VIDEO: Humberside barometer says machinery needn’t cost the earth

Walk around the yard of most large arable operations and you are likely to find it littered with the latest and greatest tractors on offer.

But pay a visit to our new Humberside barometer farmer and you will see he is not afraid to run machines with a few more hours on the clock. Jonathan Fenwick farms 2000ha mostly from his base at Beelsby House Farm near Grimsby, Lincolnshire, and does it all with a fleet of high-houred second-hand John Deere machines.

“I can’t see the point in spending so much money on new equipment. In my opinion most people do too few hours in their machines.”

He employs a full-time mechanic to keep them running and compensates for breakdowns by being “slightly over-tractored”.

He has six machines, ranging from a 130hp John Deere 6910, to a pair of 300hp John Deere 8520t crawlers. The highest-houred is a 8520t, which has done 8300 hours. “I expect them to do upwards of 10,000 before I think about changing them,” he says.

The crawlers take care of cultivation, with one pulling a 6.2m Vaderstad Rexius Twin, and the sister machine direct-drilling oilseed rape with a 4m Opico Heva sub-soiler and integrated seeder. “We ran the prototype Nitro-jet system last season and were so impressed we have brought one for this season.”

He believes the establishment cost, including fertiliser, is £18/ha. “It also helps you stay within Nitrate Vulnerable Zone limits as the product can be applied where the plant needs it.”