Are Contractors rates having to go up.

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
I don't know, I was told it was on FB.
perhaps we should count up how much money, was spent on that vast array of kit, and attempt to justify that figure, on the prices, farmers receive for the end product, basically it's impossible. Now a lot of that kit will be leased etc, those bills still have to be paid, l wonder how much of the sale value, will end up, in their pocket.

Farming must have been much simpler/cheaper, when we fed little bales of hay, to stock, baled with your own baler, and only the weather to fight.
Perhaps the big machinery syndrome, has grown with the 'modern farming' syndrome, each driving each other. I rather expect both have hit a rather bumpy patch.

When l started farming, our main tractors were 2 daisy brown, 880 implematics, 60 hp ? and they did all the work on 500 acres, a fordson major, as back up. Today, it's a n holland, 160hp, on 250 acres, with contractors doing all the 'big' jobs, it really doesn't add up.
 

Wellytrack

Member
perhaps we should count up how much money, was spent on that vast array of kit, and attempt to justify that figure, on the prices, farmers receive for the end product, basically it's impossible. Now a lot of that kit will be leased etc, those bills still have to be paid, l wonder how much of the sale value, will end up, in their pocket.

Farming must have been much simpler/cheaper, when we fed little bales of hay, to stock, baled with your own baler, and only the weather to fight.
Perhaps the big machinery syndrome, has grown with the 'modern farming' syndrome, each driving each other. I rather expect both have hit a rather bumpy patch.

When l started farming, our main tractors were 2 daisy brown, 880 implematics, 60 hp ? and they did all the work on 500 acres, a fordson major, as back up. Today, it's a n holland, 160hp, on 250 acres, with contractors doing all the 'big' jobs, it really doesn't add up.

More stock than then though.
 

Lofty1984

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South wales
Maybe contractors should just stick to old kit barely big enough for the job 🤦🏻I’m sure allot of people think contractors sit on their arse waiting for customers to call so they get to go play with their new toys, winds me up because you can bet the ones who throw that dig about shiny new kit are the first to slag the man off if he can’t get to them at the drop of the hat,
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
perhaps we should count up how much money, was spent on that vast array of kit, and attempt to justify that figure, on the prices, farmers receive for the end product, basically it's impossible. Now a lot of that kit will be leased etc, those bills still have to be paid, l wonder how much of the sale value, will end up, in their pocket.

Farming must have been much simpler/cheaper, when we fed little bales of hay, to stock, baled with your own baler, and only the weather to fight.
Perhaps the big machinery syndrome, has grown with the 'modern farming' syndrome, each driving each other. I rather expect both have hit a rather bumpy patch.

When l started farming, our main tractors were 2 daisy brown, 880 implematics, 60 hp ? and they did all the work on 500 acres, a fordson major, as back up. Today, it's a n holland, 160hp, on 250 acres, with contractors doing all the 'big' jobs, it really doesn't add up.
How many employees and how much stock.

Outputs similar?
 

Oscar

Member
Livestock Farmer
I am very surprised re RC Baker selling up as I have seen them in action and met them a few times and it was a very well run operation( I have no connection with them ) . I am not surprised that father wants to retire but always thought there were a couple sons involved but as my previous post earlier states , "my" contractor and son has made same decision . Wish them all well including employees.
 

puntabrava

Member
Location
Wiltshire
perhaps we should count up how much money, was spent on that vast array of kit, and attempt to justify that figure, on the prices, farmers receive for the end product, basically it's impossible. Now a lot of that kit will be leased etc, those bills still have to be paid, l wonder how much of the sale value, will end up, in their pocket.

Farming must have been much simpler/cheaper, when we fed little bales of hay, to stock, baled with your own baler, and only the weather to fight.
Perhaps the big machinery syndrome, has grown with the 'modern farming' syndrome, each driving each other. I rather expect both have hit a rather bumpy patch.

When l started farming, our main tractors were 2 daisy brown, 880 implematics, 60 hp ? and they did all the work on 500 acres, a fordson major, as back up. Today, it's a n holland, 160hp, on 250 acres, with contractors doing all the 'big' jobs, it really doesn't add up.
The bulk of the capital would be tied up in the digestate equipment. He has basically got his sums wrong and ‘bought’ work by being cheap. Those he was working for are not farmers but energy companies more than capable of paying a proper rate for the job. Go and look at his borrowing at companies house.
He has left the biogas companies with a bit of a problem and the outcome will be interesting.
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
The bulk of the capital would be tied up in the digestate equipment. He has basically got his sums wrong and ‘bought’ work by being cheap. Those he was working for are not farmers but energy companies more than capable of paying a proper rate for the job. Go and look at his borrowing at companies house.
He has left the biogas companies with a bit of a problem and the outcome will be interesting.
Will get a special licence from EA to pump it in the river 🙄
 

Pennine Ploughing

Member
Mixed Farmer
The bulk of the capital would be tied up in the digestate equipment. He has basically got his sums wrong and ‘bought’ work by being cheap. Those he was working for are not farmers but energy companies more than capable of paying a proper rate for the job. Go and look at his borrowing at companies house.
He has left the biogas companies with a bit of a problem and the outcome will be interesting.
Is it not something to do with red diesel ?
 

DrDunc

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Dunsyre
more men, less stock
less debt, more profit
somewhere along the way, something went wrong
for an industry that everyone relies on, to survive, we are treated like shite,
perhaps the coming of food inflation, might be our salvation.
Industrialisation

Why pay a man a wage to deafen and cripple himself inside a Davy Broon 995?

Buy this bigger tractor, bigger plough, bigger overdraft, and increase productivity

But now you've sacked the worker, it doesn't make sense to own all this kit, coz the contractor will do it cheaper than the finance on your own stuff....

This seeming exponential increase of machinery prices is just the next stage of industrial development; the family farm reliant upon contractors won't be profitable enough to pay the annual fees, and farms will get bigger, or go under.

Progress

Machinery replaces the people working the land, and the people get to "enjoy" an urban life of luxury 👍
 

Wellytrack

Member
more men, less stock
less debt, more profit
somewhere along the way, something went wrong
for an industry that everyone relies on, to survive, we are treated like shite,
perhaps the coming of food inflation, might be our salvation.

It’s easily explained. Output more costs fall. It’s easy to see how the Merry go round gets going..
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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