About us
The business originated from a major project at Newton Rigg College, designing and manufacturing a mechanical product as part of my course. This led to the creation of the AG Dispenser. The machine was utilized on Dad’s farm, bedding the cow cubicles with chopped straw in a quest to improve my chore of bedding the cows. Following Dad’s commendable achievement winning reserve champion in the Cheshire Farms Competition, the Farmers Guardian requested to publish an article on Dad’s farm. The review illustrated our pioneering bedding technique using the ‘AG Dispenser’. Soon after, a Somerset farmer approached us, requesting us to make him one. From there, we exhibited at AgriScot in Edinburgh, showcasing our machine used on the family farm. Then the enquiries came flooding in. We contacted numerous companies to gauge their interest in acquiring our concept, with the intention of receiving royalties. However, a frequent comment was, ‘there is no market for such a product as its not already in the marketplace’.
Mum, Dad and I decided to manufacture one or two ‘AG Dispensers’ locally from our very humble workshop at Clay Bank Farm. This continued for a couple of years, initially operating the office from the kitchen table before relocating to the sitting room, where an office was formed. Our ‘AG Dispensers’ continued to sell, with Dave Reade, who is still an integral part of the business, often spraying products at nights and weekends.
As we continued to grow, extra space became a requirement, prompting the migration across the yard to The Granary at Clay Bank, while some engineering operations moved to Hales Pasture in 2007. Upon purchasing the offices at Hales Pasture, we established the business operations to our refurbished premises in 2009.
Our expansion has led us to make the bold step of purchasing The Grange, which will become our showcase centre distributing machines and parts worldwide. Also, moving our prize-winning herd of cattle to facilitate R and D.
All this growth is only possible due to the team’s hard work and commitment to ‘improving the lives of farmers and animal welfare’.
