The Farmers Mart Oct/Nov 2014 - Issue 36 | Page 28

ARABLE

Yorkshire farmers at new
Monitor Farm project
A group of Yorkshire
farmers met on 1 July at
the first event of the new
HGCA Monitor Farm near
Driffield, hosted by farmer
Phil Meadley and his
family.
The 20 local arable growers
discussed common issues
facing their farms, as well as
Phil’s. Topics raised included
the impact of mycotoxins on
flour milling, soil health and

biosolids, the cost benefits of
GPS technology, precision
farming, and the relationship
between yield and cost of
production, on which Phil
revealed that his cost of
production for his 2013 first
wheat was £114/t, but for his
second wheat it was more than
double, at £237/t owing to
lower yields and higher inputs.
Harry Henderson, HGCA
Regional Manager said:

“This is a powerful message
on knowing your costs of
production. Using HGCA’s
CropBench+ tool can
help identify where these
costs are coming from. The
project’s guiding princi