers to agree thresholds for action and treatment including strategies such as root pruning, blossom control and targeted spraying.

Han is pictured with one of his company’s harvesters equipped with M-Connect yield monitoring. Yields of picked fruit are automatically recorded including the GPS position accurate to individual tree level. Data is transferred to the ‘cloud’ for access at any time to assist crop management strategies.

Speed and accuracy

Ground vegetation control solutions included the Perfect Terra Ranger. This removes unwanted grass and weeds from both sides of the alley and under the trees while maintaining accuracy at very high working speeds.

The powered cultivator combines nger weeders which work between the trees, with reverse rotation rotary cultivators which lift and lightly till the top few centimetres of soil on each side. It’s very accurate and provides long-lasting weed control,” explained NP Seymour product sales specialist Sam Barnes. “PTO-driven blades mean that the hydraulic oil ow demand is low, and this allows use with smaller or older tractors.”

Sam is pictured (left) beside Perfect international account manager, Mark Mocking and his son, Brent.

Excellent back-up

NP Seymour engineer Steve Bowles is pictured (left) with open day visitor, Robert Hoad. Robert is from Rolvenden and has a smallholding as well as being involved in the Hoad family’s Korker Sausages business. “I deal with Steve and the rest of the Seymour team and they supply and look after my orchard and grass-care machinery,” Robert explained. “Our grass is used for sheep grazing and horses and we use Fendt tractors which are perfect for our situation. We always receive excellent back-up, and I rate everyone at the dealer with ve stars. There is nothing to fault.”

Frost warnings

Static displays included iMetos weather stations. A dedicated frost monitor is new. iMetos Frost combines information from wet- and dry-bulb thermometers to accurately predict frost risk. When frost events are predicted, alerts are automatically sent to registered users, allowing steps to be taken to prevent crop damage. “For vineyards particularly, as well as for top fruit and soft fruit growers, frost monitoring is extremely important,” explained iMetos area sales manager, Lily Nuttall. “All of our products are available from NP Seymour, which is one of the biggest UK suppliers, and the new iMetos Frost has a recommended retail price of only £700.”

Specialist sprayers

Sprayers from Berthoud and OCLL are stocked, although the Seymour team also produces its own range of specialist sprayers. An OCLL Wector 3 trailed orchard sprayer was demonstrated at the open day. The range includes tank capacities of 1,100, 1,600 or 2,100 litres. The pump delivers ow rates up to 137 litres/min at 50 bar and an 800mm fan with eight blades and centrifugal clutch drive provides air circulation. An attraction of the Wector 3 design is the fan position ahead of the spray tower which reduces the amount of debris drawn in.

Nylon flail weed control

Designed mainly for orchard use, the MultiClean XL has hydraulic-driven large diameter rotating ail heads with thick exible nylon lines to remove vegetation at surface level without penetrating the ground. The two spring-mounted heads push back at an angle to work around obstructions. The exible cutting lines are extremely hard wearing and Clemens sales representative for the UK, Paul Tuteirihia said that they have a typical 12ha working life, depending on conditions.

Pictured with the Clemens MultiClean XL are (l-r) Clemens technical support specialist Marcel Lasch, NP Seymour founder and director Nick Seymour, visitors to the open day – David Wheeler and Paul Seeley both from Alan Hudson Ltd based at Wisbech St Mary, Cambridgeshire, and Paul Tutorship. David Wheeler is managing director at Alan Hudson Ltd, and he explained that he attended the demonstration day to nd out about ground vegetation control options for the company’s Bramley apple and pear enterprise.

The full package

Martin Mills.

Martin said that NP Seymour has sold large numbers of specialist tractors over many years. “The team understands the requirements of orchard and vineyard users and supplies the full range of machinery. Fendt 200 Vario specialist narrow tractors are a perfect t, and customers like being able to obtain the tractor and all the associated implements from one supplier.”

Sussex-based Rath nny Wine Estate & Vineyard manager Cameron Roucher attended the demonstration. “We have been dealing with Seymours since 2011 when we planted our rst vines, and I attended the open day with two of our operators to see what is new this year that might bene t our operation.” he explained. “The dealer supplied our four Fendt tractors, a defoliator and Clemens under-vine vegetation control implements. For me, it’s attractive working with such a well-run business. All aspects of vineyard management are catered for, and everyone is knowledgeable and easy to deal with. The back-up is really good and the team provides sound advice when we are considering various solutions.

“We chose Fendt tractors as they are so well designed for vineyard applications. The Vario CVT transmission is easy to use and gives us precise speed control, and the superior hydraulic ow rates allow use with demanding implements.”

Air pulse defoliation

The Fruit-Tec RedPulse Duo Defoliator uses powerful air pulses produced by an on-board compressor to remove excess foliage from top-fruit crops. The air blast is targeted through adjustable heads which are positioned at the height where leaves need thinning around the fruit. Bene ts include increased air circulation, reduced fungal disease and better ripening by improving sunlight interception. “We have shown it before, but many visitors to the open day wanted to see it in action,” explained NP Seymour marketing assistant Victoria Rose. “Stripping leaves by hand is extremely slow and costly, but using the RedPulse Duo allows one operator to achieve in just a few minutes what a number of workers can do manually in a day.”

Dual mode vine defoliator for year-around use

For vineyard applications, the ERO VitiPulse Combi Defoliator has both an air blast and a roller defoliator, allowing use throughout the season. When crop conditions allow - using both defoliator systems simultaneously gives the best results as the rollers create conditions for better air blast penetration deep within the canopy. However, the air blast system can only be used before bunch set, and then just before harvest to remove the leaves for easier picking. Between these times, the roller defoliator with its much gentler action is used on its own to limit leaf cover without damaging the fragile grapes.

“It was the rst time we have shown the VitiPulse Combi machine,” explained Victoria. “For those producing grapes it’s an ideal solution allowing growers to regulate leaf coverage through the growing season.”

Cost-effective ground weed control

With Sam Barnes (centre) are George Chambers of Mid-Kent Growers and his son Harry. George explained that apples are grown, stored and packed for the Co-op at his Northiam Farm, Horsemonden base and he has used NP Seymour as a machinery and hand tool supplier for many years.

“They are local, and always very helpful,” he con rmed.

The Braun Rollhacke nger weeder has ground-driven rotating star blades which loosen the soil, break down clods and leave weed roots exposed on the surface to dry out. The blade angle, pitch and working depth can be adjusted without tools, and many users mid-mount the weeder on tractors allowing vegetation control to be carried out simultaneously with other operations. “The Rollhacke is a simple but effective solution for weed control in orchards and vineyards,” explained Nick Seymour. “For growers wanting to reduce chemical dependency and use mechanical weed control instead, it’s a popular and cost-effective solution.”