Since joining the company in July 2020 for my placement year through Harper Adams University I have undoubtedly had the opportunity to experience a diverse range of activities. An enjoyable part of working within the marketing & sales team, whilst being based at the technical breeding site provides a wealth of diversity. The work location has enabled me to easily switch from marketing to the breeding department. Working with different team members has given me an insight into the extensive work and attention to detail that is applied when breeding new lines of wheat and grass. It has been hard graft; I have planted hundreds of grass plants in the cold of winter, hand harvested wheat plants in the scorching summer and still had time to absorb plenty of technical information. Invaluable knowledge learnt best by getting hands on and involved.
Whilst I have helped where I can with the breeding teams at Wardington, I have also done a lot with the marketing and sales department. It was notably enjoyable when the covid -19 restrictions were eased and we were able to return to events. Although we only managed to visit a few the opportunity to be out meeting prospective customers was greatly relished after only having little face to face interaction over the past months. It was particularly a good experience attending The Groundswell show. With a distinctively positive atmosphere it was well worth the early morning starts to attend!
Next on the calendar was Cereals. Unlike previous years, DSV took the decision to downscale the marquee and remove our popular caterers. Done to enable us to accommodate more people on the stand in a covid friendlier way it certainly didn’t deter from the success of the show. Lots of faces new and old came for a visit. We were lucky enough to have our wheat breeder for one day out of his very busy schedule to give first hand advice on the varieties he has spent years creating, now on the market! We finished a busy few days with a visit from Kaleb and ‘cheerful Charlie’. Great to hear about their work and chat about our oilseed varieties. Maybe we can get Jeremy to grow some DSV oilseed rape??
The end of cereals signified the end of a busy year with the DSV marketing team. I have less than a week left to reflect upon the great wisdom and knowledge the team have imparted on me. However my time at DSV is not over yet. The next step is transferring to the technical team to assist with harvest 2021. I look forward to getting involved in the next generation of wheat plants. Whilst we prepare for a busy few weeks ahead I wish everyone a safe and prosperous 2021 harvest!
