RAGT Seeds UK has appointed Camille Florin as commercial development agronomist to provide technical support for the company’s forage, cover crop and amenity seed portfolios.

Ms Florin will be responsible for delivering key variety-specific information to merchant customers to help their growers make better-informed decisions when purchasing seeds.

Well known as a cereals and oilseed breeder in the UK, RAGT also has strong positions in these other sectors, with dedicated breeding programmes in France and the Netherlands providing a pipeline of new and improved varieties over many years.

“It surprises many people when they realise we are involved with lots of partners, within and beyond the RAGT group,” says Ms Florin.

“For example, Joordens Zaden, a wholly owned subsidiary of RAGT in the Netherlands, breeds and sells forage, soil health and cover crops into the UK via RAGT, and RAGT itself provides forage and amenity grasses to many other companies for use in their mixtures.

“We have much more knowledge of these sectors than many people might think. The aim now is to improve our offering by providing growers with the specific information they need to choose the right varieties for their businesses, based on internal and official trials as appropriate as well as in-field experience.

“Given our extensive plant breeding operations, we have the technical background to deliver this critical information. We can advise which species/varieties fit into various systems, including those that work with different options within the Sustainable Farming Incentive, and provide appropriate agronomy and tailored technical advice so that growers can get the best from them.”

This is particularly the case with cover/soil health crops, where the correct choices can add a lot of value to crop rotations, Ms Florin says. “The aim is to develop cover crop knowledge in the UK market; we really need to consider varieties, not just species, and manage them as a crop.”

Ms Florin undertook five-year course on agriculture, life sciences and the food chain at Ecole d’Ingenieurs de Purpan in Toulouse.

After various internships which confirmed her ambition to work in agriculture, in particular the seeds sector, she took up six months of work experience at Joordens Zaden.

She then worked a further two years at Joordens in sales and technical support and was involved in a several projects with various institutions, including the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands.

She moved across to her current role at RAGT Seeds UK in November 2023.

David Ramdhian, RAGT’s head of forage and soil health crops, Northern Europe, said: “I am delighted that Camille has decided to join us at a key time to help us build on the recent success of our multi-species portfolio.

“The creation of this new position clearly demonstrates the importance of these crop sectors to RAGT Seeds UK and underpins our ongoing plans for growth.

“Our forage grass and maize business has made real inroads into the UK market and we are now looking to expand our amenity grass business too.

“At the same time, we are continuing to develop our strong cover/soil health crop portfolio with a particular focus on more technically based demand.

“Camille will work with customers and partners from an early stage to further develop these sectors, while providing the necessary technical back-up to ensure our crops perform to their optimum wherever they are grown.”