Eastern Farms Ltd
Focusing on the future
A Cambridgeshire farmer has built up his business against the odds. Judith Tooth reports
tractor Charles Leadbetter, keen to farm in his own right, wanted to bid for it. But when he approached a land agent he was told that un- less he had an established farming business, he was wasting his time. Undeterred, Mr Leadbetter made a point of getting to know the business better. Three years later, when a 120ha farm tenancy in Cambridgeshire became availa- ble, he defi ed the land agent’s pre- diction and his career as a farmer was underway.
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The productive fenland peat soils of Somersham rewarded his determination, consistently returning yields of 11t/ha on fi rst wheats and 90t/ha of sugar beet. He went on to buy some land and contract farm some more. Today, Mr Leadbetter and his
wife, Anna, have their own farm, four contract farming agreements and seven different landlords across 1200ha. The land is quite
hen 400ha came up for rent in Lincoln- shire, farming con-
spread out, with the furthest block 25 miles away, but still reachable in an hour by tractor, and each block has its own grain storage. All the land is farmed with a longterm view, says Charles, whether it’s owned, rented or man- aged on contract. The fi rst thing he does before putting a crop in the ground is to make sure the infra- structure is sound.
“On any new land we fi nd the land drains, jet them out if need be, mole plough heavier soils, get a drainage contractor in if need be, attend to any ditching … money you might lose trying to get a crop established is better spent improv-
Charles Leadbetter checks the growth stage of winter wheat
ing infrastructure. And we have a zero-tolerance approach to black- grass, which thrives in conditions of poor drainage.”
Rotations
Cropping is mainly fi rst and sec- ond wheats, winter barley, sugar beet, potatoes, peas and beans. Long rotations are considered es- sential to minimise disease build- up and depressed yields, with a minimum of one in six years for oil- seed rape and sugar beet, and one in eight years for potatoes. Straw
“
Compacted land doesn’t yield: you need to encourage worms
is baled in-house and sold to a lo- cal power station. All farming operations are made using RTK guidance tech- nology, following major invest- ment six years ago. Tramlines are now constant for cultivations and drilling. The aim is to move to a controlled traffi c farming system next year, once the combine head- er is replaced with one of a com- patible width. “Compacted land doesn’t yield: you need to encourage worms,” says Mr Leadbetter. “The worm is my favourite cultivator because it helps with drainage and then everything is in better condition. Our combine is on tracks, and the grain trailers are fi tted with fl ota- tion tyres and keep to the tram- lines at harvest. “If you look, especially in a wet autumn or, as now, a dry spring, you can see the roots struggling. So if you reduce the wheelings to one place then the soil is in the best possible condition to give maxi- mum yield. And you can’t mess about on chalky boulder clays – we call it fi ve-minute land.”
Tissue samples
GPS also allows for targeted nu- trient applications through SOYL >>
Charles and Anna at the home farm in Somersham
JUNE 2017 • ANGLIA FARMER 65
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