Farmer Focus: Quadtrac sets sail across the big pond
Keith Challen © Tim Scrivener Well, if the gate wasn’t shut before, it certainly is now. Parts of the estate saw over 150mm of rain in November, with one-third coming in a 36-hour period.
Luckily, I was down in the Canaries sampling beer, in a very pleasant 28C.
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Drainage projects carried out last winter have paid dividends, but there is still more to do. The farm digger has proved to be a very worthwhile investment.
Crops on the whole look well, waterlogging on a couple of headlands has swollen and split some winter beans – mainly where the stubble fire was last year.
Last month, I alluded to the fact the Quadtrac days may be numbered. Well, after 37 years of Steiger and then Quadtrac products, the last one caught a ferry across the big pond to pastures new.
The only good thing to come from Liz Truss’s short premiership was a strong dollar, perfect for exporting Quadtracs.
Its replacement will be a Fendt 1050, with eight years’ warranty and servicing included in the package.
The ability to ring-fence costs for that length of time has real value to the business and shows the manufacturer has confidence in the product.
The next job is to find a weight and toolbox combination that gives us 3,800kg of removable weight while retaining tool storage.
Winter jobs are well under way, with forestry projects and hedge laying taking place in challenging conditions.
With a skilled in-house team, we can tackle most things, but it is nearly Christmas and we’ve barely started.
Just outside the office window hangs a bird feeder. Usually, at this time of year a vast array of small birds are queueing up for my free offerings, resulting in a twice-weekly refill.
Unfortunately, there are so few birds currently it has been a fortnight since it was filled last.
I fear bird flu is having a devastating effect.
