Significant cost savings at Joint Venture Farming Group

Presenting the results of the group’s benchmarking scheme at its annual conference, administrator Jamie Gwatkin highlighted increases in combine running costs, but decreases in operational crop costs for winter wheat and oilseed rape compared to figures for the previous three years. Eight groups reported on the 2009 harvest.

Improvements

Three group members outlined where significant improvements were made. Edward Hitchcock, of Pelham Farming Company, said the business reduced secondary cultivation costs by 31.48 per cent.

Using a 6.3m Vaderstad Rexius, pulled by a 300hp tractor, had speeded up drilling considerably, produced better seed beds, reduced slug control costs by up to £12 per hectare (£5/acre) and resulted in better yields.

The company sold a 300hp tractor and hired one in on an engine hourly basis from a vegetable grower, who had no use for it from October to April. Tractor costs fell from £21,000 to £8,000.

Will Streeter, of TS Arable, said harvesting costs had reduced considerably, mainly due to a 31.34 per cent reduction in labour costs. This was achieved by using two combines - the business’ Claas 460 Lexion Evolution, plus a Claas 600 Lexion on contract hire, and ensuring the machines never stood still.

Changes to working practice included widening gateways so headers did not need to be taken off, increasing the size of blocks of land and keeping the distances between blocks of land as small as possible. Using good drivers who knew their machines, is important he said, but he put the improvement mainly down to better management and forward planning.

Jamie Symington, of Symington Farms, said primary cultivation costs had reduced by 36 per cent. He put this down to a bigger plough and changing to a crawler, which had doubled the work rate and halved the cost. The business reduced flat lifting as it was slow and expensive, but started drilling oilseed rape behind the flat lift.

The JVFG has 16 full bench-marking members, covering 28,330 hectares (70,000 acres).

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