CAN YOU BELIEVE WE ARE INTO MAY 2018. WE CAN’T!

We’re starting to receive our seed from Simplot and we have a lovely testimony from one of our newest growers, Ryan Oliver, about his first year growing for them. We have exciting news too – we are about to trial another innovation, 2-tonne bins plus we have welcomed Kel Langmaid (Pam and Andrew’s son) to the team! We introduce you to him in this edition and also announce our next Field Day.

Read on for more details. The team at Cherry Hill Coolstores


IN THIS ISSUE

Season Report
Beta Testing
Family Matters
Screen Size Evaluation

Read on for these great articles and much more…


SEASON REPORT

We’ve seen trucks rolling in for a couple of months now at Cherry Hill. There’s some uncharacteristic soft rot in a couple of lines, but it’s not of any concern.

There’s also a reasonable sprinkling of powdery scab through some seed lines, which is to be expected after a hot and dry summer.

In general, there’s a lot of good looking Innovator seed delivered already. The shape and quality is very good, and about 8-10% is oversize, which is not too bad.

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.

There’s not a huge amount of seed received from Simplot at the time of editing our newsletter, but it’s expected to start arriving early May. We’re already started pre-cutting seed. If you’d like yours to be scheduled, please call us on 03 6426 1590 and book it in.

Have a wonderful Autumn season everyone,
Andrew, Pam 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.


BETA TESTING NEW 2-TONNE BINS

It was 20 years ago when Kevin and Andrew Langmaid first implemented the 1-tonne bin – and found that by increasing the bin size, it gave an improvement in seed handling efficiencies at Cherry Hill. This was a move away from the half tonne bins they’d used prior to 1996.

In 2018 we are about to beta test another Cherry Hill Coolstores innovation: 2-tonne bins. This is the 6th generation prototype, and Andrew is quietly confident they will be successful. Our testing environment will be an eight week trial period, starting in early May. Designed by Andrew, the new bins are made by existing 1-tonne bins supplier. Most materials are local, however we’ve had to import the inner metal component, which is designed to improve the airflow between seed inside and ensure it all dries at the same rate. Getting fresh oxygen into seed in the middle of the bins, is essential.

20 years of usage, and the 1-tonne bins have been fantastic. But Andrew is always finding new ways to innovate and improve procedures at Cherry Hill.

We’ll be sure to let you know how they get on.


FIELD DAY AT CHERRY HILL

McCain is holding a field day at Cherry Hill Coolstores to inspect all varieties of McCain seed lines. Rod Smith will be running the event and at this stage the date is set for Thursday the 10th May.

Keep an eye on your inbox for any changes to this.


A SLICE OF LIFE AT CHERRY HILL

This edition, we are thrilled to introduce you to Kel Langmaid our newest employee.

At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking Kel Langmaid would be better suited as the front man of a rock band than working in the family business but his wild hair is as wild as it gets. A quietly spoken and humble man, his new role at Cherry Hill is out of the spotlight and suits him to a tee.

With a background in various industries (hospitality, retail and
most recently agriculture), Kel has recently joined the family business after an opportunity came up.

I’m loving working here. I’ve completed most of my training and I am enjoying working for/with Mum and Dad. It’s actually nice to see them more often.

Kel has lived away from home for the past two and a half years (coincidently the same time he has been growing his dreadlocks!) and now resides in Turners Beach. He grew up locally, attending Latrobe primary and high schools, and had been working at a berry farm in Forth before a position became available at Cherry Hill in early April this year.

In the quieter times, Kel helps Wayne with general maintenance, mending fences, pallets and cleaning up around the property.

“When it’s busy, my primary role is the bulk unloading and helping with coolstore movements which I enjoy. My favourite part of the job is driving the forklifts!”

Outside of work, Kel enjoys relaxing and playing video games. At the moment his passion is Hearthstone (Heroes of Warcraft), a fast paced strategy game that we hear he is very good at. No doubt these computer skills will come in handy, as the farm continues to develop technology and software to improve efficiencies. It will be great having a young millennial on the team!

Pictured: Top left – Kel Langmaid on the forklift, his favourite part of the job. Top right – starting the day with some maintenance and bottom right – letting his hair down for the camera! 


SCREEN SIZER EVALUATION

The Tong screen sizing and dirt elimination machine has now been operating at Cherry Hill for a season and a half, with very good results. Like any machine, the goals we are aiming to reach were achieved to a degree, however results are always influenced by the product we are unloading.

I have noticed in some Innovator seed lines, that there looks to be a higher amount of oversize seed, but after taking samples and measuring them we’re finding most of these tubers are just over the circumference measurement. By being a short fat tuber, they would not cut into a good seed size.

We find Russet Burbank seed usually balances out with the same amount of oversize in the seed, as there is seed in oversize. However, generally any oversize in seed is a longer tuber and would cut in to good shaped seed piece, so seed growers would be gaining without compromising their seed line.

I am sure the seed buyers are getting a better line of cut seed as a result of the sizing machine, in contrast to the old methods of tuber weight sizing. This took out the longer heavier tubers, which could be cut into good seed pieces. The machine does have some minor glitches, such as the odd tuber getting stuck in the screen and being broken.

This is mostly due to a poorer shaped spud, however we are working on an idea to try and eliminate this fault entirely. Both companies prefer to size all seed as it is delivered, and eliminate any large tubers from the seed line. Recognising this, helps improve the shape of cut seed pieces resulting in less planting misses.

We recognise it’s our responsibility to present healthy and well cut seed to our commercial growers, and give them the best chance of producing a good yield and high quality tubers to the processing factory.

As we all know, it’s an ongoing challenge in this industry to innovate new procedures and practices to help keep our industry viable into the future.

Regards, Kevin.

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 … “COULDN’T HAVE BEEN HAPPIER”

“I’m a first-year grower and have been amazed at the support I’ve received within the industry, everyone’s been great. I have a lot of people on my side, Cherry Hill included. I couldn’t be happier with the communication I have received from them. It was no time at all from delivering my first seed that I received feedback from them.

We had some insect damage but Cherry Hill’s help has resulted in a good yield for us this year, so we are keen to expand and grow more tonnes for Simplot.”

Ryan Oliver – Farmer | GW and BJ Oliver, Winnaleah.

View more of our testimonials here.


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