| Grass & Silage
Grassland maintenance is a high priority
Farming some 1400 acres in Banffshire, Scotland, Paul Grant and his partner Laura George run a large beef suckler
herd and a highly productive sheep unit at Auchanland Farm, near Cornhill. The farm business consists of six units,
three of which are tenanted and three owned, while an additional 200 acres seasonal grazing adds to the enterprise.
Soil type varies from good arable in the bottom to some
rough and stony grazing areas on the hills and with it, a
fair share of rushes that are of course unwanted.
aid Paul, “We have
heavy demands
on grazing
requirements
through the
season and can’t
afford to lose grass production
through weeds and rushes, which
seem to pop up everywhere. I’m a
keen believer of regularly topping
the grazing areas so that we can
maximise our grazing yield
potential.”
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“Now, on the back of my Fendt,
we’ve got the Major which has
folding wings, three enormous
rotors with three blades each
and they overlap so we don’t
leave any strips of uncut
rushes”
Previous grassland
maintenance such as topping was
done with a front mounted topper
but it struggled a lot with the
denser conditions, particularly with
rushes. Paul needed something
that was reliable, well built and
quite a bit wider than his existing
topper, so in August 2015 they
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk
took delivery of a Major 4.9m (16’)
Eagle Wing topper.
Paul and Laura use a local, selfemployed contractor, Stefan
Rendall for seasonal work peaks
and grass maintenance. “The old
pasture topper was pretty narrow
and not very reliable,” said Stefan.
“Now, on the back of my Fendt,
we’ve got the Major which has
folding wings, three enormous
rotors with three blades each and
they overlap so we don’t leave any
strips of uncut rushes. It also has
a unique way of following the
ground and so tops everything it
passes. The Major really gives the
rushes a pounding. The pastures
here are looking so much healthier
now because the Major does such
a good job. Maintenance is very
simple and there’s really not a lot
to go wrong.”
The tyres are a 24ply aircraft
tyre that means they are tough
enough to withstand the rough
stoney conditions on the hills, so a
highly durable specification. “I like
to make sure we make the right
choices with our machinery
investment,” said Paul. I can see
the reliability of the Major as being
a good investment for us for the
long-term.” he concluded.
May 2016 | Farming Monthly | 27