Andrew Howseman has over 30 year’s experience of growing irrigated potatoes across several counties and a broad range of soil types for a range of customers.
Having worked as Farm Manager and as Senior Field Manager for some of the UK’s biggest growers and suppliers, we are able to offer valuable advice and guidance on Your Irrigation and crop requirements.
Established in 2012 our business is now recognised as a leader in the field of Drip Irrigation on Potatoes with more crops and system designs being introduced as required and requested. We are always happy to look at every aspect for growers and rarely fail to come up with a solution in any crop.
Our hire equipment comprises of 4 diesel engine pumps and approximately 150 acres of infrastructure and equipment for drip irrigation.
We are happy to hire out blocks from as little as 15 to 20 acres. Our objective is to be able to demonstrate to growers the various benefits of Drip Irrigation on their own farm without them having to make a major investment in the early years. Once this initial period has passed most growers see the advantages and can then make the investment into their own equipment.
What we do: –
- Initial meeting and site visit to understand topography and soil types and how this might affect growing crop.
- Full planning and Quotation with all aspects of costings broken down into Farm manager’s terms. (Fixed infrastructure costs & Variable annual costs listed and explained)
- Full list of equipment required to fit field and best options for size and shape laid out on plan. (Cost per acre and operation will not change from this point.)
- Supply of appropriate equipment from various suppliers, Tape, Hard-hose, valves Header-main and all hardware.
- Installation of full system, Tape laying, Header-main set-up, Tape connections, Valves and Block sizes planned to carefully match for run times and water applications, Full commissioning and handover to farm managers.
- In season Daily, Weekly advice and assistance (with the support of Soil moisture sensors in most cases)
- Tape removal to field headlands for later disposal (Disposal can be organised if required).
- Removal of all infrastructure into our own stillage’s and storage spools or growers own storage equipment. (available to purchase) Everything is cleared professionally and stored in order to make next seasons installation easier.
All of the above varies from field to field and grower to grower, we can offer all services or just some of the support to back up a growers own labour and remove pressure at key times.
IT IS A GREAT ADVANTAGE TO HAVE SYSTEMS SET UP QUICKLY POST PLANTING TO EFFECTIVELY REPLENISH DRYING SOILS AT THE CRUCIAL SCAB CONTROL STAGE OF TUBER INITIATION.