Like I said we have someone on a self employed basis from march through to October on and off but full time from July until end of October. Works really well she has a number of other work such as her own tractor and hedge cutter some livestock and burger van at shows.
One Man to a Thousand Acres
- Thread starter DrWazzock
- Start date
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
No, this is a load of rubbish. He's a miserable barsteward who spends all of his time watching Lord of the Rings alone.
Pieces_of_Eight
Member
Hmm maybe I should take up golf in preparation
Hell, that's a bit drastic. Golf is the only reason I do the lottery.
Increased automation and computerising is already here.
Electric cars are now freely available and even petrol/diesel cars are plugged into a computer instead of spanner & hammer tinkering.
If we do not embrace new technology, other countries will. If free trade becomes global, we will need every way of minimising costs and increasing margins.
suffolksmallholder
Member
- Location
- Suffolk
How's that chip on your shoulder? You've contradicted yourself there. No habitat yet there are field margins? Size envy??
Horsepower is cheaper than human power. It doesn't need it's "rights" improved continuously either and recruitment isn't a problem for tractors, just the operators. Park a machine in the shed & take the key out of the iginition. Simple. With the savings in labour we have spare funds to invest in laying/planting 2 miles of hedges every year (no grant aid claimed for that). There's 3 of us on 2200 acres here & we could easily do another 500 acres more with existing kit.
Well I commend your activities. No there's no chip, just observation. ( I'm too long in the tooth to have a chip, my life is fulfilled & full with my endeavours thank you)
I observe the dying trees stuck in the middle of a field where once there was a hedge. Remember the recent discussion on cutting down an oak tree? The areas of prairie farming here in EA where decades go by without any 'giving back' to the land. OK I'm generalising but never bitter just sad that those who have the ability & should also have the moral responsibility to put back/replace that which by their methods they are destroying. Some farming operations are good, some mediocre & some really shouldn't be farming at all. I am not able to put some of my thoughts into words, just actions in my little way where I benefit from my inputs with all the wild-life that we are so lucky to have here on our smallholding.
I can not see how in a month of Sundays a 1000 acre, one man operation will benefit an inch of land when we are only the caretaker for a short life! There's just not the time to give back & I mean GIVE. NOT be bribed by grants.
I don't 'do' rights. I employ skilled people when they are needed. Rights are a moral thing. You either understand this or you don't. Simples.
SS
He's a miserable barsteward who spends all of his time watching Lord of the Rings alone.
Heck. So am I.
Suffolk Serf
Member
- Location
- Bury/Thetford
I would like to think that robotics might take the route of smaller machines- such as the "swarm" idea, this would mean that machinery investment is less "lumpy" (i.e. currently needing 2000 acres plus to justify a new combine, 4000+ acres for two etc.), a small robotic combine might be justified at one per 100 acres, a robotic planter/ weeder per 100 acres and actually help the economics of smaller farm sizes.
Shoot me down if i'm talking crap!
Shoot me down if i'm talking crap!
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
I was thinking about this scale thing this morning. You would be able to get vast economies of scale on the production side of things as the same unit would work on all farms. I think also it could help improve the efficiency of smaller fields too which are currently less suited to huge machinery.
Benefits too in that small things don't have quite the same safety worries in the event of machinery malfunction. Gone awry they couldn't flatten a nearby house or take down an electricity pylon. Also, if one broke down in the middle of the night, the rest could carry on and the farmer doesn't have to haul his backside out of bed to fix one massive machine that can't be left broken for long.
I still can't quite get my head around the idea of multiple small units. It seems as if they should spend nearly all of their time going back and forth to fill up with spray / seed. However, looking for analogues in the wild, I suppose bees do it like this. But then why have bees got it right whereas deer (a huge thing that supports itself and doesn't need to return to base) haven't?
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
I was joking, but I'm not sure if you are!
Actually, as we speak I am watching lord of the rings but with girlfriend. I suggest you do the same and leave those scientific journals alone for a few days.No, this is a load of rubbish. He's a miserable barsteward who spends all of his time watching Lord of the Rings alone.
Daniel
Member
- Location
- Mildenhall, Suffolk
If little tractorbots are knocked out for a few £ks each then surely that helps small farms as much as large ones, you just buy less of them if you are a small time peasant, and more if you're Mr Big Schoffel wearer?
Pieces_of_Eight
Member
Small robots could completely revolutionise the layout of the countryside, in the same way that pivot irrigators have produced circular fields.
The robots would have their charging dock and fert/spray/seed depot in the centre of the field, possibly even in the form of an artic trailer (with PV cells). This would replicate the bee hive and be a focal point for all their activity. There would be an optimal field size based on their battery range and carrying capacity.
No, I was watching Hobbit in 3d with my child.
suffolksmallholder
Member
- Location
- Suffolk
There was an interesting article on R4 today. Robots in farming. Worth a listen.
SS
SS
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
Pleased to hear that reading How to Win Friends and Influence People helped polish your technique!
- Location
- Berkshire
Some aspects of “swarm robots” I’m struggling to get my head around, although I’m happy to learn !!
Most crop protection products rely on being applied in a timely fashion to achieve the best results, in a typical season with short windows, how does transporting and setting up some knee high minionesque robots on a field by field basis achieve this ??
Same with drilling, I want to drill, say, 400 ha of WW in a 10 day period in the middle of October, 10 days with a 6m drill or months with a swarm of these things ??
All the above can only lead to lost yield ....
I can’t imagine unmanned devices being left to slap on pesticides next to houses and places of work ever being given the green light, too much room for error to ever be allowed in our ever more restrictive legislative world we now live in...
I think these swarms will have some successful niches in say, weeding high value salad or veg crops or targeting BG in a growing crop over a largish time period over winter, but I’m struggling to see how they are a replacement for tractors, sprayers and combines etc.
They may also work on large open plains of the US / Canada, Russia etc, but spread out UK farms with lots of roads and gates etc ??
I can imagine the fun the local towns Yooths could have on Friday night on the way home from the pub, tipping over robots and getting sprayed with Pendamethalin in the process
Most crop protection products rely on being applied in a timely fashion to achieve the best results, in a typical season with short windows, how does transporting and setting up some knee high minionesque robots on a field by field basis achieve this ??
Same with drilling, I want to drill, say, 400 ha of WW in a 10 day period in the middle of October, 10 days with a 6m drill or months with a swarm of these things ??
All the above can only lead to lost yield ....
I can’t imagine unmanned devices being left to slap on pesticides next to houses and places of work ever being given the green light, too much room for error to ever be allowed in our ever more restrictive legislative world we now live in...
I think these swarms will have some successful niches in say, weeding high value salad or veg crops or targeting BG in a growing crop over a largish time period over winter, but I’m struggling to see how they are a replacement for tractors, sprayers and combines etc.
They may also work on large open plains of the US / Canada, Russia etc, but spread out UK farms with lots of roads and gates etc ??
I can imagine the fun the local towns Yooths could have on Friday night on the way home from the pub, tipping over robots and getting sprayed with Pendamethalin in the process
Traffic dodger
Member
All valid points but robots, driverless delivery vans/trucks will all happen. You’re only have to look at the rate of progress in technology, it will only depend on money wether it’s viable or not.
- Location
- Berkshire
I often wonder how many of these critics of larger farms have ever worked on a well run and resourced farming business or are just commenting on fiction derived from their imagination ?That's a big workload - as long as you're happy with the work/life balance then fair play to you
There's too much bias against bigger farm units amongst the TFF membership IMO. There's plenty of room for both big and small scale farm businesses.
Maybe some of these commentators have experienced a badly run estate on their middle year possibly, but I would say there are plenty of badly run smaller farms too, I like to look at farms as being well run or not irrespective of size, big or small....
Well said. Plenty of poorly run farms of all sizes.
I was told of a young bank manger back in the 90's who quit when computers started making decisions instead of his gut. I think I will be the same, the day I have to fix robots is the day I quit farming. What I love about farming is how lawless it still is, you can basically do what you want. If you have to much plastic people still burn it, if your down just jump on the quad that always makes you smile and if you have to lift 4 tonne but the loader is only rated to 3.5 then get some fresh underwear ready and give her hell. I am not against technology per say but it just does nothing for me. If I go and see my younger brother he can not remember a time without computers and is glued to his smart phone, maybe he could service these new robots.
Red Fred
Member
- Location
- Hants/Dorset border
Trouble is, we know what will happen with these little robots- the same as happened with the grey Fergie. The makers will clash with the designer over how big they should be, and start making 3hp ones instead of 2hp. This will start an arms race and everyone will want 10hp Fendt ones before you know it, then 100hp monsters and we will be back to square one.