Arable operations to do myself instead of contractors

[SpottedFlycatcher]

We are taking on our arable operations ourselves, having been in CFA for 12 years (we are livestock/grass farmers historically). We have 90 ha of cereals, 60 ha of GS4 herbal ley in the arable rotation. We have subsoiler, discs, basic tine drill but not really set up for arable, plus grass harrow and air seeder for GS4. No suitable sprayer and no combine. We wouldn't justify buying a combine, but I'm interested to know what people would prioritise in terms of doing it in-house vs contracting. I have all the PA quals and do stewardship and grass spraying, but we would need to buy a new sprayer - current contractor bill will be £8k/yr. I drill all the cover crops and GS4, but still need winter wheat, winter barley and spring wheat drilling (£6k/yr).

So main question is, do we prioritize investing in spraying and sprayer or doing the drilling ourselves, probably buying new drill?

We are aiming for min till/low cost system not necessarily big yields as we use most of the barley and all of the straw ourselves.

Thanks in advance

 

[cousinjack]

Drilling and spraying are the obvious ones to do yourself….. unless you have a particularly attentive contractor near you, who will do them with the utmost care and attention to detail.

 

[cousinjack]

My zero-till drill rates highly as one of my best buys.

 

[SpottedFlycatcher]

Drilling and spraying are the obvious ones to do yourself….. unless you have a particularly attentive contractor near you, who will do them with the utmost care and attention to detail.

I would like to do both. I should have been clearer - what should I prioritise first? I can't afford to upgrade the drill and buy a sprayer all at once, so which first? I'm tending towards spraying as I already do 40 ha with our 12 m sprayer and could easily do all the basic applications on the arable with a 24 m upgrade. We have several options for drill contractors on the area, all with different types of drills, from zero till to combi power harrow.

 

[cousinjack]

As long as you can get someone to do the type of drilling you require, then a sprayer is the way to go….

 

[davidroberts30]

I would say spraying and combine are the 2 most important parts of arable

 

[cousinjack]

I believe there are some absolute bargains to be had in the older combine harvester market…….

and some complete disasters too.. 🫣

 

[SpottedFlycatcher]

I believe there are some absolute bargains to be had in the older combine harvester market…….

and some complete disasters too.. 🫣

So far we are pretty clear on not wanting to buy a combine.... !

 

[cousinjack]

So far we are pretty clear on not wanting to buy a combine.... !

I thought that too…….



till I bought one

 

[Nearly]

Sprayer
6m folding rollers
Drill
Combine
Baler if you're really bored.

 

[SpottedFlycatcher]

Sprayer
6m folding rollers
Drill
Combine
Baler if you're really bored.

Is that in order of priority?

 

[tw15]

If you use ploughing contract that out the rest you could easily do with a 100 hp tractor and good sh kit . Ploughing or other heavy work eats fuel and metal if you have to do it let the contractor pull his tractor to bits and cut his tyres if on flints or stony land .

 

[alomy75]

So far we are pretty clear on not wanting to buy a combine.... !

90ha should easily justify an older combine; TX or something. 25k combine; 25k Bateman 25k Horsch sprinter. Done.

 

[tw15]

90ha should easily justify an older combine; TX or something. 25k combine; 25k Bateman 25k Horsch sprinter. Done.

10 K Sprayer sh drill 10 k combine 30 K

 

[Boysground]

So far we are pretty clear on not wanting to buy a combine.... !

Quite a bit more cereals than you here. Went to contract combine 3 seasons ago. The only regret is I miss driving one.
I would do the sprayer 1st as timing can be critical. Contract different drills so that you can find the right one for when you can afford it.

Bg

 

[Tompkins]

Hopefully I'll soon be in a similar situation on a slightly bigger acreage.
As said before, drilling and spraying have to be kept in house, combining is the one I struggle with. I know it can be hard to get a contractor when you want one but with a bit of planning I reckon it would work. If you're sat on the combine, whos going to haul, tip, push up, move header, etc?? Plus it saves having a lot of money tied up in a machine that you will only use 2 weeks of the year.
Whoever suggested having a baler is a sadist, theres lots of contractors out there with 100k balers looking to do it for nothing anyway.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Err, im farming about 800 hectares of cropping, a range of crops & 2 distinct growing seasons a year.
I work full time in town & use contractors for spraying & harvesting, but I own 2 planters ( for the different crop types ) & do all my own planting.

I’d say if you were only going to have 1 machine or concentrate on only 1 operation, then do the planting

 

[bobk]

A decent sprayer would be my 1st choice , timeliness is next to godliness.
12m isnt wide enough for 90 ha .
Good cultivator and drill ,
Combines are for idiots like me

 

[teslacoils]

Spraying, spreading, rolling, pelleting, crop walking first.
Discing second
Any kind of draft work last.

Thats roughly the order of profitability from 20 years of contracting. If you can drill with the same tractor as the top two, then do that too.

 

[B R C]

Yes, if I return to doing some fieldwork myself then spraying, spreading, drilling and rolling would be the priority.