A FAMILY farm in Pershore has been handed a £23,000 cash boost to pay for new equipment which will make the business more efficient, almost doubling their hourly production and reducing costs.
Richard Revill and his family, who run Oak Tree Farm and grow a range of field vegetables across their 390 acres, were awarded the grant from LEADER.
As part of their enterprise, they grow and pack approximately 1,400 tons of potatoes per year for the chipping markets.
The cash from LEADER has allowed them to invest in an automated machine to help with putting the sacks of potatoes into pallets.
The new automated system means the staff no longer have to move the full potato sacks by hand as the machine does all the work.
As well as taking out the manual labour aspect, it also means they can concentrate on other duties, such as grading the produce.
Mr Revill, said: “The increased hourly production has meant that orders have been met on time and that further orders have been placed because of our increased productivity.
“Automation has also meant we have increased our haulage efficiency.
“Pallets stack heights can be changed easily for different types of haulage transport.
“This means most of the haulage leaving the farm is ‘at or near to’ their maximum weights, reducing haulage costs and less road pollution per ton of potatoes.”
LEADER, which is delivered by Worcestershire county Council and Worcestershire Local Action Group on behalf of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), is part of the Rural Development Programme for England.
It is aimed at helping rural communities and economies grow by enabling local people to identify and implement solutions to the local problems they have.
The scheme has received funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development under the Rural Development Programme for England.
Defra manages the project on behalf of the Rural Development Programme for England.
