The Farmers Mart Aug/Sep 2013 - Issue 29

Jono dixon - sunk island more together than I think we have ever been before. For instance, I now know just how much sheep and cattle farmers in Cumbria struggled during the snow and harsh conditions last winter. eradicate it. I don’t give up on things easily. We’re allowed to burn heather and linseed straw so I cannot see why in certain circumstances stubble burning couldn’t be allowed.” ‘One of Jono’s current concerns is the controversial issue of stubble burning.’ “At Club Hectare I believe we all care about each other - whether you are a farmer from Australia, New Zealand, the North West of England or the US. One of our members who recognised the plight of some farmers in Cumbria, has recently donated and delivered free, supplies of forage and straw.” One of Jono’s current concerns is the controversial issue of stubble burning. Through Club Hectare he is hopeful that a campaign can be waged to allow it once again in England. “It was banned in 1993 and I can understand why people don’t want a return to it, but for high levels of blackgrass infestation it is the only real way forward to Jono was born on the tenanted Crown Estate land where his parents, David and Anne, farmed and he has lived here all his working life. The farm, which has always been a crop growing enterprise, also had pigs until five years ago. “It’s been down wholly to winter wheat for the past 11 years and we grow JB Diego, Beluga, Oakley and Grafton. We look for better standing power and each of these give us that. We sometimes buy half a tonne of a new variety, in fact we tried a tonne of Invicta last year but it didn’t perform. “We operate within quite a small harvest window and aim to get everything completed inside 14 days. The combine covers in excess of 1,000 acres as I am involved on the arable side with my brotherin-law Chris Kirkwood, who owns and runs Kfresh Eggs at Rimswell. “All of our wheat goes to Chris and is bought at market price. He uses it as feed for egg production – so you could say that what we get for our wheat really is chicken feed! “I’m a big believer in later drilling and last year we had our autumn cultivation work 99 percent finished before the weather finally stopped us in our tracks on 20 October.” Whilst Jono has embraced the likes of Twitter and to a lesser extent Facebook, he also utilises precision-farming methods and sees them as essential to his farm’s productivity. “We apply fertiliser on the basis of what the N Sensor shows us and over the past six months our tractors have been rigged with RTK steering - so we fully understand about satellite mapping and improving yields. “Precision farming is a vital tool for the farm’s success and we would not want to be without it,” he admitted. Jono runs a Claas Axion tractor and a Claas Lexion 570 combine. He uses a Bateman sprayer; a Stewart trailer; and Vaderstadt cultivation equipment. You can join Jono on Twitter by tweeting him on @sunkfarmer and the group on #clubhectare Seward are proud to support Jono Dixon & the use of Social media www.eastern.class-dealer.co.uk To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk FarmersMart Aug/Sep 2013 51

The Farmers Mart Aug/Sep 2013 - Issue 29 | Page 51