Church Farm
Pest Control for Farms , Domestic and Office Premises
Pleased to support Dave Blacker of Church Farm
07973 404369 or 01845 577102 www . fletcherpestcontrol . co . uk
Argrain Ltd is proud to be associated with David Blacker
An independent family business serving farmers throughout Yorkshire & the North East .
Grain Drying , and Oilseed Storage . Retailers of Seed Corn , Grass Seed , Propcorn & Fertiliser . Stockists of Animal Feeds and Mineral Supplements . Traders in Straights , Molasses & Brewer ’ s Grains .
Please phone for friendly advice and a competitive price !
Tel : 01347 822322 www . argrain . co . uk Mill Farm , Raskelf , York YO61 3LB
IMPRESSIVE SAVINGS David has seen several benefits since changing .
‘ It is unbelievable how much money we have saved . In the first year I calculated that we had used 35,000 litres less diesel , which back then equated to around £ 18,000 . Using a one-pass system also allowed me to cut on labour and tractor costs . Today , there are just three of us running the farm acreage and the agricultural contracting . I no longer need the tractors I used to hire either .’
Precision farming is one of David ’ s main tools towards greater productivity . His brother Clive , who is a partner in the family farm , owns and runs Precision Decisions a major precision farming company also based in Shipton . They both share the opinion that this is the way forward for agriculture . David was recently a keynote
speaker at the Northern Farming Conference held in Hexham .
‘ I talked about how I use precision farming , how it increases yields and saves money . Autosteer is now accurate to two cms and the N Sensor I wouldn ’ t be without . I can now drill much longer at night after the sun goes down as I no longer have to follow a mark . I can just click a button , let the tractor follow its course and if I wanted I could to read a copy of Farmers ’ Mart as I went across the field ! This also means you ’ re less tired . Before I went on to autosteer I reckon I was farming 520 acres when I only had 500 because of the overlap I was giving , which means a saving of around four per cent in nitrogen and chemicals was instantly achieved . You don ’ t realise until you calculate the maths just
Proud to be associated with David Blacker and team of Church Farm and wish them continued success
56 Dec / Jan 2017 www . farmers-mart . co . uk