Regular readers will know that after 37 years of farming, Jayne and I have recently retired from our Cambridgeshire farm. Watching our machinery go under the hammer took me back to the auction where we bought our very first tractor.
It was a sunny October day in 1989, at a farm auction near Thorney on the A47, and I remember it well. I had joined the bidding at £1,900 for the David Brown tractor, and I was now in a two-horse race, bidding in £100 increments against a local machinery dealer. But as he bid £2,500, I was aware that I was on my cash flow-imposed limit. However, a cheeky extra £50 bid from me secured our first tractor!
Jayne and I had just gained our first tenancy on 34 hectares of light, drought-prone land in the Fens on the Cambridgeshire/Lincolnshire border, and now we had machinery! Our first autumn was not no-till, and I ploughed almost everything with a Ransomes reversible plough bought for £50. Cash flow was tight, and we both worked off farm, Jayne full time, and I helped other farmers, and sold advertising space.
This concept of challenging cash flow and hard work carried on through most of the next 37 years, with happily more good years than bad. We expanded rapidly, with a move 15 miles east to a larger rented farm at Whittlesey with better land. I picked up some contracting, and in 1994 won the competition for the best-run farm on the Cambridgeshire County Farms estate. As a newish young tenant, the farming press got interested, and it was a turning point for us.
We now had a growing reputation, banks courted our business, and we found ourselves taking on extra land on various agreements. We built a reservoir, started growing more potatoes, and took on my father’s small, owned farm when he retired. Unfortunately, we had some bad years with the potatoes and scaled production down, and as some of the short-term land was reducing in area, I started doing some off-farm consultancy roles to bring in extra revenue.
In 2016, inspired initially by a desire to spend less time in a tractor, we got a LEADER-funded grant for a new direct drill. The Weaving GD 3m disc drill arrived and was another turning point for us. While our small area of heavier land was initially challenging in a no-till system, most of our land responded well, and in 2022 we had the best wheat yields in our farming career, with reduced costs and considerable time saved.
Sadly, this year, with the very hot summer and mostly light land, I must report our lowest wheat yields in our farming career… I think we just scraped 7.5t/ha, although at least it was with Group 1 milling quality. Happily, it was an early harvest; finished in July, and all delivered to a central store straight off farm. This allowed us to get on with the massive clear-up and preparation for leaving the farm.
We are delighted that our landlords have let the farm to a young local couple who were on a smaller farm on the estate. The changeover has been very smooth, and they have established some excellent direct-drilled cover crops after wheat and are direct drilling wheat after our SFI pollinator crops.
The machinery auction preparation got very stressful and busy. We found some sentimental pieces, but also a lot of stuff to get rid of; we had a whole articulated lorryload of tyres taken away for recycling, and lots of oils and paints to deal with, both from my father’s farm and our own. I’m very grateful to the friends and family who helped us get ready for the big day, and the auctioneers from Brown&Co who were very industrious and did a fantastic job.
The big day dawned on Thursday 24 September, with a misty start followed by a beautiful sunny day. We were delighted to see the car park filling up, and the auctioneers also had 150 online bidders registered. It was an interesting few hours watching our stuff being sold. There were a few individual disappointments, but also some pleasant prices achieved, and the total was above expectations, so we were very happy with the outcome.
We then had a busy week loading machinery for collection, with many low loaders heading off on great distances, but also some lots staying local. I hope all our buyers were happy with their purchases. As a rule, all our gear was in good condition and well looked after. It was good to finish as we started, with a good old machinery auction!
We would like to wish good luck to the new tenants. We hope the farm is as good to them and their young family as it was to us and ours. I also need to thank our neighbours, and everyone we have met and dealt with over the years. We have made many friends and will keep in touch.
Indeed, I hope to maintain my agricultural connection going forward, and I am up for more after-dinner speaking, and plan to continue my writing and occasional consultancy sideline.