I am fascinated with the technology and equipment of the farms keeps changing. My nephew Robert now farms 1100 hectares on six different farms. One farm (Garrington) belongs to Robert and his wife Lil.
He manages thanks to increasingly large equipment. This spray machine which covers an area of (I think he said) 24 meters with the arms out can deliver fertilizer and herbicides (after washing out its tanks).
On his IPhone Robert can see where the machine is and what land it has covered that day. He can of course easily text or speak to the driver at any time. One day the driver’s wife had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound as she is expecting a baby and the machine was parked while he went with her and then he knew that he was back on the machine by checking his phone!
All the fields in the six farms are geomapped so that the rotation of crops can be planned each year.
All this is managed with 2 1/2 full time workers. In the summer from July to November he is able to employ a trainee who has finished an agricultural degree and whose family has been friends for years as Molly was this year. It amazed me to see this “girl” driving the huge tractors and the JCB but not the sprayer which needs about a week of training to know how to work it.
Lil (Robert’s wife) who has an MSc in agricultural pesticides and herbicides was a science teacher at a local Grammar School. She now plays a big part in helping on the farm and managing some of the complicated financing and records.
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