Farm contractor and British Farming Award winner focuses on technology for success

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Covering an annual workload which includes 2,833 hectares (7,000 acres) of grass harvesting, 202ha (500 acres) of maize, 202ha (500 acres) of combining, muck spreading, cultivations, drilling and umbilical slurry applications – alongside a groundworks and concreting division – Kevin Heywood has plenty of men, machines and work to keep organised and on-track.

He says: "We have been providing contracting services for 45 years, with the business started by my father in 1979. Originally we were a small dairy farm, but during the late 1980s the cows were sold and the income was supplemented by providing contracting services to other dairy farms in the area.

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"Back then there were numerous dairy farms in our area - over 10 in a 10-mile radius. A lot has changed since and many of those farms have now gone, with only two now remaining. But the area of land is the same and our core business has remained with grassland contracting, but now also covering maize planting and harvesting, slurry applications, combining and cultivations."

The business chops about 2,833ha (7,000 acres) of grass and 202ha (500 acres) of maize annually using its two John Deere forage harvesters. The core business is still contracting, but was expanded 25 years ago to cover construction and concreting to provide winter work for staff and machinery. Originally focused on agricultural projects, work now includes groundwork for residential and commercial developments.

Farm technology

An area the business has always remain focused on is the use of new technology and data-gathering systems.

"We have always looked outside the box to offer more for customers, and stop competing on price," says Mr Heywood.

"We were very early adopters of John Deere's NIR HarvestLab technology on the foragers, allowing us to provide data on feed quality, which was originally managed through Gatekeeper software."  

Mr Heywood says the hardest part of using the technology was selling the value of the data to the customer. Eventually, they ran a forager with and without the NIR sensor and customers started to request it.

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"Customers will not pay for the data but it secured the work. In the earlier years, the data was focused on dry matter quantity to improve the basics of silage-making, but now we can provide more detailed data on sugars and protein," he says. 

"As contractors, we have used the information to improve how we work building the clamp and the importance of how we change the cut length and compaction in accordance to the customer's target values."

Machinery costs

The cost of new machinery is changing how the business is run and Mr Heywood says they have delayed the change of some kit due to the prohibitive purchase costs and decreased the size of tractors to reduce the capital outlay.

He says: "Typically we bought new tractors, but this year we bought some ex-demo and ex-hire machines – in part due to excessive stock held in yards."

Since winning the award, Mr Heywood says it has highlighted the need for professionalism, and has helped with the promotion of the business and how it operates.

"It is a good personal recognition that we are doing a good job and pushing the business in the right direction," says Mr Heywood.

Looking towards future plans, Mr Heywood is remaining focused on professionalism with more education on business management, legislation and environmental requirements, with the addition of a FACTS qualification within the team to help with legislation and nutrient plans.

"We will always invest in technology to provide data for farmers to use with future Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes, which will hopefully make a more integral contribution to customers' businesses," he says.

Business facts

• Based in Bude, Cornwall
• Contracting services include:
• 2,833 hectares (7,000 acres) grass forage harvesting
• 202ha (500 acres) maize and cereal harvesting
• Muck spreading
• Slurry umbilical
• Maize drilling cultivations
• Groundworks and concreting