FARMERS stepped away from the fields and followed the journey of their crops by visiting a village grain factory.

Dengie Crops, a grain merchant, joined local farmers for a tour of Mistley-based food ingredients company Edme to find out what happens to their produce once it has left the farm.

They were also able to see the mills and processing facilities during their visit.

Peter Tichbon, Edme’s managing director, said, “Farmers and food manufacturers need to work together to promote the benefits of our home-grown, home-processed food –a message that is at the heart of our Grain for Good campaign.

“The invitation to our factory aimed to ensure we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet when communicating to the bakery industry and supermarkets.

“Then, they in turn, can extol the virtues of British produce, wholegrain in particular, to consumers.”

Ian Hassard, Dengie’s managing director said it was “terrific” to see the engineering and technology behind the process.

“The visit gave a great insight – the benefits of wholegrain over highly refined products became very clear.

“We might be calling in regularly on Edme’s pilot bakery just to double check what’s happening to the grain we’ve supplied and to verify its tastiness.”