Member Profile

Matt Fuller soaks up knowledge like a sponge absorbs water. In the four years he has been sprayer operator at Heathcote Farms, Toddington, Bedfordshire, the enthusiastic youngster has achieved his BASIS qualification as well as being crowned 2020 FSOOTY champion.

“The competition was mentioned to me, and I saw it as a learning opportunity,” explains Matt. “When I got through to the final six, I thought it was fantastic for a first attempt.”

“And like many who enter FSOOTY, I just wanted to test myself and see what I could learn from other operators,” he says. “When I saw the calibre of other operators I was up against, I never expected to win and so I was fairly relaxed going into the final rounds.

“But I’m really pleased that I took the trouble to enter, and it’s opened my eyes to another level of professionalism. The top tips in this industry are just awesome and everybody gains.”

BASIS qualified

Clearly one who enjoys raising the bar, Matt works closely with farm manager Andrew Robinson, with both taking part in crop walking across the farm.

Having recently completed his BASIS qualification, Matt says it helps him and Andrew to bounce crop health scenarios off each other, so the business gets the most from its agronomy services.

Heathcote Farm grows 1,150ha of combinable crops, with soil types ranging from heavy clays to green sand. Without the luxury of land being ring-fenced, road travel is an essential part of the farm’s activities, though block-cropping simplifies logistics when making the eight-mile journey north to outlying areas.

As a long-standing Bateman customer, Heathcote Farms was the first to adopt the Devon maker’s option of the Capstan PinPoint PWM system with its 2018-model RB35. Bought to replace a five-year old, 6,000-hour RB35, the new model retains a 4,000-litre tank and 32m wide boom, but came with larger wheel and tyre equipment.

PWM pays for itself

The decision to invest in PWM was straightforward enough, and despite the high capital outlay, the farm believes it will pay for itself in less than five years through a 1-2% reduction in the area sprayed, simply by cutting overlaps.

“PWM has improved the accuracy of spray deposition enormously. I have used water soluble paper to assess droplet size and coverage from various nozzles and settings, when applying through curves.

Pre-setting PWM

Matt has four different pre-sets in the PWM system for each nozzle, and one in particular has been assigned to boost application rate by 20% for only those nozzles that sit over the tramlines.

“I also have another boost set for the outer 4m boom section, to help control any weeds encroaching from the headland. I’m still learning and understanding the system’s capabilities and its limitations, and the best way to do that is to make a change, then assess and record the effect,” he explains.

Keeping sprayer performance and productivity at an optimum level calls for a thoughtful approach to mixing and filling.

Field sizes range from 5ha-40ha, and typically he uses water rates from 100-150 litres/ha, with 200 litres adopted for pre-emergence sprays. Access to water storage at different sites improves logistics. Matt operates mostly alone and endeavours to be as self-contained as possible. This improves overall output and spraying efficiency, while avoiding as much downtime as possible by not needing to return to base.

Mix and fill trailer

The key to this is the use of a spray trailer, towed behind a 4×4. It contains everything needed for a day’s spraying and comprises three lockable cabinets. Two are used for active ingredient storage, with different pesticides stored on either the left- or right-hand side, with access available from both sides of the trailer to improve ingredient selection.

The third cabinet carries a spill kit, apron, face shield, a selection of jugs, an assortment of lid spanners and pens, plus petrol for running the transfer pump, along with an emergency supply of diesel.

He also carries a drip tray to deploy beneath the overflow pipe, but with the introduction of electric spray valves, Matt can set the fill volume 10-litres shy of the required volume to reduce the risk of an overflow.

At the back of the trailer, a white board lists the ingredients, the rate and the amount of liquid required per load. This is fixed by the mixing bowl, which includes a can wash for triple-rinsing and means Matt doesn’t need to use the sprayer’s induction hopper.

Opened smaller, 1-litre containers of concentrated pesticides are placed in an old milk crate prior to being poured. This reduces the risk of accidentally knocking one over, when the lids have been removed.

The trailer also has room for an IBC carrying trace elements, and a second IBC with mesh floor guard is used for washed and rinsed can storage. This has the ability to be drained back at the farm, with any liquid residue processed through the farm’s bio-filter.

Foils and lids are transferred into a plastic bag, which is securely held inside a make-shift dustbin, ready for disposal. A further addition is the installation of a 150-litre tank on top of the spray trailer, carrying a water conditioner, to help improve the efficacy of herbicides and avoid lock-up.

Organised store

The spray store is approached with similar logic and leaves nothing to chance. Racking is clearly labelled, and a large display board offers a detailed analysis of stock. Emergency numbers, farm maps, manufacturer contacts along with Matt’s qualifications and various certificates all illustrate his methodical approach.

But for all the processes and technology at Matt’s fingertips, the farm is still a believer in traditional paper records for its spray applications.

“We don’t have a solid mobile phone signal everywhere across the areas we farm, so I choose to cross-check paper records against my wipe-board in the spray store,” he says.

“With recommendation sheets organised in a folder that’s kept in the sprayer cab, jobs are unlikely to get missed – paperwork from completed fields gets moved into a different section in my folder, so I can work methodically with applications.”

More top tips…

Producing vegetables for the supermarket supply chain, Borders grower Drysdales manages an intensive crop production regime spread over a 60-mile radius, with the help of two 4,000-litre self-propelled sprayers. Geoff Ashcroft went to find out more.

As one of two sprayer operators working for Borders-based vegetable producer Drysdales, head sprayer operator Danny Milazzo spends his days applying sprays across 750ha of vegetable crops, which comprise 470ha of sprouts, 235ha of swedes and 45ha of leeks.

With land rented solely for crop production, it means the working radius extends to around 60 miles from the farm’s base at Old Cambus Quarry, Cockburnspath.

“I can spend up to two hours on the longest journeys to reach some of the furthest blocks of land we farm,” explains Danny. “It makes logistics and planning all the more important if we’re to maintain output, timeliness and crop quality.”

Logistics received a useful shot in the arm for the 2020 season, with the implementation of a bowser, which Danny reckons has brought a 30% improvement in productivity. With hook-lift demount bodies used for crop transport with tractor and trailer systems, it made sense to create a bowser that could be moved from farm to farm using the hook-lift system.

Bowser back-up

“Having a 10,000-litre bowser that can be easily moved between farms means 2.5 fills without having to travel very far for water,” he says. “And, because we rent land from many different land owners, there’s no guarantee we can always access high volumes of water if crops are being irrigated.

“It’s more convenient to have your own water supply, and then tow lockable chemical trailers behind the sprayers from farm to farm. In addition to a pump and hoses, the bowser platform has space for a couple of 1,000-litre IBC’s,” he explains.

High water rates

With typical water rates of over 300 litres/ha, headline output figures often gloss over the impact of logistics and a 50km/h road speed.

“Our lowest rate is 200 litres/ha, and we’ve found that water volumes and nozzle choices do hold the key to our success when creating a premium product for our supermarket customers,” he says.

Hard-working Bargam

Currently, Danny spends his days in the cab of a three-year old, 24m/4,350-litre Bargam Grimpeur self-propelled sprayer. With 4,500 hours and 18,000ha under its belt, the Grimpeur is one of two self-propelled sprayers in use at Drysdales – the second is a nine-year old, 10,000-hour Multidrive, which is currently in use as the back-up sprayer.

“We’re in the process of revising our spraying systems, to improve what we do, and how we do it,” he explains. “And part of that process will be to replace our sprayers more frequently, so we can benefit from the very latest in application technology without compromising on reliability.”

With the Bargam operating as the frontline sprayer, it clocks up about  1,500hr each season, with the machine spending most of its time among sprouts. The older Multidrive takes care of the swede crop during peak periods, though it’s hardly enjoying an easy life – this older machine is still clocking up 800 hours/year, which is probably more hours each year than some frontline self-propelled sprayers will cover on arable duties.

Intense workload

The intense spraying workload does not include fertiliser applications – these are handled by a twin disc spreader, applying granular and prilled products.

“We’d like to create a more defined replacement policy for our sprayers, so that the frontline machine runs for two-and-a-half years, and then spends the same period in use as a back-up machine,” he explains.

“Our immediate goal is to replace the Multidrive with a new self-propelled model, and relegate the Bargam to being a back-up machine,” he adds. “This way, we can control our costs, and avoid nasty surprises from unexpected repair bills.”

As part of the replacement policy, the farm is looking to increase boom size too, going up from 24m to 36m.

“Going wider will mean less crop damage,” he says. “And because of transplanting and harvesting machinery, the planted rows do not allow wider spacing for wheelings. So we currently have to tolerate a small proportion of crop damage each time the sprayer runs through. Moving up to a 36m boom will considerably reduce that impact.”

Sprayer shortlist

Danny has gone to the trouble of sitting in his fair share of cabs this summer, making the most of sprayer demonstrations to create a short-list for the future.

“I’d be perfectly happy to stick with another Bargam, but we can’t have one on a lease deal. Aside from a few early issues and a couple of hub seals, it’s proved to be a pretty good machine. The 230hp FPT engine is gutsy, and the combination of hydrostatic motor driving mechanical axles has been good. It’s also not heavy on fuel.

“But I would like a little more technology and much better boom ride and stability than I currently have,” he adds.

Integral jacks

He likes the Bargam’s integrated hydraulic jacking system that simplifies wheel changes, and has high praise for the in-cab Müller control system.

“My 520 ‘fat’ tyres are not on for long – usually only long enough to run on top of ploughing. It’s 380/90 R46 row crops from there on, and a full set of Michelins have recently replaced the original tyres which have lasted over 4,000 hours,” he says.

“The worn-down cleats were struggling for traction in wetter conditions, but we’ll probably put them back on for dry conditions next spring.”

He says that the wheels have been recently repainted because of the conditions the sprayer works in. “Sprouts are abrasive, and they can soon strip paint off the edges of the wheel rims.”

For its age and hours, the Bargam Grimpeur looks as good as new, thanks in no part to Danny being a keen advocate of cleaning products, and taking pride in his ride. And the addition of a snow-foam lance that can be used with the sprayer’s on-board pressure washer also helps with cleanliness and hygiene when the field gate is closed.

“I’m not prepared to sit in a dirty cab, or wallow in a mucky environment,” he says. “It doesn’t take long to keep the sprayer looking good.”

It is a mindset that also translates into spray tank and nozzle cleanliness too – with frequent in-field wash-outs taking place.

“I’ve never had a blocked nozzle with this sprayer, and I put that down to regular and thorough wash-outs,” he explains.