Edward Bals - Founder of Micron

CAD Station

Located in the English country town of Bromyard, Micron is the world leader in the development and manufacture of spinning disc rotary atomisers for the Controlled Droplet Application (CDA) of agrochemicals. The company was originally founded by Edward Bals because of his concern about the indiscriminate way in which pesticides were being applied, following first hand experience in tropical agriculture. Recognising the waste and environmental damage resulting from the use of hydraulic nozzle sprayers he set out to manufacture more efficient spraying machines for pesticide application. The story has it that the idea of using rotary atomisation to break liquid into small evenly sized droplets came to him when in a car following another vehicle on a wet road. He observed how the tyres of the vehicle ahead threw up a fine mist of droplets which effectively covered the windscreen with only a tiny amount of water. He saw that if the same principle could be applied to crop spraying a tiny amount of spray liquid could give full and effective crop coverage.

Since then Micron has grown from one man and his obsession to one of the world leaders in spray application technology. The development of the Ulva and Herbi range of hand held spinning disc sprayers for the developing world was followed in the 1980s by application of the principles of CDA to vehicle mounted sprayers, such as the Micromax and Ulvamast and the hand-held, air-assisted Ulvafan and Turbair sprayers range. Micron retains its fundamental commitment to the smallholders in developing world and in 1989 this was recognised by its being the first recipient of the Centre for World Development Education award for long term commitment to sustainable development. Micron remains dedicated to its original objective of providing simple and efficient sprayers to increase agricultural productivity, particularly in developing agriculture, combined with a firm commitment to operator safety and protection of the environment.

With regular sales to over 100 countries world-wide, we have representatives in most countries in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and North and South America to provide technical support and after-sales service. UK-based staff travel on a regular basis to give training and support to our representatives and end-users and obtain feedback for further product development. Micron is recognised as the world's leading authority on CDA and has won the UK Queen's Award to Industry twice, for technological innovation and export performance, as well as a number of other awards for innovation and export.

We remain at the forefront of research into improving spray liquid atomisation with results then applied to producing practical CDA sprayers - a process aided by close links to Micron users, chemical companies, universities and consultants throughout the world. Please contact us for more information.