A new strategic agronomy training scheme – backed by Farmacy – has been launched in a bid to drive continued professional development. Charlotte Cunningham reports.

The scheme – named Claritas – is being led by Keith Norman who boasts 40 years of experience, 30 of which he spent as a technical director at Velcourt.

“As growers look to make the best decisions within a particular set of challenges for their businesses it’s essential that they really look at how and what the impact of their decision making has on the bottom line – at a strategic technical level.

“This is what Claritas is all about.”

Keith explains that members of Claritas will have access to the very latest relevant agronomic information while also spending time in the field looking at crops and discussing technical direction. He points out that Claritas is not about specific field to field recommendations – that remains the role of the agronomist.

“So for example we will be considering new ways of improving crop potential whilst also looking at how new and remote infield technologies could being benefits – both in the classroom and in the field.

“Claritas is delivered in small groups with growers from the same locality, there are three meetings per year. There is no requirement to be BASIS qualified, but it does help to be keen in the technical aspects of crop production. BASIS points are also achieved through attendance.”

Invaluable opportunity

Bedfordshire farmer, Andrew Robinson believes Claritas provides an invaluable opportunity to evaluate decisions and keep pushing boundaries for better technical answers, and is already signed up and the leader of one of the first Claritas groups.

“It’s too easy to get embroiled in the day to day of farm management, but it’s really important to take a step back and really look deep into what we are doing and the impact of those practices on our profitability, and how we can improve on what we are already doing.”

“With a constant thirst for knowledge, access to an experienced technical expert such as Keith Norman is invaluable in my mind. Both my farm operator and myself are already BASIS and FACTS qualified but we still find there is much to learn from this type of meeting.

“Bringing together growers from the same region is useful as we tend to have similar issues and it makes discussions more relevant.”

For more information on Claritas please go to www.claritas.org.uk