At Fulling Mill Farm, Lindfield, they like to do things a little bit different, and with some very positive results. The farming enterprise of D Hobbs & Sons, farm 800 acres of mainly grassland with a 150 head Simmental X suckler herd which are over-wintered in a somewhat unique building - known as ‘the roundhouse.’ The considered benefit to the farming business is that the ‘roundhouse’ requires only one person to feed, handle, sort and manage the entire herd, with minimal input. According to Alison Eggert-Hobbs, “The entire system reflects a highly efficient and cost-effective management style.”
For general duties and cattle-yard use, the farm has a ‘now’ four-year old John Deere 6115R tractor with loader that they bought new from Burden Bros Agri. When they acquired the tractor, they decided that looking after it themselves, with regards to servicing and maintenance, might give them greater flexibility and a closer control of costs. However, when they purchased their next John Deere, a 6215R to handle the heavy cultivations and harvest work, they were getting into a more technical product and that maybe, self-servicing wasn’t the best idea? Added Alison, “With so much advanced technology on these new tractors, it’s not so easy for us to service and maintain machinery ourselves, especially when the technicians from Burden Bros Agri have their smart tablets, which can easily identify any potential errors in the machine. They can take action and rectify an issue before it happens and therefore minimises any peripheral expenditure. We don’t have that luxury on the farm.”