The Farmers Mart Feb-Mar 2021 - Issue 73 | Page 52

technology , a variety of crops are grown . Winter and spring wheat , barley , and beans - spring oats and forage maize and a small amount of oil seed rape . Hybrid rye is grown solely for AD plants - the AD plant side is planned for greater growth in 2022 . ( 3 )

Talking to Tom , what comes across is his passion for growth and development , however not at the expense of the land , far from it . Both Tom and John ’ s ethos is to improve both the land that they own and the land they contract farm . They currently own 1000 acres and are keen to acquire more when available . They have some 4000 acres with contract farming agreements . Contract farming is very much a joint venture between Flawborough Farms and the landowners . The landowners keep their own identity supplying the land and variable costs , while Flawborough Farms supplies all the necessary machinery , labour and management expertise , to establish , manage and harvest the crops .

Tom said ,” Having done this since 1997 means we can use our considerable experience

and expertise to create an agreement to fit our customer ’ s farming and countryside management requirements , whether they are an existing farmer exploring different options for their business , a country estate thinking of modernising their operation or an investor looking to gain from the benefits of being a ‘ farmer and landowner ’, we can tailor-make an agreement to suit all needs .”

These days land management and crop yield are vital to success for any arable farm . At Flawborough , soil health is at the heart of everything they do . Tom says , “ The more we invest in the soils , the more output the soil gives ”. Another important focus for Tom and John , is to farm with the environment not against it . They fully believe that a successful farm delivers economic output at the same time as encouraging the local habitat ’ s wildlife and fauna to thrive .

One of the key ways in which they have developed best practise , is to cut the traffic down on the land , reducing soil compaction . Soil compaction means the land is harder to work and takes

more time , with furrows often not sealing properly . Years ago , when machinery was comparatively light by today ’ s standards , compaction was not much of a problem - whereas now it can weigh 60 tons or more , which can really compact the soil . Tom has managed a remarkable improvement by reducing traffic

from 90 percent to 30 percent , principally by having equipment that has three main spans - 36 , 12 and 6 metres so they all tend to follow the same lines .

Flawborough ’ s crop management has been greatly enhanced by their use of technology with GPS tracking which really making drilling , harvesting etc a finite art with good savings on time and fuel . The aim being to do less and less cultivation .

To manage a modern business of this size , data management and accurate records are of paramount importance . They have always used Gatekeeper for crop recording , operations , variable costs , stocks , and budgeting which has proved invaluable .

Regular communication with both the landowner and supporting agents is regarded as a must . This has been enhanced by the introduction of cloudbased accounts . Which means all parties have their own login and can view all invoices and deliveries . Furthermore , the whole farming process can be

viewed at any time including application , timings , and yield maps .

The final and most important piece of the success jigsaw is customer service . The team at Flawborough pride themselves in keeping in regular contact with everyone , from the largest contract farmer to the smallest supplier . This ensures they can maintain the best in working relationships and solve any issues quickly .

If you are investing in the most modern technology to help manage the land etc , then your next port of call must be your machinery . Tom and John invest in large , very technically advanced machinery that is often admittedly expensive but does offer much greater efficiency . They have designed and developed in conjunction with Hutchinson Engineering some bespoke machinery attachments , 1a 5000-litre mounted tank with full chemical mixing facility . This can be fitted to

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