Peas, potatoes and field vegetable grower from Lincolnshire, and NFU horticulture & potatoes board member Mark Leggott gives a frank appraisal of why it is essential to take time away from the business to keep abreast of the latest technologies.
Normally, we can create a suitable seedbed for potatoes with one or two passes of the tractor. This year it is taking up to six, and I am still not happy with the end result. Extra time, extra fuel and a less than ideal seedbed – the implications for the increased costs of producing this year’s crop are pretty clear.
It is when things are going badly or indeed extremely badly that I begin to question what we are doing, and why and what are neighbours are doing differently to give them a better result.
With my nose pressed against the grindstone too closely and for too long, I am guilty of not looking around me often enough and have allowed my neighbours and competitors to steal a march on me.
I am determined that however much it pains me to take time away from the business to attend trade and business events, I need to do it more – the benefits of going to some of these events and seeing the latest technology and ideas in action would have paid dividends. If I had of done this, I would be making perfect seedbeds in half the time with half the effort. My men know it and I know it and I need to sort it out for the following season.
While I cannot stretch to buying a 364-horse power tractor like our neighbours, I can afford some better smaller scale equipment that will still do the job for me. It is frightening how technology and techniques move on so quickly and I am determined not to be caught out again. So I will be attending any event which offers the opportunity for me to learn new and useful practical knowledge, because without continued improvement in all aspects of my business, I am dead in the water.
I have learnt my lesson, business improvement needs to be continual and constant, and not happen in fits and starts!