Season over

[Speedstar]

One thing you need to ask your self , how much you like your job and will you miss all your friends and mates by moving away to another job, we have had lads do the same as you moved on to spend more time with the wives and family and in no time they are at each other's throats ,as they are not used to being home all the time , think long and hard as to what you want and do not think selling will take up less of you time

 

[kiwi pom]

@CrevisbigX How about a truck licence and working for a farm bulk feed outfit, or dare I say it, a milk tanker driver? You still get out in the country and on farms, so still involved with ag but more predictable hours, days off etc and home every day.
You'd soon have a list of places where you could get your machinery fix at weekends or days off.
These days I find i'd rather sit in a lay by on a half hour break and watch a forager/tractor for 10 minutes than drive one 18 hours a day

 

[Peppa pig]

I recently went and done my 5 cpc courses to keep my hgv liscense up to date.i know myself if i go in a wagon i will enjoy it and realise its an easier way to make a living away from agriculture.if agriculture had some of the driving hour restrictions hgv drivers have it would be a great industry to be in.

 

[Speedstar]

I recently went and done my 5 cpc courses to keep my hgv liscense up to date.i know myself if i go in a wagon i will enjoy it and realise its an easier way to make a living away from agriculture.if agriculture had some of the driving hour restrictions hgv drivers have it would be a great industry to be in.

If you have driven a truck south of Manchester then you may well change your mind and from the M25 South is just a car park

 

[Peppa pig]

Mybe so but surely being home every weekend and getting paid regular would be a big help.staying away a few nights a week will be no diffrent to contracting in the summertime when you dont see much of family anyways.

 

[Chae1]

Each to their own but I couldn't handle living in a truck for a week. Some seem to think the driving hours is all that's worked but they work long days. At least farm works seasonal, less work over winter months. Hours on lorry the same all year round. Know a few people that have went to drive trucks and returned to farming because of hours and not seeing family.

 

[Boohoo]

Not all hgv drivers live in their lorry. There are plenty of jobs about that are planned around a 9 hour shift. You'll never earn as much on shift work as you will being out all week but it still pays better than anything related to agriculture. Pay and conditions will only get better as the driver shortage gets worse

 

[General-Lee]

Each to their own but I couldn't handle living in a truck for a week. Some seem to think the driving hours is all that's worked but they work long days. At least farm works seasonal, less work over winter months. Hours on lorry the same all year round. Know a few people that have went to drive trucks and returned to farming because of hours and not seeing family.

Takes all sorts but I'm the same!

Heard drivers say glad to take on a job so that they spend the night/weekend away!

 

[Speedstar]

Not all hgv drivers live in their lorry. There are plenty of jobs about that are planned around a 9 hour shift. You'll never earn as much on shift work as you will being out all week but it still pays better than anything related to agriculture. Pay and conditions will only get better as the driver shortage gets worse

We have lads working for us that all so drive trucks paid is better with us and so is the working conditions
It is a case of do what you like

 

[James]

truck driving def not for everyone. I drove one for a few weeks after I got my class 2. never driven one since and do not miss it. would rather be in a tractor and happy at what I'm doing

 

[Boohoo]

We have lads working for us that all so drive trucks paid is better with us and so is the working conditions
It is a case of do what you like

Must be more money in contracting in your part of the world than mine. No contractor around here could afford to match the hourly rate that's available for truck driving. It's not for everyone but it suits me and being with an agency means I choose how many shifts I do.

 

[Peppa pig]

Havent driven trucks for a few years but certainly asking around theres a shortage of drivers and rates are way above ag workers in any sector.

 

[Speedstar]

Pay is not better with us for truck driving , only differance is you are paid to sleep in your tin box every night, if you want make money you need to put the hours in both jobs, best paid trucking jobs are driving a fuel tanker

 

[kiwi pom]

Not all hgv drivers live in their lorry. There are plenty of jobs about that are planned around a 9 hour shift. You'll never earn as much on shift work as you will being out all week but it still pays better than anything related to agriculture. Pay and conditions will only get better as the driver shortage gets worse

If I went back to the UK and drove a truck think it would be a job with no (planned) nights out. Not sure I could do it though, the driving hours rules over there are far too complicated for me
Drivers that do nights out round here stay in a pub or motel, meals provided, so not to bad. Not that I've ever had to do it.

 

[Peppa pig]

Loads of jobs advertised for drivers just now.none of them greeting about what will happen when the sub stops[emoji16].dont think driver rules will change much with brexit as they are europe wide at the moment

 

[ste]

Loads of jobs advertised for drivers just now.none of them greeting about what will happen when the sub stops[emoji16].dont think driver rules will change much with brexit as they are europe wide at the moment

Same around here, but mostly agency and mostly for the pre xmas work, come January you'll be dropped like a stone with no work. Always wary of any HGV driving job offered around this time of year.

Been out of the farming side now full time for 2 years and still the best decision I ever made, got the next week off and instead of rushing around getting stuff ready to get the cattle inside for winter, I'm spending time with my family and enjoying myself. Just booked a week away end of May next year, that would have been a no no before due to silage. There is life outside farming, just depends what your looking for. I did the HGV stuff and stayed away, yes the money was good and its there as a fall back. Now I'm still away and still in a tin box (caravan lol) but get paid a lot more do a hell of a lot less hours and get quite a but of stuff paid for through the company. The goal is in the next 5 years to pay off the mortgage, do the house up and then drop some off the work off and just work part time as and when ( a couple of shifts at the rate we get would do nicely)

 

[Peppa pig]

Sounds like your doing ok its just making that step i suppose.now youve been out of it for 2 years how do you view farming in the next 10 years or so???

 

[ste]

Sounds like your doing ok its just making that step i suppose.now youve been out of it for 2 years how do you view farming in the next 10 years or so???

I think you've either got to have large acreage to spread the costs, be in a niche market, or farm as part of a diversified income portfolio. Land rent will go through the floor. Ours is halfway through a 5 yr FBT and will probably just keep rolling it over as its for a neighbor/family friend who takes good care of it but also pays a realistic rent + % of SFP so if we ever wanted to go back in the land and fences won't have been ruined. But at 80 acres and the need to purchase over half of that back from my brother I can't see that ever happening.

I'll agree it wasn't an easy step to make, and with hindsight I should have done it earlier, but I can honestly say I have no regrets at all. I still get a farming fix occasionally with hedge cutting and helping my neighbor and uncle.

People think that their skills aren't transferable to other industries, but you'd be very surprised. A lot of it is down to the work ethic that is instilled in you in farming, then add in the fact of the diverse range of machines that we can use, some of which are used for a short period once a year but we can still remember how to use them each time without training. The biggest problem I had wasn't what I could or couldn't do, it was the feeling of letting down the previous generations who had worked to build the farm up.

 

[Boohoo]

Same around here, but mostly agency and mostly for the pre xmas work, come January you'll be dropped like a stone with no work. Always wary of any HGV driving job offered around this time of year.

I started working for an agency in the run up to Christmas 2007 and I've never been left without work in January. The chances of being without work in the new year are slim, agencies have been struggling for drivers all year.

 

[DRC]

Had an interesting conversation with a driver that was here for wheat this week. He'd done his 22 years in the army, then did a degree in computer science followed by a master's degree. Worked for ICI and had progressed up the ladder there.
Now he'd put his pension into buying his own lorry. He said he got very frustrated at first, with traffic and waiting at mills, but now had got his head around it, and learnt to just go with the flow.
I've always thought having your own 20 ton six wheeler, with blower would be ok. Delivering feed around farms etc, but I daresay there's drawbacks.