Industry News

Attention all aspiring horticulture professionals!

The 6th intake for the Fellowship will be opening for applications on September 1st, 2023.

If you’re looking to develop your career within the horticulture industry, then this is the perfect opportunity for you. The Fellowship is designed to nurture future leaders in the commercial horticulture industry and is supported by some of the industry’s leading organisations, including the National Farmers Union, the British Growers Association, The Horticultural Trades Association and the Chartered Institute of Horticulture.

One of the key benefits of the Fellowship is the opportunity to broaden your perspective, create a network, and equip yourself for a future leadership role within the industry. The Managing Agent for the Scheme, Coral Clark, commented, “These are exciting and challenging times for horticulture, and the LSA Fellows will be vital in shaping our sector for the future.”

Here are the top 5 reasons why you should apply for the Fellowship:

1) Increase your understanding of the commercial horticulture industry and the role that trade bodies play in the development of industry strategies.

2) Our two-year scheme increases your knowledge of current research and wider industry issues.

3) Opportunity to attend meetings and study tours across the horticulture sector, covering technical, strategy, and marketing.

4) Chance to experience the entire horticulture industry; from Lettuce production to Hardy Shrub production.

5) You will be awarded a bursary of up to £3,000 which you can draw down on to cover your activities within the scheme.

Lauren Hladun, a 2021 Fellow, had this to say about her experience, “The Fellowship has been a superb opportunity to meet similar like-minded individuals from across all sectors of the industry. Each fellow brings a different set of skills and knowledge to the group, and together we have been able to share experiences and learn from each other, as well as attend various industry meetings, and conferences, and visit business and research facilities throughout the UK which are pivotal to the development of the sector. I would highly recommend the LSA fellowship scheme to any young person who is looking to expand their knowledge and understanding of the horticultural industry.” Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to take your career to the next level!

The Fellowship opens for the 2023 intake on the 1^st September and closes on the 31^st October. Application forms and scheme information can be found on our website www.lsactfellowship.org. For more information, please contact Coral Clark at British Growers on  coral.clark@britishgrowers.org or 01507 602427.

Following the recent Horticulture Crop Protection Annual General Meeting, read the latest update here.

Press Release October 2022

British Growers Association Announces New Client Partnership

British Growers Association is delighted to announce GB Potatoes Organisation Ltd has chosen British Growers to assist with setting up this brand-new association. GB Potatoes will be joining 29 other businesses operating across the Fresh Produce Sector which currently make up the British Growers Membership.

GB Potatoes is an industry led collaboration. Their purpose is to bring the whole GB potato industry together and work with existing trade associations and industry bodies as a collective group to promote their sector interests. Created in light of the winding down of AHDB Potatoes, the organisation will look to become the potato industry hub. This will allow the continuation of significant potato industry work, safeguard and harness decades of potato research and data, offer a function to work with reputational and crisis management issues, provide an ability to pre-empt potential industry challenges and look at the ongoing matters that arise as a result of Brexit. GB Potatoes will be a single point of contact for the potato industry.

Lisa Eagles, the Managing Director at British Growers, commented “British Growers is delighted to have aligned itself with a worthy organisation and are pleased that the GB Potatoes objectives associate so closely with British Growers own, namely, to support the safeguarding of the UK horticultural sector. The British Growers provision of shared experience and knowledge of setting up industry groups will allow the organisation to fulfil its own objectives of ensuring the future sustainability of the industry.”

GB Potatoes will be funded via a voluntary membership subscription, which will be owned and controlled by the growers and supply chain, thus establishing an independent organisation with cross industry representation.

Mark Taylor, Inaugural Chairman of GB Potatoes, said “Our launch couldn’t come at a more important time for the GB Potato Industry. Working as a collective group must be the way forward if we are to both understand, and then work through the current turbulent times. Whilst recognising different views from across the industry, I strongly encourage everyone to engage and get involved. The Great British Potato needs to be championed!”

If you would like more information about the organisation, please visit http://www.gb-potatoes.co.uk or alternatively e-mail info@gb-potatoes.co.uk.

The III International Symposium on Carrot and other Apiaceae is coming to the UK in 2023. The event will be held over 4 days, starting on Monday 2nd October and finishing on Thursday 5th October 2023. The Symposium will involve a series of Symposium sessions and seminars held at the York Racecourse and with a variety celebratory dinners held around the historic city of York. The Symposium is joining forces with the British Carrot Growers Association who are inviting delegates to visit their annual Field Demonstration Day.

The Chair of the Scientific Committee, Professor Rosemary Collier, University of Warwick, is inviting researchers from across to world to submit their abstracts for presentations at the Symposium.

The Symposium will consist of plenary and specialised (scientific and technical) sessions and will address the current issues concerning the production of carrots and other Apiaceae for human consumption.  The topics covered by the Symposium are likely to include:

• Market and consumer expectations
• Genetics and genomics
• Crop improvement
• Genetic diversity including wild relatives
• Biology and physiology
• Cultural practices: fertilization, irrigation, weed control
• Quality of products and post-harvest issues (transport, health impact, …)
• Crop protection: invertebrate and vertebrate pests, plant pathogens, weed control, Integrated Pest, Disease and Weed Management
• Seeds

Participants may offer an oral presentation or a poster presentation using the link below. The Scientific Committee will inform the author if the communication is accepted.  The deadline for abstract submission is 31^st January 2023, your abstract can be modified up until 15th March 2023.

Authors of abstracts accepted for presentation (both oral/poster) are expected to register for the symposium. All oral presenters, including invited and keynote speakers, must submit a manuscript for Acta Horticulturae. Authors of posters are welcome to submit a manuscript for Acta Horticulturae but posters cannot be published as such.  The deadline for submission of papers is 30^th April 2023, whilst the deadline for final modifications is 30th June 2023.

Paper Submission – International Symposium on Carrot and Other Apiaceae (carrotsymposium.com)