combines

[dave fox]

 

when i left school at 16.. 22 yrs ago wheat was £100 ton.. red diesel was 10p litre and average tractor was less than 20 grand.. rates for contractin in comparrison to todays prices were prob more then than now.. ploughing was £14 acre and theres some round here now doing it for 20... 20 yrs later... think the mid 70's to mid 80's is where the farmers made there money.. some kept hold of it.. or bought more land with it [like my dad and grandad did].. but some didn't.. now theres no way on this earth a farmer can justify payin up to 10 grand an acre for arable land unless they got other incone other than farming..

the cold war kept prices high, as we could not afford to have a food shortage in the world. war is bad for people but good for money!!

[18 stoner]

Some of the quotes arent by those who posted them here for some reasons!

 

Things have changed lots over the years in agric.

 

The most significant things I have noticed in say the last 20 years are staffing levels and machinery size.

 

It appears a more efficient way of farming in recent times has been to reduce staff numbers and increase size of machinery.

 

By reducing "unit" numbers, ie tractors, there are less staff required obviously but other cost reductions are also made, such as servicing, insurance, and even finance.

 

Staffing levels have generally been reduced through natural wastage but there is now a tendancy to only have a bare essential of full time staff and make numbers up at busy times when required. A big saving overall.

 

These measures IMO have been key in helping most farmers survive over the years in what appears to be a relativelyt l;ow corn price in comparison to years gone by.

 

As Nick says, many many farmers made massive profits years ago but for the layman, these days should not be seen as the norm of making a living. Todays turnover and profit is more balanced I feel.

 

Farmers have had to change tack in recent years, moving forward from the steriotypical emmerdale farm type set up, to a modern business run enterprise where the accountant has a much bigger say.

[farmer_ben]

Some of the quotes arent by those who posted them here for some reasons!

 

Things have changed lots over the years in agric.

 

The most significant things I have noticed in say the last 20 years are staffing levels and machinery size.

 

It appears a more efficient way of farming in recent times has been to reduce staff numbers and increase size of machinery.

 

By reducing "unit" numbers, ie tractors, there are less staff required obviously but other cost reductions are also made, such as servicing, insurance, and even finance.

 

Staffing levels have generally been reduced through natural wastage but there is now a tendancy to only have a bare essential of full time staff and make numbers up at busy times when required. A big saving overall.

 

These measures IMO have been key in helping most farmers survive over the years in what appears to be a relativelyt l;ow corn price in comparison to years gone by.

 

As Nick says, many many farmers made massive profits years ago but for the layman, these days should not be seen as the norm of making a living. Todays turnover and profit is more balanced I feel.

 

Farmers have had to change tack in recent years, moving forward from the steriotypical emmerdale farm type set up, to a modern business run enterprise where the accountant has a much bigger say.

 

couldnt agree more with this.

 

I work a 1600 acre unit with the land owner, just us 2 and i do majority of the land work. we only have 1 tractor, 1 sprayer, 1 combine and 1 fork truck. couldnt get anymore effcient really at the moment