Agricultural Contracting
Cultivation Services
Drilling Services
Cultivations and Tillage usually represent approx 35% of machinery and labour costs on any arable farm, and it is an area in which savings can often be made with a little bit of careful thought. We operate a range of equipment in our contracting business and on our farms, and try to match soil type and conditions to the various machines we have, for the best economic advantage.
Ploughing
The year starts with the plough, and unless a good job is made here then it becomes more difficult and expense afterwards. The ploughs we operate are Vogel and Noot 6 furrow auto reset. Sometimes we drop the last furrow off depending on the topograghy of where we are working. Working on the New Holland or Fendt 724's they are well matched and capable of covering all our workload.
Subsoiling
A 3 leg subsoiler with packer roller is available where required. Maize fields are the main area for our work with this machine.
Cultivations
Power harrows are available where needed to cultivate ahead of a drill, for grass seeds or maize seedbeds. We use 3m power harrows c/w packer rollers.
6m Air Drill
The 6m air drill will drill up to 150 acres per day and will put in 12, 18 or 24m tramlines. Very good for grass seeds. Tends to be used in the autumn until the weather breaks, then the combinations play more of an active role.
3m Combination Drills
We run three of these units. All the drills are identical and are used with a front press. These are ideal when the weather is catchy and for small contract jobs, so avoiding travelling with two machines.
4m Weaving Tine Drill
Used where conditions are good on lighter soils where you don't need the expense of the power harrow. This drill compliments the others very well.
Rollers
The rollers can be used either on ploughing, in which case with the cultivator tines in the ground, or behind the drill, with the tines raised. In the right conditions a seed bed can be created in one pass on ploughing. On our soils rolling after drilling with cereals in the right conditions will aid germination.
Maize drilling with or without film
We operate 2 maize drills either with or without film. Our Kuhn 8 row conventional drill with fertiliser placement is responsible for maize establishment conventionally. Our Samco 4 row maize is used for drilling maize with plastic.
Advantages of planting the maize under film is as follows:
• Earlier Harvesting, allowing the next crop to be established in good time in the Autumn
• Higher yield in terms of MJ of energy and higher starch per acre.
• Spreads the work load at planting and harvesting times.
• Better for the environment in terms of less risk of run off during the winter if the next crop has been established.
• Can enable the farmer to benefit from the £111/ha payment for committing to replant after maize before the 15th October.
Spraying
We have specialised in crop spraying and fertiliser spreading since the business was formed in 1987. This was the first service we offered, and at the time we had the only self propelled sprayers in North Devon.
Coming from the original L&K Hilite sprayer, we now operate 2 Bateman RB26 Sprayers. These are 24m machines , 4 wheel steer, row crop and Terra tyres, 3000L tank, hydraulically adjustable axles, and have all the other usual Bateman features including full GPS auto shutoff section control. We are currently running a third RB15 to take care of all the small jobs and to keep us on top of the workload at the peak time. We like to think that anyone who rings for spraying will have it done within a couple of days. Our team of operators, are very experienced, and have a good knowledge of the chemicals they are using. We try as far as possible to have the same operator returning to each farm throughout the season, so a rapport builds between the customer and farmer. Full records are kept for every application. Our agricultural spraying prices vary from £4.00 - £4.75 per acre depending on the size of the job. We have a minimum charge of £60 per visit.
Liquid Fertiliser application now available.
Bowser
Our 10000 litre Bowser supports the above machines when required. This increases the sprayer output considerably and helps us keep up to date with chemical applications at peak times.
Dung Spreading
We operate 2 rear discharge dung spreaders for the spreading of FYM, Sewage sludge, chicken manure and many other organic materials.
For slurry we run 3000 gallon tankers, on wide LGP tyres. With a 11,000 litre pump and a 50k tractor for quick turnaround between loads.
Combining
This years harvesting machinery line-up is as follows:-
• CLAAS LEXION 550 4WD c/w 22ft header
• CLAAS LEXION 750 c/w 30ft header on tracks
We have further capacity supplied from two outside contractors, to keep our customers happy in difficult weather periods.
Trailers
We run a fleet of trailers from 8 to 18 tonnes, to support the combines.
Baling
CropMech can provide a complete service from mowing to stacking.
Quadrant baling
This baler produces a straw or Hay bale 120cm * 70cm bale weighing between 350 and 400kg, depending on the material. They have 6 strings and will stand more abuse than a 4 string bale, and due to their shape are easier to transport.
For Haylage the baler is supported by a McHale wrapper to ensure the best quality bale available. Our Merlo is available to stack and handle the bales where required.
We travel nationwide with our square balers to be able to assist in the straw harvest elsewhere in the country. Please call the office for more details.
Round Baling
We are able to offer standard round baling or large diameter bales produced with belt balers.
Tub Grinding for hay and straw
This machine is available for grinding hay and straw to improve the use of these feeds in diets. It is capable of producing in excess of 10 tons per hour. As well as grinding straw for feed we can produce a finer finish suitable for the use of straw as bedding in cubicles applied using a sand dispenser. This same machine can also be used for grinding grain maize withoutputs in excess of 35 tons per hour.
This machine is available nationwide 24 hours/day for grinding large quantities of grains in locations such as Docks.
Grinding of the grains as opposed to rolling brings many benefits including the reduction of starlings, as they can’t pick up the finer processed material.
Fertiliser Spreading
We have specialised in crop spraying and fertiliser spreading since the business was formed in 1987. This was the first service we offered, and at the time had the only self propelled sprayers in North Devon.
We operate a Kvernland spinning disc spreader c/w weighcells and GPS Auto steer for guidance and accurate applications of all granular fertiliser products. The tractor is fitted with either row crop or floatation tyres depending on the crop and ground conditions. A crane is mounted on the spreader to make it a self sufficient operation, eliminating the need for a loader to be tied up.
Liming
Our spreaders are all on low ground pressure tyres, and we use GPS positioning for accuracy in the field. Our Latest spreader this spring is fully equipped to provide computerised spreading to GPS maps. If you have had your lime requirements mapped out on GPS co ordinates, we can upload the information and spread according to the spreading plan.
All our spreaders are pulled with Fendt tractors equipped with loaders for loading themselves on site. This means we are self sufficient when arriving on farm, and don’t need the customer to supply a loader.
We provide a full soil testing service either just for PH, or for full nutrients using NRM laboratories.
Forage Harvesting
We are able to carry out the complete forage harvesting operation.
Mowing with triple mower conditioners.
Tedding with high capacity machines.
Raking.
Forage harvester with grass, maize or wholecrop header with processors.
14-18 ton trailers with 55k tractors.
Buckraking with 250hp tractors.
Nationwide Miscanthus and Willow Harvesting available on request.
Hedge trimming
High capacity hedge trimmer available with skilled, experienced operator. Available for local authority contracts or farm work.
Tractors & Water tankers for dust suppression and percolation testing.
Tractors and large tankers available for hire to service drilling rigs with large volumes of water. Multiple machines available 24 hours/day on request. We have a range of tractors and water tankers available for dust suppression tasks. These are also available to hire for anywhere where a bowser is required, such as percolation tests on construction sites, or for drilling rigs.
Contracting Gallery
