A very Merry Christmas to you (Edition 17)

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.

We’re not sure where you place with Santa but you are certainly on our good list! And for this we have a present – our December newsletter! It’s been a busy year and we’d like to update you on what’s been going on. Our very new coolstore is looking good and on track for operation in 2017 and Kevin Langmaid shares some knowledge on curing cut seed.

If you need any last minute stocking fillers (you’ll want a very large stocking) we are having a garage sale! Read about this below!

For these stories and more read on. The team at Cherry Hill Coolstores

IN THIS ISSUE


Season Report	On track for 2017	Curing Cut Seed	Garage Sale

Read on for these great articles and much more…

SEASON REPORT

With Santa almost on his way, we’re now on the home straight with 100 tonne of seed being cut and 500 tonne left to despatch. We’re delighted that seed has been of exceptional quality for all our growers and we’re on par for another 9,300 tonne of seed – which is the same as this time last year. That’s an incredible effort, taking into consideration the extremely wet and harsh weather conditions of 2016.

We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hope you all enjoy the festivities with your loved ones.

Best wishes, Andrew, Pam, Brenden and the team at Cherry Hill Coolstores.

CHERRY HILL COOLSTORES SEED GUARANTEE

Our Seed Management Services. Cherry Hill Coolstores will guarantee our services on Seed Growers seed. If you buy someone else’s certified seed, which is presented to Cherry Hill in good condition, and it breaks down, we will replace our cutting and services at no charge.

This guarantee specifically refers to seed piece breakdown (i.e. rot), and refers to seed which is delivered directly to Cherry Hill Coolstores from the seed paddock for chemical application, coolstoring and cutting. In order for this guarantee to be valid, the Buyer must make claims within 24-hours of the seed leaving Cherry Hill Coolstores and before planting.

In order for this guarantee to be valid, the buyer must make claims with 24 hours of the seed leaving Cherry Hill and before planting.

View more about our guarantee here.

ON TRACK FOR THE 2017 SEASON

Our new Coolstore is on track for completion prior to Christmas, and the refrigeration is planned for January. All with plenty of time before the 2017 season commences.

Showing confidence in the local industry, we have been able to borrow and invest 1.2 million in the development and setup of the new shed and machinery.

And we’re now hoping you will help us fill them!

We’d like to say a big THANK YOU to Darren Collins of CBC Building Contractors, for a great concreting job. With 64 truckloads of concrete, starting at 2am and finishing eight hours later, it’s the third big concreting job that Darren has helped us with – and a truly great effort.

Thanks again Darren!

CURING CUT SEED

The Agriculture Industry has moved forward in all areas of harvesting, handling, storing, cutting and curing seed potatoes. We have come a long way from storing in a drafty old shed, cutting in a barn partly filled with hay and drying cut seed by sealing the cut surface with cement. The seed would dry okay but sealed some nasty spores inside the cut seed piece which could manifest at a later time – probably in storage, or worse still after planting creating some misses.

Cherry Hill engaged T.P.R Services to conduct some experimental research as to the best way to safely dry cut seed after cutting during the colder months. As a result of this research, we built our self purpose seed curing room. This has been a tremendous help in curing seed when temperatures are low, however I believe there are also improvements we could introduce if and when finance allowed – the team will monitor this for future developments.

Some people ask “why not cut all seed in the spring?” The short answer is seed that is cut when it is dormant in April, May and June, will heal well and almost always improve size and yield, and give a more even emergence making weed control easier. We find the healed sets emerge as soon as the rose end sets. There are several other advantages as well.

There are five main ingredients to ensure a successful curing of freshly cut seed:

• Remove surface moisture as soon as possible
• Good air flow
• Good air quality
• Humidity
• Temperature

Freshly cut seed generates a lot of CO2. This needs to be exhausted and replaced with fresh oxygen to help the tubers get over the cutting shock and commence suberisation.

Andrew and Brenden are dedicated in finding the best way of managing the drying sheds, having already identified that having the ability to warm seed has been valuable to their procedures. I am sure more improvements will emerge going forward. As the year comes to an end, I must acknowledge that Andrew and Brenden’s management, with Pam as the office manager, looks very good and should serve Cherry Hill well into the future. Their staff are very experienced and know the business and products they handle really well.

If you would like more information on cut seed, call the team on (03) 6426 1590 or email admin@cherryhill.net.au.

Kevin is now retired, however can regularly be found out at the Cherry Hill Coolstores. He lives in East Devonport and would describe himself as very happily retired with still a key interest in Cherry Hill. Andrew regularly refers to Kevin for his advice and opinions.

TESTIMONIAL … “ALWAYS WELL LOOKED AFTER”

“I have been growing potatoes for a long time and for most of that time Cherry Hill have been storing and cutting both our fresh market and processing seed potatoes which is always well looked after.

I have a good relationship with Andrew and his staff and value their advice.”

Colin Chaplin – Chaplin Bros

View more of our testimonials here.

GARAGE SALE

Still looking for the perfect Christmas gift for your loved ones?

Christmas cartoon reindeer on a sweeper We have an extensive range of potato conveying and sizing equipment that are now surplus to our requirements, due to upgrades and the installation of our new unloading and grading equipment.

We also have a ride-on yard sweeper for sale – Tennant model 95SE (pictured right.)

Buy an individual piece – or make us an offer that we cannot refuse, for the lot! Call (03) 6426 1590.

MISSED A PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER?

Read past editions of our newsletter here.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Please note that some months ago we changed banks to the ANZ (a few customers have still been using our old details so please update your records as we now have new banking details).