grumps 1:
not so as whats the alternative as all his produce has to so through the super markets and they control the market,also they can bring potatoes in from europe quite easily and use this to keep uk farmers knowing there place,re the whipping boys of the super markets.
Not all farm produce goes through supermarkets, cereals and meat still trade on the open market. The Farmer makes his choice, get into bed with veg packers/supermarkets with a contract price and high input high risk veg growing, or chance the open markets and weather. The guys that go with the contracts are more often the college boy run farming companys, their operations are run to a spreadsheet, and because their contract is as good as the last load they sent in, land is rented, staff are temporary, and machinery all hired in (sound familiar ), The traditional smaller family run concerns stick to cereals/beef, and take a gamble on the open markets.
grumps 1:
not so as whats the alternative as all his produce has to so through the super markets and they control the market,also they can bring potatoes in from europe quite easily and use this to keep uk farmers knowing there place,re the whipping boys of the super markets.
Not all farm produce goes through supermarkets, cereals and meat still trade on the open market. The Farmer makes his choice, get into bed with veg packers/supermarkets with a contract price and high input high risk veg growing, or chance the open markets and weather. The guys that go with the contracts are more often the college boy run farming companys, their operations are run to a spreadsheet, and because their contract is as good as the last load they sent in, land is rented, staff are temporary, and machinery all hired in (sound familiar ), The traditional smaller family run concerns stick to cereals/beef, and take a gamble on the open markets.
cereals and meat are traded on the open market but the end customer for 90% of it is the super market whether it be in whiskey bottles or sausages,so re the original question the price of food in this country has nothing to do with the farmer but is solely dictated by what the supermarket decides that the customer will pay.
I’ve got a foot in a both camps, was a farmer up until my divorce last year, started driving HGVs (did my class1 in '81) on agency in February 2011, while I get an agri-contracting business established. Agri contracting is pretty much dead from October-March due to NVZ regs
anyway back to the OP trucks and tractors do different jobs, Tractors are best for short distance runs which include off road (longest silage run we do is about 17 miles and its a PITA), trucks are better suited to long runs on the road and would be totally useless for running out of fields especially in the weather conditions throughout most of the UK.
All the BS about farmers hauling stuff with tractors taking work from hauliers is total ■■■■■■
Have to say I’d welcome VOSA doing more to ensure agri kit is safe for use on the road though, quite a lot would be off the road and I’d have more work
chicane:
Agri contracting is pretty much dead from October-March due to NVZ regs
trucks are better suited to long runs on the road and would be totally useless for running out of fields especially in the weather conditions throughout most of the UK.
All the BS about farmers hauling stuff with tractors taking work from hauliers is total [zb].
Could do with a few NVZ regs on this site sometimes with the amount of ■■■■ that gets chucked about!
Trouble is you and I are wasting our “virtual” breath here, if some of 'em saw a bloke shifting sand in a wheelbarrow they’d moan about it doing them out of work!
chicane:
Agri contracting is pretty much dead from October-March due to NVZ regs
trucks are better suited to long runs on the road and would be totally useless for running out of fields especially in the weather conditions throughout most of the UK.
All the BS about farmers hauling stuff with tractors taking work from hauliers is total [zb].
Could do with a few NVZ regs on this site sometimes with the amount of [zb] that gets chucked about!
Trouble is you and I are wasting our “virtual” breath here, if some of 'em saw a bloke shifting sand in a wheelbarrow they’d moan about it doing them out of work!
Sadly true. Funnily enough one of the types of truck I haven’t operated yet is a tipper in spite of the fact that most of our agri work is hauling silage.
Thinking of adding a 14t dump trailer and big flatbed to our kit this year, just have to see how funds go and if there’s enough work to justify them
I fully understand that a 6x2 tractor unit is never going to ‘travel’ like a fastrac in a field. We are an all arable farm farming over 5000 acres spread over 50 mile, so i am sure youll be able to understand the milage involved when all of our produce is stored in our two commercially run grain stores. We also haul all of our own produce out into local mills through the winter months, so im sure as you could understand the tonnage of possible haulage is doubled, then theres the hundreds of tonnes of fertiliser that we are paying to have delivered to our farms and the whole truck debate seems to gather more steam and then the possibility of straw sales and transport.
During the summer ‘harvest’ months we already run an infield chaser bin to enable our current fastracs and 18 tonne trailers a fast turnaround so that they are ‘on the road’ for as long as posible. We could run at truck on the existing infastructure and farm tracks without ever having to drive on a field.
All of our tractors are fully serviced and would pass any check that any body could put them through (except gvw), this is a point that we pride ourselves on, where as many local smaller farmers tend to overlook this!!! We are not far from the ensus plant on teeside and when/if that starts up again the will not allow tractors and trailers to deliver reducing the hours we can spread the costs of our fastracs across.
Could we run a 4-5 year old truck and trailer to haul our own produce replacing perhaps 1 or 2 of our existing 5 fastracs■■? Most people wont give any costing information for me to compare against or fastrac costings!!! how much do six weekly checks cost■■? Could i extend the interval if we were doing a limited milage? how would we go about doing this? ANy information would be gretfully recieved
jetemp, sorry I can’t help most of the farming round here is livestock, I’m sure someone on here will be abe to come up with the info as I’m pretty sure some of the folk on here do sugarbeat and tatties. Failing that try the British Farming Forum, farmingforum.co.uk
We actually stopped running a cattle float as the cot of keeping it on the road was not cost effective but in your situation I reckon a wagon or 2 might work out cheaper. depends I think on the type of soil you’re on and how you get produce from the combine or pickers to the road. I would agree that most agri vehicles used on the road are as well maintained as lorries even though they aren’t subjected to regular official inspections and I reckon from the kit I’ve seen round SW Scotland this is improving (pity about the steadings ) . However there are some folk out there taking dangerous scrap on the roads.
chicane:
I would agree that most agri vehicles used on the road are as well maintained as lorries even though they aren’t subjected to regular official inspections and I reckon from the kit I’ve seen round SW Scotland this is improving (pity about the steadings ) . However there are some folk out there taking dangerous scrap on the roads.
But the same can also be said about the haulage industry.
chicane:
All the BS about farmers hauling stuff with tractors taking work from hauliers is total [zb]
Not around here it’s not I’m afraid; I know of one farmer/contractor who moves 360s (upto 13tonnes) and other small plant for a local builder. Plus he picks stuff up for himself and several builders on his tipping trailer…When he wants a full load it’s 18tonnes so unless the tractor and trailer are made of plastic he’d be well over…forgetting the ballast and shingle he drops onto our weighbridge and haul road
jetemp:
Could we run a 4-5 year old truck and trailer to haul our own produce replacing perhaps 1 or 2 of our existing 5 fastracs■■? Most people wont give any costing information for me to compare against or fastrac costings!!! how much do six weekly checks cost■■? Could i extend the interval if we were doing a limited milage? how would we go about doing this? ANy information would be gretfully recieved
Hi James,
You would need an operators license to run a truck, getting this won’t be a problem for you. One of the terms is that it is properly maintained. VOSA recommend 6 weekly intervals, this is not law. One of our customers asks us for 8 weekly checks on a 7.5 tonner.
Safety inspection must be by a competent person (no requirement for qualifications) and there are guidelines on the maintenance facility, you need to be able to move freely under the vehicle (ramp, lift or pit) and the maintenance should be done out of the weather, indoors.
Cost wise, 2-3 hours work for a safety inspection, depending what’s specified. Commercial workshops charge out 30-45 quid an hour, depending on where you go, dealers obviously more.
A unit over 5 years old would be better for your use, analogue tacho so no need for drivers digi-card. Its nat a major issue but means anyone can drive it, not just those with a drivers digi-card (£38 I think). A unit with PTO wet kit would be a strong advantage, to run a tipper trailer. You can buy tippers with donkey engines if not.
You can pick up tidy, serviceable flat trailers in test for less than £2k, bulk tippers for £5k.
For pulling fert you’ll need the truck to be on haz chem plates, this involves an annual test extra to the MoT for both truck and trailer. However, it won’t need to be on the FL regs required for fuel haulage, the rules for oxidants arn’t as strict.
Reading between the lines, going by the size of your farms I can’t imagine you’d have any problems running a wagon yourself. Your premesis will be suitable to use as an operating base for the purposes of the O License. I would imagine you’ve got the facility to maintain it yourselves, if not there’s plenty of commercial workshops near you.
One last thing, is that your machine I picked up off the A66 a few months ago, with the offside axle casing smashed■■?
glenman:
do you lot think you might be better over on that farming forum
No, many farmers/contractors want to move up a few levels to attain a level of safety and roadworthiness similar to the rules you guys need to comply with, it is by engaging with you guys and girls that we will better understand the way ahead as regards lobbying for legislation change ect and what we need to do to gain more respect from fellow road users.
puntabrava:
No, many farmers/contractors want to move up a few levels to attain a level of safety and roadworthiness similar to the rules you guys need to comply with, it is by engaging with you guys and girls that we will better understand the way ahead as regards lobbying for legislation change ect and what we need to do to gain more respect from fellow road users.
And hopefully, engender a bit more understanding into some drivers and hauliers, so they don’t think all farmers either drive round in Range Rovers all day or lean on a gate chewing a grass stalk!
Also a lot of British hauliers started out as farmers and many agri contracting workers drive HGVs in the off season, Peter Cowan has just put on a unit and Dykes have a lowloader for moving their heavy plant (started out in agri but have moved into forestry and construction).
I also reckon that most of the LGV drivers required post 2014 will come from agriculture.
puntabrava, I know its a curse on both industries
glenman, I do a fair bit of agency driving to help pay my bills and I’ve learned a hell of a lot on here and another forum.
I am a member of the british farming forum but dont think ill find the answer to truck running costs there, It wasnt one of our machines on the A66 that you picked up but were not far from there, we normally seen running cat challengers.
The whole truck versus high speed tractor is certainly food for thought, there is alway people saying that the law is going to change with regard to weights etc. but if they bring in testing to the standard of hgvs fast tractor running costs will go through the roof and be unsustainable!!!