SOIL ESSENTIALS has teamed up with country estate Elveden to trial improvements in sustainable food production.

The Angus based farming solutions company will be working alongside Elveden using Tuberzone and Tuberzone CropCast to better manage potato crops for optimum size distribution and crop value, in the hope of reducing food waste.

SoilEssentials developed the Tuberzone suite of applications over five years with the help of The James Hutton Institute and through an InnovateUK project. The model has now run from China to the USA, from Scotland to New Zealand very successfully.

Elveden has over 10,000 acres of farmland, plus three other sites farmed under separate agreements, bring the farmed area to over 19,000 acres. The land is all managed with a keen eye on environmental and sustainable targets, specialising in the production of vegetables, especially potatoes, onions, carrots, and parsnips – around 6% of the UK’s onions are grown at Elveden.

Cereals such as rye, barley and wheat are also grown to balance the rotation, ensuring their soils remain fertile and productive for generations to come.

Farms director Andrew Francis commented: "We have a never-ending quest for knowledge improvement which is key to our business goals of not being satisfied with how we produce food today. We must embed best practice in everything we do, but we must also use knowledge, technology and innovation to look forward to doing a better job tomorrow. Partnerships with companies such as SoilEssentials and organisations like the Agri-EPI Centre are key to helping us learn more and learn faster."