Potato Review

48 POTATO REVIEW JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 MACHINERY Ready for a sustainable farming future DUTCH manufacturer Agrifac has launched the new Condor Vanguard which it is marketing as its answer to sustainability demands. e machine has a maximum vehicle width of 255cm and a tank capacity of 6000 litres. A stable boom and higher capacity o er optimum coverage, minimal drift, variable spraying technology and ‘spot spraying’ at plant level. e Condor Vanguard can be used exibly thanks to a 75cm adjustable track width and is available in two variants of track widths: 180 - 300 cm. Chief Commercial O cer at Agrifac, Roeland Coopman, said: “Legislation within European countries on crop protection varies from country to country. We o er farmers solutions to these issues and help them achieve the goals of drift reduction, chemical reduction, and increased yields.” Manufacturer focuses on labour challenges POST-HARVEST labour challenges have become even more of a core focus for machinery manufacturer Tong Engineering as the industry has experienced di culties in sourcing reliable labour to e ectively grade and sort crop, minimising crop mileage and associated costs. Sales Director Charlie Rich said: “Reducing costs and maximising e ciencies are a priority for everyone right now, and there’s no doubt that vegetable growers and producers faced a common set of challenges throughout the 2022 harvest season.” While Tong is continually looking to develop automated solutions to overcome these challenges, itsnew product developments have really come into their own during the recent harvest, he said. e FieldLoad PRO and Caretaker mobile grader proved most popular, with latest technologies in automation and optical sorting options being key drivers for equipment upgrades. “We have manufactured several Caretakers with integrated optical sorting facilities and this option is now available on the latest models of the FieldLoad PRO too,” Charlie said. e FieldLoad PRO, which cleans and loads the crop in the eld, straight from the harvester, saw record UK sales in 2022 as well as well as interest from overseas producers as far as Australia and Canada. It means fewer operators are needed and there is no unnecessary carting of soil as all soil and debris is left in the eld. Meanwhile, Tong’s optical sorting live event has been running throughout 2022, giving growers an opportunity to see how post-harvest handling e ciencies can be maximised when integrating optical sorting for stone and debris removal. Charlie said: “ ose customers who speci ed machines with camera-sorting facilities this year have seen signi cant cost and time savings owing to a dramatically- reduced reliance on the workforce. In addition, by integrating optical sorting, yield is also noticeably increased owing to consistency in sorting good crop from bad.”