A multi-use applicator is helping to support a Chelmsford contracting business as it expands its customer base and reaches new heights of success.

Not only has fourth generation farmer Jack Bosworth doubled the size of the farm’s pig herd during the past eight years, but he’s also simultaneously launched a contracting side to the business too.

Trading as FJ Bosworth and Sons, the successful diversification and herd expansion has put the business, first established in 1934, on a firm footing with a positive outlook for the future, he says.

“We currently farm 350ha of combinable crops with the main focus being growing winter wheat and winter barley as feed for our 7500-pig herd. Running a competitive pig business is all about controlling feed and other key input costs; milling and mixing our own grain for feed on farm has ensured the enterprise remains as competitive as possible, helped to speed up growth of our numbers.”

Contracting business

Jack says around five years ago they also began looking into contracting. “There’s high demand in Essex for both umbilical application of slurry and digestate, along with an increased demand for specialist services such as Avadex application, over-seeding and cover crop establishment, particularly from farms already under pressure through congested spring and autumn work windows, labour challenges and uptake in environmental stewardship schemes.”

He adds that he’d always been interested in buying a lightweight, multi-use applicator for the farm to reduce their historical reliance on contractors. “So we invested in a new 12m Multicast 400 trailed unit to run behind our John Deere UTV in September 2020, to give us more control during those busy work windows; it proved a pretty straightforward business decision.”

The applicator has also opened up another revenue stream for the farm by offering key services to other farmers.

Multicast specification

Looking at the Multicast in detail, the trailed unit comprises a 400l capacity tank along with a 12m manual folding boom, both mounted on a single axle trailer chassis that uses high quality load rated tyres and suspension units. Product is accurately applicated through the machine’s distribution head via a Honda engine-driven fan unit to outlets spaced at 500mm intervals along the full width of the boom.

Work rates are controlled and monitored via a cab-mounted, GPS Garmin rate controller.

Jack says the real beauty of the Multicast is its versatility. “By simply changing the metering cartridge and recalibrating the application rate you can broadcast grass seed, cover crops, granular fertiliser, Avadex granules or even slug pellets accurately and easily.

“The Multicast is very light, weighing less than 250kg, and can be used to perform different tasks simultaneously reducing the number of passes and lowering fuel costs.”

He observes that during the past two autumns, many farms in Essex have experienced wet weather which has made successful establishment of crops challenging. “Farmers have also started to favour later autumn drilling in recent years, when ground conditions tend to be much heavier. Using a very light machine – such as the Multicast 400 – that’s still able to travel in heavier soils without damaging the soil or a young, newly established crop, is a major advantage.”

Another issue, highlights Jack, is that because of shorter, dry weather windows, drilling decisions are also often made last minute. “With key tasks, such as Avadex application that requires a 48-hour window post-drilling to maximise its effectiveness, its critical for farmers to either have their own applicator or source a reliable, locally based contractor to ensure the task is carried out at exactly the right time.

“Working at optimum speeds of 12-14kph in good conditions we can readily achieve up to 80ha of Avadex application or cover cropping per day, with the machines light footprint making it almost unnecessary to factor in whether customers are working on 24m, 28m, 30m, 32m or even 36m tramlines.”

Efficient purchase

In combining both the contracting work and their own use of the applicator, Jack says the Multicast is used to apply product across 600ha of land per year, with additional capacity to increase that workload as the contracting business grows.

“In terms of the economic benefits of a multi-purpose applicator, we retain more money in the business each year by reducing our reliance on contractors while generating additional revenue from the contracting business.

“This brings a positive balance of circa £10,000 per year, comfortably justifying the set-up we have,” he concludes.