Some money in potatoes

[stroller]

I often read threads like these with some confusion. Why is it that on TFF labour as a cost is never discussed? All you ever read is a mention of shiny tractors and criticism of anyone running a Fendt as it is such an obvious excess.

Let's assume the weather today is plenty cooperative enough, and harvesting spuds for weeks on end is actually a doddle. Now, I want you to go and find 2 tractor drivers willing to run two little trailed harvesters for say, near 500 hours over the spud harvest. And then go and find 10 tractor and trailer drivers who are keen as much to run the things to store.

Assuming harvest takes about 500 hours to complete (80 hours a week for 6 weeks plus a bit of time to use a grease gun), well the old system used 12 blokes, so that is 6000 man-hours assuming you can actually find someone to sit in the seat.

Why do people seem unable to actually value their own time or that of anyone else? Maybe the bloke likes his self propelled harvester and 240 horse power Fendt and the operators are chuffed as nuts with them and willing to perch in the seat in all weathers?

I always wonder about the number of hours it takes, if you include the extra hours taken to make the bigger tractors and kit or to mine the extra iron ore to make them does it take any less time? I seem to remember reading somewhere that in ancient times it was possible to buy a good set of clothes a belt and some decent shoes for an ounce of gold. If you go to a London tailors now the same stuff will still set you back about an ounce of gold. The same human effort has gone into the mining, but instead of using a pick and shovel it's spent making the machinery required, in better working conditions.

 

[Phil P]

What does it weigh ? Hard to believe we used to drag Grimme Allrounders about with 80hp 6610's.

Couldn’t tell you to be honest, it has motor drivers on every wheel so should push its self along. They drag it with a jd 6210R no problem but there’ll be some weight with the bulkier full!

 

[Fergieman]

Things are quite often not as they seem but you would hope the man has made some progress over 20 years.

 

[holywell farmer]

The potato industry is very dynamic compared to other sectors within the industry and it is essential to move with the time and keep up with agronomic developments and technology.

Using the 20 year benchmark mentioned earlier we have moved from 3 acre crop lifted by hoover and hand picked into bags to 6 acres lifted by a single row harvester and moved in 3 ton wooden trailers and only last year we invested heavily in some 2nd hand boxes and a rotator so that we no longer have to manually fork from our bulk store into the grader.

Tractor size has increased from 70hp on the hoover to 100hp on the harvester. Some may see this as excessive, but the extra traction from the 4wd is useful more than the power, as is a cab with a heater.

It's nice to look at our operation and know that we are at the white-hot cutting edge of potato growing innovation. I think over the coming years we may look into one of these newfangled automatic planters.

From my perspective it's the sheer cost of spud kit which shocks me

 

[Farfrae]

All has happened is his treadmill has got bigger and more expensive

As some here know I am an ex farmer (or farmer's son) who left farming in the 1970's but now have a smallholding. I recall sitting on the back of an MF 3 ton trailer selling bags of spuds to passing motorists, in a layby on the side of the A41 in Shropshire, for a £5 a bag (no doubt less some years but probably more in the dry summer of 76). I still see bags of spuds being sold at £5 a bag at farm gates. If you factor in the difference in land, machinery and input prices seems like the treadmill analogy is the correct one.

 

[David.]

I can remember well, agonising whether £4.50 was too much to charge for a bag of spuds when we had them.

 

[ollie989898]

I think most are brain washed into needing lots of power when you look back at all the work done with smaller machines, that as we are kept being told ,were'nt that efficient?

By the time you factor in the 6m powerharrow and bedtillers or bed formers the bloke probably has suddenly 240hp isnt excessive.

 

[Still Farming]

From my perspective it's the sheer cost of spud kit which shocks me

If you want shiny new.
Plenty of cheap 2nd hand bits about.
Niche growers.

 

[holywell farmer]

If you want shiny new.
Plenty of cheap 2nd hand bits about.
Niche growers.

Spud kit when goes wrong can probably bring mega expensive repair bills

 

[Still Farming]

Spud kit when goes wrong can probably bring mega expensive repair bills

Unless you got old grey fergy stuff?

 

[Norfolk Olly]

One of the biggest growers this way , also featured on the bbc other evening, having a clear out ahead of fresh kit for next season

Auction sale of well maintained potato field preparation and handling equipment - Sutton Gault, Cambs - Wednesday 11th December 2019 - Cheffins New...

Cheffins Website

www.cheffins.co.uk

 

[Norfolk Olly]

One of the biggest growers this way , also featured on the bbc other evening, having a clear out ahead of fresh kit for next season

Auction sale of well maintained potato field preparation and handling equipment - Sutton Gault, Cambs - Wednesday 11th December 2019 - Cheffins New...

Cheffins Website

www.cheffins.co.uk

 

[Lowland1]

In 1988 a Grimme Allrounder was £38,000 which was n't cheap then. We used to rent land for potatoes but my Dad would never consider borrowing money for the machinery we really needed so it was a long drawn out process. Nowadays finance is much more readily available and acceptable and you can hire or lease just about anything so it's a lot easier to get the kit you need to do the job right.

 

[holywell farmer]

Unless you got old grey fergy stuff?

Spud kit has lots of moving parts

 

[holywell farmer]

Spud kit has lots of moving parts

Which can go wrong

 

[nick...]

More like lots more wearing parts to wear out and replace.
Nick...

 

[Bury the Trash]

Keep forgettin to dig mine, must get round to it next week ..

 

[Jon Boy]

How would yields compare now to 20 years ago you would hope that they have improved in that period aswell.

 

[Scholsey]

Can have all the kit in the world to lift it, it can only lift as quick as the grader can grade it, 724s and fancy new lifters can’t pick greens and splits out.

 

[Flat 10]

Couldn’t tell you to be honest, it has motor drivers on every wheel so should push its self along. They drag it with a jd 6210R no problem but there’ll be some weight with the bulkier full!

Never seen one like that. How many tonnes in the bunker?