Product Development

Haygrove started developing Tunnel Systems on our own farm in 1993 and starting selling them to other growers in 1996. Year-on-year we develop new ideas and innovations, first testing them on our own farm and then making them available to our customers. The following is a list of innovations made by Haygrove:

Taller legs and open ends

New leg designs for all soil types

Variable bay widths – 5m to 9m wide

Range of new polythene spectral filters tested at Haygrove from work done at BPI and Reading University.

New hinge clamp system saving 8 man-hours per ha

New wire clips (protected by design rights) Estimated saving 60 man-hours per ha

Tree crop tunnels – for cherries and plums. Developed on taller 2.5m legs

New Roping System – the new system uses a continuous length of rope and new Haygrove rope clamp. Reduces time by half and enables skinning in windier weather. Time saved 48 man-hours per ha

SMART End ^® kits (protected by worldwide patent) – new modular end kit design to provide significantly enhanced strength

Steel Gantry systems - to enable the use of trolley systems within the tunnel

Gutter systems^® - development of modular retrofit gutter

Telescopic Tunnel^® (protected by worldwide patent) - introduction of the world's first telescopic tunnel designed to provide adjustable air volume to enable winter covering for evermore earliness

Greenhouse multi-bay series (protected by worldwide patent) Development of a field scale greenhouse incorporating high air volume, gutters, semi-automated door systems, gantry rail systems and new SMART end designs

Streamline doors – for perfect sealing and wind protection for extra earliness

Trellis Series Tunnels that have all the unique benefits of a Haygrove – no site levelling, portable. Trellis tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers up to weights of 30 kg per sq m

Electric roller doors and side skirts – linked to thermostat controls and powered by in-field renewable energy

Patent Pending: No. PCT/GB2003/001806
Patent Pending: No. GB/0300253.2
Patent Pending: No. GB/0324046.2