REPORT: Heating and cooling for crop growing or livestock rearing are among some of the most significant costs for farm businesses.
Shropshire grower Bradley Farms has worked with specialist supplier IPT Technology to develop a temperature control system based on ground source heating that could have the potential for considerable savings when growing crops as well as making use of renewable energy generated on the farm for crop storage. Established in 2009 by Phil and Amy Bradley, the business is based near Shrewsbury and transitioned from contract livestock rearing seven years ago to growing fruit.
“We met at Harper Adams and Amy went on to work at Berry Gardens, a major fruit grower in Kent,” explains Phil. “We became interested in growing blueberries as they are a more flexible crop than other soft fruit such as raspberries, with a longer harvest window and improved storage qualities. The downside of this is that they are easy to import from countries such as South America, so rather than looking just to compete in the main season, we became interested in ways of supplying during the ‘shoulder season’ and attract better prices.”
This means growing as a protected crop in addition to in a field-scale environment, which requires precise climate control. It’s a process normally achieved with heated pipes plus manual ‘venting’ of glasshouses or polycarbonate housing in warmer conditions, which can be a labour-intensive process. “A conversation with an old friend from Hy Line Chickens brought a recommendation for John Gill from IPT and we began to look at the options,’ explains Phil.
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