Reducing risks buys the time to widen interests
Reducing risks buys the time to widen interests
TAKING on the running of a 400ha (1000 acres) all-arable farm is no mean feat. Yet that is just what Rebecca Rayner is doing at Glebe Farm and Penn Farm in Cambs, where she is taking over the reins from her mother Elizabeth Rayner, who has run the farm since Rebeccas father died in a farming accident five years ago.
This is a challenge Ms Rayner is tackling head on. Realistic crop management, backed up by a recently-acquired BASIS qualification, plus careful business planning are the cornerstones of her strategy.
"We struggle to do much over 7t/ha on this chalky land because it is too light to push crops much harder, so we look to tailor inputs accordingly. We are also aiming to keep costs at bay and are working hard to hold down overheads," she says.
Indeed, conventional crop husbandry is only part of her plan for the business. "We want to be in business in the long-term and on this land crop production is not going to be enough on its own. So we need to diversify and that means we need to find enough management time to develop new enterprises as well as look after the crops."
To achieve that, Ms Rayner is adopting a simple system. Given the 25-mile distance between the main Glebe Farm base at Kings Ripton near Huntingdon and Penn Farm near Cambridge, it is doubly necessary.
"We are running a wheat, rape rotation, with just one or two varieties of wheat on each unit to keep management, marketing and storage simple." Day-to-day operations are overseen by the farm foreman.
That allows Ms Rayner the time needed for diversification, but she still retains a close involvement in the crops.
"Our staff know the fields and know the crops and can make a big contribution to their management. But I like to see what is going on, too, and work closely with our agronomist to develop recommendations."
Risk avoidance means winter peas and beans have both been dropped. "Their gross margins didnt match oilseed rape, even with rape at £110/t."
Wheat at Penn Farm is Reaper and Consort, chosen for their better disease tolerance, while Glebe Farm is all Riband. Feed grain for export markets is the goal, commanding a £2/t premium over domestic feed.
Establishment follows a conventional pattern of plough, roll, pig tail tine, combination drill and roll. Ploughing is favoured to keep slugs, blackgrass and brome at bay.
Target drilling date has been 24 Oct with Baytan seed treatment to hold yellow rust and stimulate rooting and tillering. But Ms Rayner is keen to come earlier. "We seem to be getting wetter autumns, so an earlier start would make sense."
Last years wet conditions meant herbicides were delayed until spring. To contain costs and maximise weed control where problems were worst, different batches of spray were mixed in the yard and used on different parts of the field to combat significant wild oat and blackgrass problems.
Nutrient levels are checked every three years and P and K levels maintained by adding the nutrients to the liquid nitrogen applied in spring. "Using liquids has helped us reduce field passes," says Ms Rayner.
Cost control carries over to fungicides. "We dont have the yield potential here to justify strobilurins so keep to a tried and tested triazole programme of Folicur with chlorothalonil if yellow rust is a worry. Mildew is not a concern."
Variable costs total £239/ha (£97/acre), which given the average yield of just 7t/ha (2.8t/acre) works out close to the national average of £34/t.
With little scope to boost yields within the current low input system, Ms Rayner is turning her attention to overheads. Machinery and labour for the farms has been merged, reducing staffing by two men to two full-time workers and three harvest students.
Running two Fastracs cuts journey time between the farms and a 24m sprayer for liquid fertiliser and spray applications speeds crop treatment.
Two six year-plus Claas 118 combines provide ample capacity at minimal cost. "Well keep running them until they cost more in repairs than it would cost to buy a new machine," says Ms Rayner.
To save two tractor passes this autumn, the pig tail tine will be carried on the front of the drilling tractor, while Avadex (trifluralin) granules will be applied from the back of the following rolls.
The simple, risk-free approach is Ms Rayners choice. It wont break budgets and it wont break yield records.
But by allowing her to focus time on alternative enterprises Ms Rayner expects to be growing wheat five years from now – something she considers unlikely if no changes had been made. *
Diversification
A stockless organic arable enterprise is one of the key diversifications planned for Penn Farm. "We can get twice the price for organic cereals and, given our yield potential, that is a premium we need," says Rebecca Rayner. As a test, a 10ha (25 acre) block is being converted with 5% legume set-aside applied for the two-year conversion. Organic potatoes worth three times the conventional crop may be grown first, but organic feed wheat is the goal thereafter. "Organic livestock seem to be expanding more rapidly than organic arable. I cant see any let up in the demand for organic feed grain to meet their needs," Ms Rayner says. Other plans include the development of old farm buildings as light industrial or office units, drawing rent of £129/sq m (£12/sq ft). Planning permission has been secured for one already and conversion starts soon. Bed and breakfast and horse liveries are already offered.