How one farmer saved £188,000 in 7 years with a simple change in strategy

With the current financial challenges facing farmers, it has never been more important to take stock and review the costs of establishing crops to ensure your business is in the best possible position for the future.

One Yorkshire farmer has conducted a full-scale review of his farming operations and saved thousands of pounds in the process, simply by changing how he puts seed in the ground.

Change required

Wayne Turnbull became farm manager for Mrs Christine Mason of The Grange at Wold Newton near Driffield in 2012. At that time, crops were established on the 400 hectare farm using a conventional plough-based system.  

Wayne could see two areas for improvement; he wanted to increase levels of organic matter in the field and improve soil health and at the same time reduce the costs and time involved in establishing crops. 

The plough/power harrow/combi drill was costing the business £100.57* per hectare – a total of £32,685.25 pa on the 325 arable hectares farmed.

Making the change

Wayne researched various crop establishment systems and decided to move away from heavy cultivations on his Yorkshire wold and chalk soils.  In 2017 he switched to direct drilling (Claydon 4.8m Hybrid) and straw harrowing (Claydon 7.5m model) for weed, slug and stubble management. 

Direct drilled KWS Grafton winter feed wheat at The Grange © Claydon

£26,962 saved per year

Cropping at The Grange comprises winter wheat, winter barley, oilseed rape and multi species cover and catch crops. Establishment costs using the Claydon Opti-Till^® system have dropped to £17.61/ha. 

Eliminating unnecessary cultivations has resulted in savings of £82.96/ha over the previous system – a total saving of £26,962 per year.  Over the seven years of direct drilling this represents a saving of £188,734.

Wayne Turnbull’s 4.8m Claydon mounted drill © Claydon

Swapping BPS for SFI no-till payments of £72,690

In addition to the savings from direct drilling, payments of £73/ha are also available to growers using this method.  DEFRA has confirmed that Claydon direct drilling is eligible for an SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) payment of £73/ha under the No-Till SOH1 category.  Additional payments are available in three other categories.

Wayne has applied for a 45 hectare block under the SFI scheme and, based on the 3c crop rotation over 5 years, cover crops also play a vital part of this initiative. 

Wayne will establish these using the Claydon drill as he believes this gives the best establishment and the low running costs make this financially viable. 

Payments are estimated at a total of £72,690 over five years.  This represents a valuable alternative income stream now that BPS payments have been reduced.

 . . . and there’s more . . .

It’s not just about the financial benefits of Claydon direct drilling.  There has been no yield penalty over the last seven years compared with the conventional system; in the challenging conditions in 2024 one of the top fields yielded 13.3 tonnes/ha for winter wheat.

Soil health has improved significantly, says Wayne.  “The number of worm casts on the soil surface is phenomenal and surface draining is much improved”.

Travelling post drilling no longer compacts the soil as its structure is more supportive. Organic matter levels have increased 2.3% over seven years to 7.5%, improving water retention capacity on The Grange’s light soils by a huge 632,500 litres.

Harvesting Claydon drilled KWS Grafton winter wheat at Wold Newton © Claydon

Peace of mind

With a no-till system, time is on your side; with a wider operating window you can seed in the optimum conditions and weather extremes present less of a risk.  

With reduced operations, there is less staff pressure with fewer people required on farm.  More time can be dedicated to managing the farm and carrying out other jobs. 

This gain in time brings with it a better work life balance and, after seven successful seasons of Claydon drilling, there has to be a certain confidence in knowing that your decision to change strategy has been the correct one. 

For your free leaflet on SFI email marketing@claydondrill.com or visit our Grant Funding page for additional information.

If you are interested in finding out how much you could save on your farm, please call Claydon on 01440 820327 to speak to one of our advisors, or contact your local dealer at claydondrill.com/dealers-distributors

*All costings include depreciation, maintenance and tractor costs, drivers wage and 50% of yearly GPS subscription