Bar Tech

As we approach another Christmas season, it is great to be able to reflect on 2022 and share with you some of the highlights of our year here at Barenbrug UK, and what a year it has been. When we rang in the start of the New Year in January, we had no idea what lay ahead but I don’t think anyone could have prepared us for the roller coaster it has been.

There was a general assumption that re-seeding programmes would suffer as a result of high input costs on farm, but Mother Nature had a different idea and sent us one of the hottest, driest summers on record. Forage stocks suffered and swards were depleted resulting in a frantic period of re-seeding as soon as the weather allowed in early Autumn. We noticed an increase of requests for short-term swards, most likely an attempt to recoup forage stocks for the Winter, but alongside that were many opportunities to identify and re-seed long term swards that had shown their weaknesses in the extreme weather and had just become exhausted and unproductive. Unsurprisingly, with the cost increases in the fertiliser market, we saw an increasing demand for red and white clover both in new leys and for overseeding purposes. Farmers started to consider deeper rooting, low input, species like cocksfoot and tall fescue to aid in growing more from less and combat any drought issues that may be coming in the future.

In every region of the UK, questions were being asked like “will this work better?” and “should I try this?”. Farmer meetings attendances soared, either because of the lifting of Covid restrictions or there was a hunger for information in very uncertain times and we at Barenbrug were fielding more questions, online enquiries and invitations to speak at meetings to share our knowledge on all things grass.

In 2022, we are delighted to welcome three new team members; Emily, James & Janet. Emily Abrey and James White joined the team in March and May respectively as Technical Sales Agronomists in the South of England and Janet Montgomery joined us in September as Agricultural Product Manager. All three bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge and we are already reaping the benefits of this, exciting times ahead for us all. We continue to work closely with all our customers across the UK with Mhairi looking after Scotland and David doing likewise in Northern Ireland. As part of our commitment to agriculture in England & Wales, long standing member of the team, Roger Bacon was appointed as Key Account manager for both regions. Roger will still be looking after his own customers but will offer support to Emily & James with their accounts ensuring we maintain the excellent standard of service our clients deserve.

As I’ve said before, when we rang in the New Year in January, no-one knew what to expect and I have no doubt 2023 will be no different and will bring its own challenges to the table. In the meantime, it only remains for me to thank each one of you for your support in the last 12 months, it has been our pleasure to work with you and support your farms and businesses. I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a peaceful & prosperous New Year.

David Linton