Deep in the heart of the Fens lies an agricultural and horticultural equipment supplier with almost 40 years' experience of meeting the needs of the UK food producing industry. The Burdens Group, founded in 1972, is a leading distributor of agricultural, horticultural, professional groundcare and construction machinery. With depots in Lincolnshire and Berkshire, the group is well placed to supply its customers wherever they may be situated.

Burdens' values, which revolve around excellence and a genuine passion for exceeding expectations, are clearly evident in its work with customers and suppliers. The company is committed to understanding its customers' exact needs and requirements, and not only supplies and installs the equipment, but also offers unrivalled after sales, parts, service, inspection and refurbishment. Burdens welcomes challenges and meets them with forward-thinking innovation and flexibility, whilst consistently reviewing its processes and projects in order to identify areas for improvement and implement changes, always preserving safety, quality and integrity.

Burdens Horticulture was founded as a subsidiary company to import specialised field vegetable equipment from Europe. The company soon grew into one of the UK's leading distributors and importers of specialist agricultural equipment, with a reputation for quality and expertise.

One of the key developments came in 2007, when the owner of Goodacres & Sons decided to retire and the business was acquired by Burdens. Goodacres specialises in potato and vegetable grading, handling, sorting, weighing and bagging equipment and so was a natural complement to the company's existing equipment division.

According to Keith Harwood, general manager of Burden's Horticultural and Goodacres Produce Handling, "The aim now, as far as the customer is concerned is to be a one-stop shop where he can come for any piece of horticultural equipment, whether it be for new equipment, for servicing or for spares. We can now supply all of their needs from placing the seed or plant in the soil to final packing into trays for the customer. We have endeavoured to listen to the demands of the customer and to provide them with a complete solution."

By bringing together, from the customer's point of view, all of the different manufacturers, Burdens now offer an extremely wide range of equipment. Looking at the brands acquired through the Goodacre business, there is the Tong Peal range of grading equipment, soil separators, hoppers and weighing systems; the Swift-Lift elevators and in-store conveyors; and the Morray range of fast reliable bagging and weighing units for use with cartons, boxes and different size/types of bags.

From the Horticulture Division come the Tumoba machines for various types of vegetable harvesting and processing, including lettuces, baby leaf, leeks and brassicas. Also available are mobile packing stations for use in the field offering benefits in terms of reduced packing costs and less damage to crops. The sprout harvester is unique in this industry, giving the company a genuine competitive edge and customers a guarantee of only the finest produce. The sprouts are brought in bulk to the packing shed, are graded and then colour sorted to eliminate any discoloured or rotten sprouts and then checked for quality and grade before being packed.

The Mini Veg Packer is a totally mobile harvesting system designed for use in vegetable & salad harvesting industry. Typically it is a cup & chain system that fits to most make of tractor, however belt options are also available. Over the years, it has been used in a wide variety of crops ranging from cauliflowers, cabbage, broccoli, leeks, lettuce, sweetcorn, swede, flowers and even pot plants.

Samon is a family owned business specialising in the design and manufacture of onion topping and harvesting machines, while Koning produce potato planters for pre-chitted seed. The machines feature a flat-belt feed system, which enables high-speed accurate planting of tubers. They also provide planters for onion sets, garlic and shallots.

Ferrari specializes in the production of transplanting machines, both mechanical and automatic, for plants in blocks and module trays. Ferrari machines are suitable for planting a wide variety of vegetables including lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, courgettes, pumpkins.

Three particularly interesting machines are the new Scotts potato windrower harvester, CTM destoner and Sieger drain cleaner. The Scotts Machinery windrower harvester significantly improves efficiency of the harvesting operation by allowing more rows to be harvested by growers' existing lifters. The self levelling adjustment available on the CTM destoner is a real benefit in soil preparation prior to planting potatoes. However, in a completely different technology designed to meet the needs of farmers in low-lying areas such as the Fens, the Sieger drain cleaner has been developed to deal with high water levels, where water lying on the land can result in crop losses. By regularly cleaning the land drains, this problem can be overcome.
Burdens strive for unparalleled integrity, quality and efficiency in everything it does. Uncompromising business ethics are paramount to securing the trust between the company and its clients; and the strength of these relationships is vital to achieving their mutual project goals. Moreover, building on a tradition of excellence, Burdens is able to attract the best employees in the industry; helping it to retain loyal customers and attract new ones that refuse to compromise when it comes to quality workmanship and fast, friendly, knowledgeable customer service.

Back to Keith Harwood, "We have developed a specialist sales and after sales team who can provide a one-stop service to our customers - where sourcing the right equipment can be a burden, we at Burden endeavour to provide the right solution without the hassle!"

For further information, telephone 01205 460466. Alternatively, email charlie.rich@burdens.com or keith.harwood@burdens.com.