Reducing harvesting costs

摘要

A few weeks ago I found myself being driven through the beautiful countryside of Northern Ireland. I had been asked, on behalf of the Journal, if I would like to see a piece of equipment that could significantly reduce harvesting costs. How could one resist? So that's how I found myself being driven through County Down by Tom Grant, on the way to meet Ivan Doake, his co-director of Axis Systems Ltd, based in Gilford. Tom and Ivan, colleagues of some long standing, are engineers by profession but Ivan also has an interest in a mushroom unit in Gilford. From early discussions it became clear that they were entirely familiar with previous attempts to make improvements in this area, which was most encouraging. I wasn't going to witness efforts to reinvent the wheel. The purpose of my visit was simply to offer an honest opinion and, if appropriate, write a short report of what rd seen in the Journal. The farm on which the equipment was being trialled employs a three tier shelf system. As you will seethe photographs of the equipment in use are on a bag unit, but more of that later. First of all, let me give you a non-engineer's description of the machine and what it can do.