‘I buy seed from Bartholomews
because I know it will be of a high
quality at a very competitive price,
and my resultant crop will be of a
high value.’

Profitability begins with choosing
the right seed
The recipe for growing a financially viable crop used to be relatively uncomplicated: select the highest-yielding seed, provide the necessary inputs to maximise yield, harvest it, then find a buyer. Today, things aren’t quite so simple.

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Maximising your return now means growing what the marketplace wants, and this increasingly means crops grown to specific (and high) quality standards. Fortunately, as a major crop marketer in our own right, Bartholomews has an intimate understanding of which crops the market is demanding, to what quality levels – and, crucially, the price it’s prepared to pay.
This knowledge is available to you through our seed sales teams, supported by Bartholomews’ BASIS-qualified agronomists. They can help you identify the most profitable crop your local conditions are capable of growing, based on a gross margin analysis of each crop and its viability by region. They will then recommend the most appropriate

seed variety and dressing to achieve those all-important market criteria to make sure you achieve the margin you’re seeking.
As you might expect, it’s not just our approach that’s driven by the market. So is our varietal selection. Each variety is chosen because we know that, with the recommended inputs, it will achieve the quality results that you, and the market, are looking for.

High performance seed
How can we be so sure? Because we have our own on-site seed analyst and seed laboratory tasked with assessing germination rates, vigour, testing the harvested grain against a range of other statutory quality parameters and, finally, certifying it. This guarantees our seeds are of the highest quality and provide the best value for money in the marketplace.
This rigorously scientific approach is complemented by seed trials, conducted in regional conditions, which let us make a truly independent assessment of how a large range of seed varieties perform. We also have our own seed crops grown for us on contract, so the quality is assured. And you can be confident ours are equal to the best value in the marketplace because our membership of the Prism Group (an association of Private Independent Seed Merchants) gives us the leverage to negotiate access to the best-performing varieties at highly competitive prices.

State of the art seed treatment
Ultimately, however, sowing a crop

Feed Department

Seed Department

Crop
Protection

remains an act of faith, so you need to be as confident as possible that your seed has been cleaned, treated and stored to the very highest standards. This confidence comes as standard with any seed from Bartholomews, including forage and amenity seeds.
We have invested in a brand new seed plant, complete with the most modern technical controls. It incorporates a sophisticated dust extraction system to remove dust at every stage of the process. As well as making sure we comply with the most stringent health and safety legislation, this improves the seed cleanliness. We also have the latest seed treating equipment that has transformed seed treatment into a precise science, ensuring maximum seed efficiency, protection and performance.

The availability issue
A seed’s performance and quality, however, are ultimately academic if you can’t rely on getting the quantities you need at planting time. Our understanding of the grain market and our farmers’ businesses helps us anticipate which seed varieties will be in most demand, and we have our own storage bins and warehousing capacity to make sure we can supply them. We also have our own fleet of lorries so we can be certain of having the necessary delivery capacity when you need it.
If you believe your crop-growing returns could benefit from market-driven advice, access to the most profitable varieties prepared to the highest possible standards, and reliable deliveries, please don’t hesitate to contact our seed team on 01243 755 620.