Family machinery business has seen bigger technology changes over the last two decades than the last 30 years

When the crop is ready and the weather is right there is only one focus, getting the job done as quickly as possible while also hopefully not sacrificing yield.

The same state of play can be critical in the life of any farm machinery business, particularly over the last two decades when farm machinery technology has leaped forward so much that anyone who had been happy standing still and offering the status quo has had to change to survive.

“Twenty years ago some arable farms might have run two or three combine harvesters, where now they have one large machine,” says John Jackson, after sales director with Robert D Webster Ltd that has undergone more changes as a dealership in the past three years than its previous thirty.

“Machinery is getting bigger and because of it there is greater pressure if that one machine stops. Farmers can’t stop. They have to keep going, especially with more volatile weather conditions and shorter windows to get the job done.

Former rugby player and livestock farmer learning the ropes in arableBooming farm shop business grows out of a declining dairy herd“Even in the hot summer of 2018 farmers were having to combine at night, because it was too dry during the day. They don’t want to be stopped because a machine has failed; that’s why there is now much greater pressure on dealers to provide that necessary level of immediate support.

“Combine harvesters make up a core proportion of our farm machinery business. That’s been the same historically from when Bob Webster started out decades ago at Burton Fleming. We have many combine customers running New Holland combines across the areas covered by our three depots in Owstwick Howden and now Cranswick.”

In 2016, Mike Cowell was approached to take over as managing director of Robert D Webster Ltd. He immediately set about providing a new approach that included a move from the previous depot at Kilham to new premises in Cranswick last year, offering customers and suppliers much improved transport links and a new country store, modelling the existing depot at Howden.

“My initial tasks were to find a new location for our Kilham site, as it was always off the beaten track and had proved more and more difficult getting big machinery in and out of the village; and to put people in the right positions.

Fortunately, I knew one or two who had worked with us previously and were delighted to see what was happening with the company and come back on board. We restructured the board in 2016 and made further changes again last year with myself, my wife Emma, my father-in-law and mother-in-law Tom and Jackie Thompson, our accountant/financial director Simon Berry and John (Jackson) now making up the new board. It is now a business that is very much moving forward, there’s no standing still.”

Teamwork is essential in any business and Mike believes that is as important as understanding new technology.

“We’ve had and still have some very good people in the company,” says Mike. “And we now want to move everything even further forward. We received a Dealer of the Year award from New Holland last year and we are now developing a one-stop shop line-up of farm machinery franchises where traditionally we had just two main lines with Manitou being our other.”

Chris Smith is the group sales manager. He believes that the farm machinery market hasn’t just changed because of technology but also today’s farming mindset.

“I’d say that generally the farming community is more educated and business minded today. Many farmers’ sons go away to universities such as Harper Adams and Newcastle where they learn about the business end of farming and financial considerations and when they come back on the farm they know not just what they want, but what will be most appropriate.

“Farmers farm in a business-like way and make decisions based on financial viability.

“Our market share is phenomenal against the national average for New Holland dealers where in the East Riding of Yorkshire our three depots made up an extremely healthy percentage of all new combines sold in the area last year.

A success which has led to Webster’s being named as New Holland Combine Dealer of the Year this week.

“The aim is to have more strings to our bow, so that when one sector is not going so well, we have others that are.”

Perhaps the most telling news of all is in the approach the company now has to the events it will be attending.

“We’ll be there bigger than ever this year and with all of our expanding range of franchises,” says Mike.