Time to take the pulse of farming industry

Farm machinery open days and shows are the traditional curtain raiser in the agricultural social calendar.

They’re a time for reflecting on the past year, a time for looking forward and a time for all of the latest models to be put in front of a generally wary audience, even if it has the cash to buy.

But do today’s farmers have money to spend? Is the agricultural climate looking good and are farmers happy? Days such as those held at the Great Yorkshire Showground on Wednesday and Thursday this week when Ripon Farm Services hosted their annual two-day event; and at Marr near Barnsley, home of another multiple-branch dealership Farmstar on Thursday, are as much a barometer on the current state of play in farming as any chart or graph supplied by an industry expert.

Judging by the hundreds of cars, largely 4x4s, parked at the Yorkshire Event Centre car park by mid-day on Wednesday the event itself is clearly more popular than ever since its move here around five years ago.

But it’s not just cars. Coachloads of farmers arrive from all over the county and one of the coaches brought a party of 20 plus farmers from Holderness. The low-lying land, only a matter of inches above sea level, is renowned for being amongst the most fertile crop growing land in the UK. It has been said that you could shove a walking stick into the ground and it would grow.

Backed by a strong grain price the men of Holderness seem happy enough with their lot at present; however they are keeping a watchful eye on input prices and the weather. Both of these factors can turn any buoyancy around.

Barry Nettleton farms near Patrington, running a predominantly arable concern as well as a beef herd. “The grain market has definitely been a little more buoyant for a while now, but we’re not getting carried away as there have been difficulties particularly with the weather and the rise of input prices generally.

“That aspect is rather worrying, but it’s probably the livestock side that is causing a bit more concern at the moment, especially more on the poultry side where a number are suffering.”

Paul Clappison of Welwick, also in Holderness, keeps a keen eye on the grain trading market and was able to report the exact situation in the market place as he had monitored it as the coach party had left for Harrogate on Wednesday.

“The wheat price had dropped a little but it seems to have picked up a bit today. Feed wheat is currently at between £205-£210 per tonne. Fertiliser prices are still a concern but they’re running a little bit less than the previous year. Overall, yes, we’re not unhappy with prices at present but everything can change.”

Geoff Sleightholme of Park Farm, Scholes, near Leeds summed up 2012 in one word.

“Wet. We certainly had a very wet year but it didn’t end up making a difference to our tonnage and the quality was still good.

“The main problem the weather brought was not getting autumn crops planted. I still have 120 acres to drill yet. It’s still waterlogged. Of what we did plant, including 85 acres of oilseed rape about 35 acres hasn’t come at all. We’ll have to pull that out in the spring and try to get some spring oilseed rape in when it dries up but it’s taking some time.

“It’s also a matter of keeping the rotations of the fields right. I think you’ll see a different picture of the landscape this year.”

Geoff sold his wheat on contract early on in 2012. He was happy with the price he received even though he could have received a better price if he’d held on. He hasn’t had an approach to forward-buy his crop for this year just yet, but didn’t seem too concerned and was enjoying the show at Harrogate.

“Normally I’d get someone coming to look to buy about now, but it’s not a worry. I think prices should hold up well for this coming year, at least I’m hoping so. These events are very important because things are constantly changing and with the cost of fuel it’s important to try to farm by going over the crop less times than we used to.

“We’ve just bought some new kit from Simba, who are displaying here today. It’s all about cutting down on how much you work the land and trying to get more done in one pass.”

Buying new machinery is of course what open days are intended to foster and there is a feeling that the Annual Investment Allowance offering 100 per cent taxation allowance may be a trigger for increased purchases as profits look as though they will be higher overall at the financial year end.

Managing director of Ripon Farm Services Geoff Brown believes this may well be one of the biggest influences on buying new farm machinery this year. “It’s certainly going to be in farmers’ minds and we’ve already received a number of enquiries throughout our branches.

“In certain areas, where yields and quality of crop may have been affected by the weather, this tendency may be offset a little but it’s definitely something that most farmers seem to be taking advantage of.’

Ian McPherson and Rob Doughty are responsible for sales at the Tadcaster and Darrington branches and have already taken orders in 2013 on the strength of better crop prices and taxation allowance. Interestingly they have also seen another change in recent times, which has been accentuated by the poor weather in recent years.

“Farmers seem to have moved back to undertaking their own work on their own land in some areas.

“The reason is fairly straight-forward. If they have their own farm machinery on their own farms they are then not as reliant on someone else who may be undertaking work elsewhere and cannot split themselves in two. That’s become more the case as the rain has continued.’

Bigger toys for the boys

For many years farm machinery events have also been labelled as where the boys get to play with bigger and bigger toys.

The yard outside the Yorkshire Event Centre was a hive of activity with John Deere tractors of all sizes manoeuvring and next week sees an even bigger event – LAMMA, take place at Newark Showground.

It’s now the largest agricultural machinery show of the lot and attracts tens of thousands of farmers.

The 32nd LAMMA Show takes place on Wednesday and Thursday January 16 and 17.