Good morning imaginary readers. There has been so much going on this week that I've had plenty of choices for a subject each day. Some of the things that haven't made the cut were the excitement surrounding the arrival of the new corporate polo shirts for the packhouse staff, my dispute with a petty lorry driver (who was wearing one of those absurd bluetooth earpieces - funny article here about mobile phone etiquette), the installation of the new bunching line (a bit like this one)our environmental audit and my presentation to a supermarket buying team. I'll try and pick up on these things later on - we might not have so much choice of subjects once we get into boring November.
I thought today I should mention last week's new arrival. The new John Deere arrived on Monday.
I can't tell you much about it because I haven't been on it yet. The computer screen which seems to control everything looks a little complex but Chris tells me that this is because I am an old man. He says I may never understand it, I think this is a ploy to stop me from driving it. So far it seems to be working.
We have been running Case tractors here for about a decade. We have a Case SP3000 sprayer too.
We really agonised over the change. This time the price difference between Case and John Deere was smaller than in the past and, in line with current trends, we decided we should try going green. It is complicated here because we only have a small acreage and don't do many hours on the tractors. It is difficult to know when to change them. In the past we used to have a spending spree after a good potato year and buy used equipment.
We have changed this philosophy after starting to factor inflation and repair costs in the (fag packet) calculations. We now buy new tractors at more structured intervals using the manufacturer's subsidised finance. This goes against my old-fashioned values of wanting to buy everything outright with cash but makes much more sense. Our aim is to change one a year (with the teleporter and sprayer renewed every six years). This means the 2004 MXU100 should be changed next spring with 2000 hours on the clock. You will have to remind me of this next year when I start wondering if I can make it last another year.
Matthew - you're hardly an old man. Don't forget to remind Chris you're blogging now. That should impress him...shouldn't it?!