The fruit industry will be sad to hear that recently retired Colin Carter died peacefully in late June after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of April. He was 61 years of age.
Colin was born and grew up in the West Midlands close to Evesham. Living opposite a fruit farm, apples have been in his blood since an early age. He studied History and Archaeology at college but eventually found his way into the plant protection world. He started with 10 years at Rohm and Haas developing a hands-on approach to crop protection sales and marketing, launching products such as Karamate and Systhane with the help of his future employer Mark Tully of Landseer. In 2001 Colin joined Mark to help him in the development and commercial launch of a new storage technology – SmartFresh. Colin worked for Landseer for 21 years with, as Mark says, “a down-to-earth practical approach to talking to growers, not just trying to sell products but giving genuinely useful advice”. This is underlined by tributes from growers.
Tom Hulme and Paul Hamlyn of ACH Farming, Sandwich, Kent, remembering Colin, said: “Our memories are that when Colin visited the farm, we always looked forward to seeing him. This was not only because he was very technically knowledgeable, but also friendly, easy going, and keen to help growers succeed. Unlike many in similar roles, he understood how we think and act as growers, and that made our meetings and discussions that much more useful. Whether discussing storage results and the efficacy of SmartFresh or Trapview, or the timing of Runner applications, Colin always taught us something. As cherry growers we were also extremely grateful to Colin for his hard work protecting and trying to take forward the availability of Tracer to control SWD. Colin had a cheeky streak, and we always had a good laugh with him. He also spoke our language and that’s not the Queen’s English! We miss Colin’s involvement in the industry and were extremely sad to hear of his untimely passing”.
Brian Mcauley said, “I first met Colin in 2014 when I had to take over the fruit storage at Broadwater Farm. I had limited knowledge in this field and Colin was the one who guided me through the early years. We became friends, with him taking me out on his rounds to other farms to gain experience in storage procedures. When I had to complete my yearly staff appraisal it always ended with the same sentence, ‘ongoing training with Colin Carter’ (he kept forgetting to invoice me!), which says it all really. He will be fondly remembered by me and the staff past and present at Howard Chapman Ltd, Broadwater Farm”.
Colin Langridge said, “Colin joined us at Mallions Farm, Marden, Kent to help with the 2022 apple harvest as well as continuing his SmartFresh round in the area. He will be missed by us all here. Apart from his deep industry knowledge, he enjoyed following the Manchester City results and would always be ready to revel in their latest victory whilst ribbing us about our beloved Gillingham’s efforts! Top man Col”.
As Mark Tully says, he will be greatly missed, and the industry thanks him for his service and helpfulness in the industry.