Scotts Precision Manufacturing Sees Increased Interest for Product Range
Scotts Precision Manufacturing is celebrating a rise in interest for its Evolution separator and Trinity range of haulm toppers with sales up to 30%. For the first time, the company sold out of toppers this season, reaching production capacity by the end of March.
Sales of the Evolution separator, the harvesting machine which quickly and effectively removes clod, stones, haulm and loose soil from a wide range of vegetables, have risen in both the UK and further afield. Orders from North America, Belgium, Germany and Holland, have significantly increased in the last year.
In the UK, the banning of Diquat has fueled interest from farmers looking for an alternative way of removing potato haulm before harvesting.
“I think several factors have contributed. We’ve marketed ourselves more than in previous years, getting our name out there a bit more. We’ve also listened to our customers’ requirements, and as well as increasing the transmission rating of the Trinity 22B two bed topper, we’ve also developed a new model, the Trinity 30B, which offers a 300cm cutting width, capable of handling either three 90cm or four 75cm wide rows,” said Derek Scott, managing director of Scotts Precision Manufacturing. We have developed several new features to the Evolution, which had been led by customers, including programmable memory roller settings, Remote adjustment for the clod roll gap, stone resilient spiral rollers and a new gentle salad potato specific spiral roller,” Scott further notes.
The increase in demand has led Scotts to seek support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Lindsey Action Zone LEADER Fund, to undertake a GBP275,000, 6,000 sqft. expansion of its Lincolnshire factory. Building work will be complete before the autumn, and four new members of the team have been recruited including two apprentices, allowing the Scotts to increase production output for 2020.