Agriculture - Arable

Farm size and locations

Our two main blocks of farmland are located around Milton Ernest and Knotting in North Bedfordshire. The total farm size is 2,200 hectares of which 1,870ha is cropped and 151ha set aside. The remainder is river, meadows and natural environmental features such as lakes and woodland.

Cropping and budget yields

In total, our farms feature 27 different types of soil from blowing sands to heavy clays with the predominant types being a chalky clay or clay loam. This soil type lends itself to combinable cropping with the basic rotation being wheat > oil seed rape > wheat > wheat > oil seed rape.

The land is highly productive with exceptional potential yields in both wheat (10.25 tonnes per hectare) and oil seed rape (4 tonnes per hectare). All combinable crops are produced to the Assured Combinable Crop Standards (ACCS).

Arable equipment – and optimising strategy

We use state of the art farm machinery and equipment to ensure that we are able to farm more efficiently and in a way that benefits the environment. Some examples of the machinery currently in use include:

• Our John Deere 9620 articulated tractor is one of the largest in the UK. It is equipped with a GPS auto steering system with an accuracy of plus or minus 50mm. This reduces operator fatigue and increases output by 10% with a similar reduction in fuel consumption.
• The Quivogne Disc Tine Seeder is a 5.6m wide implement that carries out multiple tasks (chopping straw, loosening, cultivating, and pressing / rolling the soil). For planting, a seeder is attached so that what was traditionally 5 operations can be completed in one pass - saving time and energy, as well as improving crop establishment.
• Our 5,000 litre Bateman 40m Crop Sprayer is one of the largest capacity sprayers in the UK and applies all the farms liquid fertiliser and crop protection chemicals. To improve the accuracy of applications an ‘N Sensor’ has been fitted which measures the crop infra red light reflectance and so can establish the crops thickness or density. A computer then determines the appropriate amount of fertiliser or spray to apply to that given area. By avoiding excess application the crop requirements are optimised, efficiency improved and environmental impact minimised.
• The 7.5 m wide, 430hp Claas 480 Combine is fitted with GPS based yield mapping equipment recording the yield of the crop every 5m. This information combined with ‘N Sensor’ and historical information on computer mapping system enables more considered decisions to be made and treatments applied back to the fields (known as precision farming). This benefits the environment and efficiency, and reduces costs by ensuring only the correct treatments are applied - avoiding waste in every area.

Bio-fertiliser

The by-product of the Group’s BIOGEN anaerobic digestion business is a highly efficient bio-fertiliser which is spread onto Bedfordia Farms’ stubble and growing crops through a system of underground and overland pipes. The benefit is both financial and environmental, reducing the farms reliance on bought-in artificial fertiliser and recycling the nutrients from pig slurry and food chain waste back on to the land. Furthermore, research has proven that this bio-fertiliser is particularly environmentally and crop friendly.