New for 2021, NRM’s annual soil summary is available as an interactive map. Now farmers can drill down into crop type and nutrient summaries for their region and county, so the data they receive is more relevant than ever before.

The interactive map follows the publication of NRM’s 2020-2021 soil summary with data from thousands of soil samples from farms across the UK collected between June 2020 to May 2021. The interactive map allows farmers and their advisors to select a region and then a county to localise their nutrient summary. Data for phosphorus, potassium and magnesium is split out by arable and grassland and summarised according to the 9^th edition of the RB209.

‘For the last 30 years, we have found that two thirds of most soils are deficient in the three key nutrients. This year was no different,’ said Alli Grundy, Agronomy Manager at NRM. ‘There are some really interesting variations across the UK as well. For example, while arable soils in Cumbria in the North West of England are high in phosphorus but low in potassium, those in Greater London in the south are low in phosphorus and middling in potassium.’

Viewing the consolidated data in this way is more relevant to farms and their conditions than ever before, helping farmers understand the current nutrients status of their soils and benchmark against other farms. Farmers and advisors can then use the data to enhance performance and make insightful decisions about the next year of farming and beyond.

‘A core focus of Cawood is looking for new ways to add value for our customers,’ said Simon Parrington, Chief Executive Officer at Cawood. ‘The interactive soil map, developed by NRM, presents an innovative solution for our customers to easily see how they compare with the rest of the UK and to help them meet their goals. We are really pleased with our digital and data services, which efficiently and effectively help us support a safer, healthier planet.’

 

View the interactive soil map here.

Cawood has been acquired by the US corporation, Ensign-Bickford Industries (EBI) from Waterland Private Equity.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, EBI is a 185-year-old privately held corporation with diversified businesses in aerospace and defence, molecular diagnostics, and pet food palatability markets. It is one of the world’s oldest privately owned companies and this is its first acquisition since 2018. Commenting on the acquisition, EBI President and CEO, Tom Perlitz, said, “Cawood has more than just exceptional growth potential, it comes to us as a thriving business with a solid market position and great talent – built on a set of strong principles that very closely mirror the core values of EBI. This partnership will support both goals to expand our diagnostic offerings and extend our reach in global markets, and we could not be more pleased to welcome Cawood into the EBI family.”

Cawood was founded in 2006 and now operates nine divisions serving the agriculture, food, environmental and infrastructure sectors. This year it has tripled its Research business unit through the acquisition of i2L Research and IES Ltd, as well as consolidating its position in environmental analysis with the acquisition of Elab. It will now become a member of EBI’s Agriculture and Environmental Diagnostics Group.

“Over the last 18 months, Cawood has doubled in size, following significant investment in acquisitions, equipment, people and technology,” said Cawood CEO Simon Parrington. “Our ambitious growth strategy is fully supported by EBI. We are looking forward to continuing to develop services that support our customers with data and insight to improve decision making, enhance performance and establish compliance. EBI’s global interests in science and technology and their existing business portfolio make this change of ownership a very positive move for Cawood.”

Cawood will operate as a subsidiary of EBI, with the existing management team led by Simon Parrington, who concludes, “Our business is a good fit with EBI, with similar culture and values, and a shared desire to provide added value services that make a difference to the world.”

With Christmas only a few weeks away, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for their business during 2021, and to let you all know of our operating arrangements over the holiday period.

Our laboratory and courier arrangements for Christmas and New Year are listed below. Please note that, while many of our divisions close for a short period over the holidays, we also have specific cut off dates for the receipt of some sample types. Please check the details for each division.

For any enquiries, or to book in your samples or studies, please speak to your usual Cawood contact.

NRM
Closed between Friday 24^th December at 12:30pm and Tuesday 4^th January. For full details of our laboratory and courier arrangements over the holiday period, click here.

Sciantec
Closed between Friday 24^th December at 12:30pm and Tuesday 4^th January. For full details of our laboratory and courier arrangements over the holiday period, click here.

Sci-Tech (CA)
Running a limited service between Wednesday 22^nd December and Tuesday 4^th January. For full details of our laboratory arrangements over the holiday period, click here.

Sci-Tech (NI)
Closed between Friday 24^th December at 12:30pm and Thursday 30^th December. For full details of our laboratory arrangements over the holiday period, click here.

Marchwood (N)
Closed between Friday 24^th December at 12:30pm and Tuesday 4^th January. For full details of our laboratory and courier arrangements over the holiday period, click here.

Marchwood (S)
Closed between Friday 24^th December at 12:30pm and Tuesday 4^th January. For full details of our laboratory and courier arrangements over the holiday period, click here.

Mambo-Tox
Closed between Friday 24^th December at 12:30pm and Tuesday 4^th January.

Enitial
All services running as usual.

i2L Research
Cardiff: Closed between Friday 24^th December and Tuesday 4^th January.
Newcastle: Closed on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th & Friday 31^st December, and Saturday 1^st January.
Spain: Closed on Friday 24^th & Friday 31^st December as well as Thursday 6^th & Friday 7^th January.
Baltimore: Closed on Friday 24^th & Saturday 25^th December as well as Saturday 1^st January.
Czech Republic: Closed on Thursday 23^rd & Friday 24^th December.

Elab
Closed between Friday 24^th December at 12:30pm and Tuesday 4^th January. For full details of our laboratory and courier arrangements over the holiday period, click here.

IES
Running a limited service between Friday 24^th December and Tuesday 4^th January. For full details of our laboratory and courier arrangements over the holiday period, speak to your usual IES contact.

NRM has published its annual soil summary report for 2020-2021, with consolidated data from thousands of soil samples across the UK. Results show that two thirds of most soils are deficient in the key nutrients of phosphorus, potassium and magnesium, continuing a trend of almost 30 years.

As the UK’s leading provider of soil analysis, NRM has been gathering soil analysis data since 1995. This year’s soil summary includes data from soil samples collected between June 2020 and May 2021, allowing farmers and their advisors to understand current nutrients status across the UK, to benchmark against other farms with up-to-date data, and to consider how to improve soil health to optimise crop production.

For the first time, NRM has also published consolidated data on soil carbon, following the launch earlier this year of its CarbonCheck service. With almost 1,500 farms sampled to date, early analysis of the data supports the idea that different types of farms and different soil management practices influence the amount of organic carbon within the soil.

‘We’re using our summarised data to help farmers and their advisors understand more about soil carbon and which farming practices build carbon levels,’ said Alli Grundy, Agronomy Manager at NRM. ‘There is not only a productivity benefit to improving soil organic carbon, but also an environmental benefit. We will continue to add to the data as we sample more farms, which will enable us to paint an accurate picture of the soil carbon landscape across the country over time.’

Developed by NRM following consultation with industry experts, agronomists, and government advisors, CarbonCheck measures organic carbon as part of a comprehensive analysis suite, providing a benchmark for carbon markets and enabling farmers to monitor their soil health. Click here for our advice sheet on CarbonCheck.

‘There are some fascinating trends already, and these truly demonstrate the importance of measuring soil carbon levels,’ continued Alli. ‘For example, cultivated land generally contains lower carbon stocks and less organic matter because of the introduction of air into the soil as it is moved.’

‘Supporting sustainable food production and a safer, healthier planet is a core focus of Cawood,’ said Simon Parrington, Chief Executive Officer at Cawood. ‘As the leading provider of soil analysis services in the UK, Cawood is in a unique position to gather a large amount of data for representative results. We’re delighted to share this information with the industry to help farmers meet their goals.’

Marchwood has developed a new method for monitoring low level acrolein using GC/QQQ, increasing the division’s testing capability and improving the accuracy of results.

‘Our ability to develop new methods reflects our position as the UK’s leading specialist laboratory for independent occupational hygiene analysis,’ said Jenny Wraith, Business Development Manager at Marchwood. ‘With a short-term exposure limit of 0.05mg/m³ and a long-term exposure limit of 0.12mg/m³, acrolein poses a real challenge when compared with other aldehydes. Our expertise in the occupational hygiene sector has enabled us to solve this issue using GC/QQQ, which is up to 1000 times more sensitive than standard single quadrupole GC/MS.’

By using an XAD tube treated with 2-hydroxymethyl piperadine (SKC part no: 226-118), a stable derivative can be measured at levels equivalent to 0.017mg/m³ on a 3L sample, and 0.001mg/m³ on a 48L sample. This extra capability facilitated by the more sensitive GC/QQQ instrumentation means that results are more accurate at lower exposure levels, enabling our customers to protect their people more thoroughly.

‘Ultimately, this new method helps workplaces and occupational hygienists to remain compliant whilst safeguarding employees and customers,’ continued Jenny. ‘Cawood is always focussed on finding new and improved ways to meet customer requirements. This new method is the latest in a long list of recent innovations designed to enhance our services while supporting a safer, healthier planet.’

View a full list of our occupational hygiene services here.

Sciantec has added shelf life analysis to its list of expert services. The tests help animal feed and commodities manufacturers in the aquaculture, equine, farming, zoo, pet, and specialist animal feed sectors maintain compliance with relevant industry guidelines and meet animal welfare standards.

‘Putting accurate shelf life dates on packaging means the customer can be certain that the quality of the food is the same from the day the pack is opened until the last morsel is consumed,’ said Rachel Rawson, Business Development Executive at Sciantec. ‘This makes animals happy, healthy and thriving. It also minimises the risk of customer complaints, or even legal action due to products becoming unpleasant or unsafe. So, finding a balance between selecting a shorter shelf life, which can result in throwing away products earlier than needed, or a longer shelf life, which can lead to disappointed customers, is key. Our specialist, reliable service helps manufacturers reduce wastage and build customer satisfaction.’

The service tests the safety and quality of all kinds of feeds and raw materials and the deterioration of their quality over time. This includes tracking the development of dangerous bacteria in specified conditions. Storage options include a range of temperature and relative humidity conditions, study duration, and analyses. The durability and sustainability of packaging products can also be tracked using photography to see how they behave over time and in specified conditions.

‘With more environmentally-conscious consumers than ever before, we are seeing a lot more requests to record changes to different types of packaging,’ continued Rachel. ‘This has been useful in helping manufacturers meet their customers’ constantly evolving demands. We look at the appearance of features like bags, glues, seals, and printing media to see how packaging behaves over time, which in turn could affect its contents. Supporting the use of greener packaging also helps us align with Cawood’s mission to support a safer, healthier planet.’

Sciantec’s shelf life package includes a 1-1 consultation and bespoke design to suit analysis parameters for full visibility throughout the study. A Certificate of Analysis is provided at every time point as well as a comprehensive final report.

Quality indicator tests are also available to check the quality of a product by observing its deterioration in certain conditions. Tests include:

• Quality Indicator Tests
• Pepsin digestible protein
• Anisidine value, peroxide value, or TOTOX
• Biogenic amines
• Free fatty acids
• Impurities in oil
• Starch gelatinisation
• Water activity

For more details, read part 1 of Rachel’s blog on shelf life here.

Cawood is growing its soil testing team to meet unprecedented customer demand, creating 45 new jobs in rural Norfolk.

Cawood is significantly expanding its existing soil testing laboratory in Swaffham, Norfolk, with technically advanced instrumentation, enhanced facilities, and additional team members at all levels. This provides a fantastic opportunity for those in the local area looking to start their career in agricultural testing, take the next step, or lead a team at a state-of-the-art laboratory at the forefront of its sector.

As the UK’s largest agricultural soil testing facility, NRM, based in Swaffham and Bracknell, analyses hundreds of thousands of soil samples every year. Its services help farmers and advisors benchmark soil health and tailor fertiliser requirements to optimise crop production.

‘Increasing our capabilities for our customers to help them unlock the value of their data is one of our key strategies,’ said Sean Stevenson, Commercial Director at Cawood. ‘This extra capacity will allow us to meet our customers’ needs even more efficiently and effectively than before, as well as open up a large number of job opportunities in the local area as we recruit.’

As well as soil fertility, demand for benchmarking baseline soil carbon levels to help guide future farming activities and carbon sequestration has also soared. The company’s CarbonCheck service, developed by NRM following consultation with industry experts, agronomists, and government advisors, measures organic carbon as part of a comprehensive analysis suite, providing a benchmark for carbon markets and enabling farmers to monitor their soil health.

‘Since its development a couple of years ago, CarbonCheck has been key to helping farmers throughout the UK along the journey towards more sustainable farming practices,’ said Simon Parrington, Chief Executive Officer at Cawood. ‘Supporting sustainable food production and a safer, healthier planet is a core focus of Cawood. We’re delighted to help support the sustainable future of farming as well as the local economy.’

Cawood is hiring new laboratory colleagues for a variety of roles, from entry level to experienced analysts. Anyone who is interested should visit our careers page to see what working for Cawood is like, and email HR@cawood.co.uk with their CV.

Sciantec is adding multi-residue pesticide analysis to its scope of UKAS accredited analysis services. This service, which tests foodstuff and feedingstuff commodities bound for food, feed, and drink for pesticide residues, not only broadens the division’s already extensive capabilities, but also satisfies the EU’s legislation for undesirable substances in feedingstuffs.

‘This new test is very exciting for us as we can now test all commodities bound for food, feed and drink in-house in a fully comprehensive service,’ said David Elo, Technical Commercial Manager (Contaminants) the Cawood Group. ‘The accreditation also allows us to be recognised worldwide for our competency in testing the safety of commodities such as soya, wheat, oils and fats, fishmeal, feeds, premixes and feedingstuffs for pesticide levels, which gives us a comprehensive contaminants package for our customer base.’

Sciantec’s latest investment in GC/MS triple quadrupole technology has enabled them to quantify hundreds of pesticide residues in lots of commodities from overseas trading companies and food/feed producers. This ensures they meet stringent UK and EU requirements and keeps the commodities that we consume as free from contaminants as possible to not pose a risk to human health.

‘Monitored food and feed production and protecting the food chain are key to providing both human and animal health and safety,’ continued David. ‘As adverse effects from pesticides and other contaminants only occur above maximum permitted levels of exposure, we are proud to play a crucial role in ensuring all the commodities that are bound for the food chain are safe for consumption.’

For more details on our pesticide residue testing services, contact us.

Marchwood has added further RDF/SRF analysis services to its extensive list of UKAS accredited methods. These testing parameters for loss on ignition and determination of biomass by CV and total carbon take the division another step closer towards Cawood’s pledge to support a safer, healthier planet.

‘We are proud to have been recognised for our competency and compliance for these parameters to national and internationally recognised standards,’ said Simon Rudd, Environmental Business Development Manager at Marchwood. ‘To give our customers absolute confidence in Marchwood, we are working towards having all our services fully UKAS accredited. This is another step towards fulfilling that goal.’

Marchwood’s SRF/RDF analytical capability assesses the energy value of waste materials through combustion, giving both a gross and net calorific value figure. The energy is generated from the non-recyclable waste stream prior to processing, which can be assessed both by suppliers of RDF/SRF as well as the energy recovery plant.

‘With the UK’s landfill capacity falling significantly every year, it is becoming more and more important to use wood waste as well as non-recyclable municipal waste, or household black bag material, for energy recovery,’ continued Simon. ‘Not only does our analysis help customers remain compliant, it helps reduce CO₂ emissions. Landfill ultimately should be a last resort, and we are contributing to a safer, healthier planet by helping society reuse waste effectively.’

For more details on our energy recovery services, contact us.