The Farmers Mart Aug/Sep 2016 - Issue 47 | Page 54

JFarm
& M Name
Burdass

Sunshine &
farming for
others gives that
warm feeling
Chris Berry meets Tim Burdass in Kilham

» FINDING NEW WAYS TO
contribute to the overall
prosperity of a farming
enterprise is the key to
long-term success for many,
whether arable or livestock
is at its heart. In the case of
Tim Burdass, his cousins,
Charles and Patrick and uncle
Mike, who farm in partnership
under the name J&M Burdass
(which included his father
John, who sadly passed away
four years ago) those ways
forward have so far proven
to be farm contracting - and
more recently solar energy
generation, but they don’t rule
anything out.
“We’re always looking to
diversify,” says Tim. “Last year
we put in a couple of small
solar parks. They are both

grass-mounted systems and
now power the whole farm
here at Dotterill Park where I
grew up, lived here until Katie
and I married in 1989 and
came back to 12 years ago
when my parents John and
Mary moved into Kilham.
“It’s the contracting side
that really helps us today and
makes up the lion’s share of
our income with two-thirds
of the area we now currently
farm being contracted. We
started contracting back in the
early 1990s when we were
offered the opportunity to
contract farm on a stubble-tostubble basis. We saw it as our
chance to spread costs and
it has snowballed from that
first contract. We were initially
working near Fimber and then

54 Aug/Sep 2016 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

gradually extended to Cowlam
and Huggate. The farms we
started working on have either
been sold or have now moved
on in one way or another
but we’ve picked up others
and presently we’re contract
farming around 1600-1800
acres on various agreements
and share farm with our halfcousin, Ian Burdass. On top of
that we also take on seasonal
work on potatoes and carrots
during springtime supplying
machinery and men.
“What it all means is that we
are able to spread our labour
and machinery costs more
efficiently and in so doing can
afford the right kind of kit that
is needed. We have two Class
Lexion combine harvesters,
one of which is new for this

‘It’s the
contracting side
that really helps
us today and
makes up the
lion’s share of
our income’
harvest, plus our main tractor
is a tracked Challenger 865
540hp. It’s a prime cultivation
tractor that enables us to pull
big kit and also at the same
time reduce compaction. We
also run a Case Magnum and a
fleet of four John Deeres. We
are also getting more involved
with precision farming. It all
helps on cost saving. Fuel
overlap through covering the
same ground is now down to