Straw Walker walks the job!
Jeremy Margesson farms 2400 acres at Burderop Farm House, Swindon, in partnership with his father David trading as Messrs Whatley Bros. Jeremy is the fourth generation to run the farm which they have owned since around 1900.
The land comprises 1,000 acres owned by Whatley Bros plus four other farms which are a mixture of tenancy and contract. Farming practice includes stewardship and entry level conservation. 1,100 acres are devoted to wheat, 350 acres to winter barley, 250 acres to beans and 700 acres to rape.
This year Jeremy will be using his new CX8090 – a six straw walker, 30-foot header machine capable of delivering a max power of 455hp.
This is the fourth consecutive New Holland CX combine that they have owned and run. Jeremy changed his last one after just one season as he believed that with such a good residual value there was a potential tax advantage and with uncertainty about the exchange rate and commodity prices towards the end of 2009 it was the right decision after a good harvest in 2008.
The deciding factor for Jeremy when considering which combine to purchase was the 1,100 acres of wheat. Earlier CX combines on the farm were starting to struggle for power, but their last model – also a CX8090 – proved to be the answer with
ample power and capacity. Jeremy has demonstrated rotary combines but has no issue with his CX. He believes that given the reality of UK weather over the last eight harvests it is difficult to get the big advantage out of the rotary machine with so few full days of ideal combining weather.
To quote Jeremy: “The extra capacity to be gained from a rotary combine does not justify the extra cost for our system.” This is typically around 15 per cent.
The CX copes equally well with winter barley in his opinion, and rape losses are small with the same header and sieves being offered on both types of combine at the time of purchase. Jeremy is also popular with the straw baling contractors who like the straw from the CX, not only because of the quality but also because of the way it leaves it with ‘natural’ ability to recover if it gets wet.
All 2400 acres are autumn drilled using a range of Vaderstad equipment including carrier, topdown, rollers and drill. This means that it is important to finish harvest as early as possible which is usually before the end of August. Any later, and next year’s crop could be jeopardised as groundwork will be taking place at the same time as combining. This is an issue for Jeremy as there is only him and one other full timer on the farm with two self-employed tractor and drivers being brought in at peak times.
General practice on the farm is not to be combining after midnight. Jeremy still believes that his CX8090 is only combining at 80 per cent of its potential and that he could still increase break crops by another 20 per cent and still the CX straw walker machine would cope.
In summary, Jeremy is confident that the CX combine, supported by outstanding service from T H White, gives him everything he needs to harvest his crops. Jeremy has also recently had a new grain dryer plant installed by T H White, with which he is equally pleased.
