“Labour is scarce, so you need to invest in good kit that will make life easier and also buy you time,” explains James Morrison, pictured with his dad Robbie. “And we’ve been looking at how we can improve the quality of forage we make.”
That forage includes clamp silage and up to 500 round bales each year, which the Morrisons, from Deskford, Buckie, rely on for its livestock with up to 20 suckler cows, 300 fat cattle plus 500 breeding ewes and 1,500 lambs housed across the 750-acres farmed.
Having seen the benefits a Kverneland twin rotor rake brought for the farm’s trailed forage harvester, the Morrisons decided that more kit needed to follow, to further help improve upon silage quality.
“The rake has been a superb bit of kit,” says James. “With its rear axle that can be raised and lowered, road transport is very safe. And it makes a great swath. I also like the way HRN Tractors has supported us, and also helped with making the right equipment choices for our business.”
He says the next step was to replace an ageing 2.4m mower with a 3232MN that cuts a wider 3.2m swath.
“As well as going wider, we also swapped from steel to nylon tines to keep weight off the back of the tractor,” he says. “And the tedder will help to shorten drying times, particularly with the weather being so catchy near the coast around Moray Firth.”
James says the rake has proved invaluable, and in combination with the tedder, it gives the farm the option of also moving straw in the swath.
“We also grow 300 acres of barley, though harvest isn’t until September in this region,” he says. “There are times when we need to tidy up rows or move straw to dry it – it’s why we opted for a four-rotor tedder, as it suits the width of the combine. And now we can do this with ease.”
“Apart from the contractor’s baler, we’re now very much in control of the quality straw and silage we produce,” he says.
