New farm city will help meet rising demand for food
A leading European agricultural machinery manufacturer is creating a working farm demonstration area, showroom and new UK head office on the outskirts of Doncaster.
The Amazone Group has bought Orchard Farm, a 30-acre holding at Auckley, and has started work on converting it into a sales, service, training, research and education centre. Amazone made the investment to offer British farmers solutions in reducing environmental impact and the machinery to meet the needs of an ever-growing population and a doubling in the demand for food by 2050.
Work on the new site – dubbed a farm city – is scheduled to complete next year, prompting the transfer of the business from Blyth Road, Harworth, where it has been since 1990.
Property consultancy Fisher German marketed the Harworth site at a £1.1m asking price, with a £92.5k per annum sale and leaseback deal.
Adrian Winnett, managing director of Amazone, said: “This multi-million pound investment in a purpose-built facility means that Orchard Farm will be able to offer so much more scope than we currently have. And, as such, heralds the next exciting stage in the development of Amazone in the UK.”
The new site, being dubbed a farm city, will also house the sales and service division, spare parts supply, whole goods distribution and the infrastructure behind the whole business.
The German-based group invests heavily in research and development, both in machinery and in searching for optimised agronomical systems that enable farmers across the globe to improve yields, use sustainable pesticides and fertilisers, negate erosion and enhance soil health, while improving efficiency, reducing costs and keeping food affordable.
This research occurs in many countries across the world to reflect local climate and soil type. The UK business has carried out long-term trials around the country for more than 20 years into ways of maintaining sustainable arable crop production.
The new site will host trials and a working farm to demonstrate the wide range of equipment available to prospective clients.
It will also offer training for machinery operators and dealer service staff as well as the next generation of farmers via the education of students from agricultural colleges and universities across the UK.
