Earlier this month, over twenty members of Alnwick Young Farmers visited Belford based,Bedmax Shavings, a pioneer within the equine bedding world. During the evening, the Young Farmers saw first-hand the Bedmax manufacturing process, and how the company produce a dust-free bedding with a global reputation. They were also given an in-depth insight into the history of the company, how they have established a global reputation, and why they have created Stockmax, a brand of bedding designed specifically for livestock and with a growing demand from farmers for bedding their sheep during lambing.
Bedmax has established a reputation as a “Dust-Free Bedding”, as such each year there are thousands of tons of dust extracted during the production process. During the tour, the Young Farmers learnt how the dust is then transformed into Hotmax, a heat log, to be used in fires and wood-burning stoves.
Alnwick Young Farmers’ Chairman, Rory Straker from Belford, said the talk was truly inspirational:
“On behalf of everyone, I would like to thank Bedmax for hosting this visit. As a local organisation, close to the Bedmax Greymare plant, we were keen to learn more about the business on a personal and detailed level.
Tim Smalley, Bedmax’s Managing Director, took us on a tour of the factory, explaining the whole process starting from cutting the timber down to the final packaging and wrapping of the Bedmax bags.
This was not only a great opportunity to connect with a local company, but to also learn about their livestock brand, Stockmax, which is specifically designed for livestock.”
Since its inception, Bedmax has worked with and supported many local organisations and educational establishments, however, this was the first time that it has hosted a visit for the Young Farmers.
Commenting after the evening, Bedmax Managing Director, Tim Smalley, said:
“We were delighted to have the opportunity to meet with Alnwick Young Farmers and to show them around the production facilities here at Greymare. There was much engagement, and the visit certainly generated some interesting questions, of course as an exporter they were interested to know our thoughts on and potential effects of BREXIT.
The National Federation of Young Farmers play an important role in supporting young people within rural communities and as a company, we are always keen to support the next generation. I hope that everyone who attended enjoyed their visit and learnt something new about both horse and livestock bedding. And I hope their visit to the pub at Belford afterwards matched their expectations.”
