Over 100 top fruit growers and vineyard managers travelled from across the UK to attend NP Seymour’s two-day specialist fruit and vine machinery demonstration event on 19 and 20 July 2024.

Alongside celebrating the Kent-based machinery dealership’s 50th anniversary and 40 years of working with Fendt to supply and service the manufacturer’s specialist 200 V/F/P tractors, growers were able to see a range of specialist machinery in action.

Hosted with the kind permission of Clive Baxter at JL Baxter and Son’s Amsbury Farm in Hunton, on Thursday demonstrations were held in the orchard, while Friday focused on viticulture machinery in the vineyard.

Thanks to support from NP Seymour’s suppliers, attendees were able to chat with representatives from manufacturers including Fendt, AirJet, BMV, Braun, ERO, iMETOS by Pessl Instruments and Perfect van Wamel, as well as Nick Seymour, his daughter Claire Seymour, and the rest of the NP Seymour team.

While the weather was scorching hot, visitors were able to cool down with some delicious refreshments from local producers Kentish Mayde, Biddenden Vineyards and Solley’s Ice Cream.

Featured on both days, one of the most intriguing machines was the AirJet ground aerator from Bury Turfcare. Owner and designer of the machine Peter Knight explained to growers how he had originally built the AirJet, which injects compressed air into the ground, for waterlogged golf courses and football pitches, but has since had significant interest from fruit growers looking to relieve compaction in the rows. The double-sided machine targets the air right into the soil near the trunk roots on both sides of the alleyway every couple of metres.

On the vineyard day, the team from Braun started the morning by giving a thorough run-through and demonstration of the range of different mechanical weeding solutions available to vine growers. This started with the front-mounted double over-row stem cleaner, also fitted with rear-mouted Braun Alpha mower equipped with double-sided finger weeders, before moving on to the mid-mounted disc plough and finally the front-mounted UKR universal frame fitted with LUV Perfekt cultivator with rotary tillers.

The next demonstration was led by Ralf Licht from ERO, Germany’s leading manufacturer of specialist viticulture machinery which produces the double in row VITIpulse Combi defoliator and double sided ELITE vine trimmers that were at the event.

Later in the day, Stefano Borio from BMV also showcased the Italian manufacturer’s E600 single-sided vine trimmer, which is better suited for small acreages.

From a sprayer point of view, the OCLL APUS5 gave growers a good chance to see the effective coverage provided by this simple and economical tractor-mounted air blast directional sprayer.

Finally, covering frost protection and crop monitoring, David Whatoff from iMetos UK was on hand to demonstrate the nMetos Frost, for simple wet and dry bulb readings, the advanced iMetos 3.3 for a range of weather data readings, and the Dualex, a small hand-held device which can provide instant information on vine health such as nitrogen balance index, chlorophyll, flavonoids and anthocyanins.

“As the UK wine industry continues to grow and develop, it was not a surprise that the viticulture day was the busier of the two days,” said Claire Seymour, NP Seymour’s Sales and Marketing Director.

“We are deeply thankful to everyone who attended and showed their unwavering support, especially as we are celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2024. More growers are wanting to see the results these machines can provide in person and having an opportunity to discuss their capabilities with the manufacturers, our team and fellow growers is an even better bonus.”

For more information about NP Seymour and the range of specialist fruit and vine machinery on offer, visit www.npseymour.co.uk or phone 01580 712200