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James Daw, Woodhouse Farm, Blithbury, Rugeley, Staffordshire.
Farm details: W B Daw & Son (2000 acres), plus joint venture company with neighbouring farmer (2800 acres); growing wheat (around 1400 acres), oilseed rape (800 acres) and spring beans (300 acres), plus potatoes.
Combine details: 9880 STS equipped with 630 (30ft) cutting platform (2004 model year, but equipped with i specifications including AutoTrac, high performance rotor and new Rekord (chopper).
This is our fourth John Deere combine, following the 1075, 2056 and earlier STS models. Because we mostly bale and sell the straw on to local dairy farmers, I’m looking for the best possible straw quality, as well as for the chaff to be separated effectively, and the new 9880 offers both of these features.
The new high performance rotor delivers good, clean straw, and the residue management system works exceptionally well. The cows using our straw certainly appreciate it more now there’s no dust from the chaff.
The new Rekord straw chopper is very clever too, and fits in well with our minimum tillage system. It mixes up the straw and chaff much more evenly when chopping and spreading across the full cutting width of the combine, and the chop quality is superb. Also, the chopper is much easier to engage, using a simple dog clutch.
To get the most out of a high capacity combine like the 9880, you have to make the operating environment pleasant enough to allow the driver to work at optimum efficiency right through the day, and AutoTrac does just that. Using this new technology gives us a great opportunity to take a step forward in the way we farm, because it can help keep our costs under control.
AutoTrac can drive the combine better than we can – we choose the line from A to B and it always travels completely straight down the field. The beauty of it is, wherever you start or finish and whether the crop is flat or standing, the combine will always go exactly where you want it to. Once you’ve set the required cutting width, you can even miss out multiple strips and it will always go back and finish off the field completely cleanly. This takes a great deal of pressure off the operator, and he can concentrate on maximising output.
This harvest we were consistently achieving outputs of 55 to 60 tonnes an hour, depending on field size and the crop. We have some big blocks of land, including a couple of fields of around 140 acres, and we usually plan to finish a block a day, however long it takes. This year we cut 2500 acres, and last year just about 3000 acres; harvesting these large areas needs flexibility, good planning and reliable back-up to get the best results.
In our other main enterprise, we deliver potatoes 24 hours a day, seven days a week in season, so I expect the same level of service from John Deere and my local dealer AIS, when required. This commitment to the customer is vital, and it’s what today’s marketplace demands.
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