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Background
Farming
is a demanding industry, requiring an appetite for work, wide ranging
skills, a decisive mentality. There are considerable pressures on all
farmers, from customers over delivery, quality, and especially price;
from banks and finance; from government and legislators; the local
public over rights of way and farming methods.
There are no less pressures from the farm supply trade pressurising farmers to buy new machinery, services and diversification schemes.
A new form of communication
Information comes from a wide range of sources, and the world of
publishing plays a big part. Farming magazines have low cover prices,
and many of course are free, all funded by people wanting to sell
product. The world of agricultural PR is huge, with many major
companies working to get their voice heard first by editors, and then
by the farmers themselves. Companies compete to provide farm
journalists with the best trips - so new tractor models are launched in
exotic locations.
Looking at this circus in 1989, having spent productive and satisfying
years editing a magazine for the Financial Times where such shenanigans
were generally frowned upon, I believed farmers needed, and deserved
something different. Something independent of advertisers, pages which
allowed them to share bright ideas that improved efficiency and lowered
costs. As an inventive farmer himself, Mike Donovan appreciated the
value of farm workshop innovation, and the cost effectiveness of making
progress on his farm through projects.
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The grassland aerator I built which was highly commended at the Bath and West Show, 1990
How interesting that a Nobel Prize winner, no less, had similar thoughts:
“Farmers are the same the world over. They want to see results for
themselves. Don’t tell them – show them; and do it on farms such as
theirs.” Dr Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1970
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Here are a few examples of machines, built by farmers for their own use, which have been featured in Practical Farm Ideas.
These,
and the 3,0000 other innovations we have featured, provide a major
resource to farmers everywhere. One which can be accessed without
leaving the farm, without wasting precious time.
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Boxis on and off the bike in seconds
Lightweight drill set-up uses spare parts to makes a valuable piece of kit for the man with a small acreage
Silage
nudger swings from left to right. Works in reverse as well as forward,
so you can avoid driving over the feed and contaminating it.
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In-pen calving yoke allows the cow to be restrained by one person without difficulty
Quad bike with homemade dual wheels goes across slopes safely and has a minimal footprint in wet fields when slug pelleting
This weight makes a simple and quick post
| Farm Ideas is highly accessible
The basic strategy is:
1. To publish four times a year 2. To be all editorial 3. Be affordable.
Farm consultants charge substantial fees to provide bespoke advice. It comes from a wide knowledge of the industry - a part of which is learned as they go around different farms. The learning in Practical Farm Ideas comes from the same source, but can be provided to farmers at a fraction of the cost.
Readers tell us how Practical Farm Ideas:
1. Raises and maintains the interest of young people, in school and
college - and helps poor readers who are interested in farm machinery.
2. Means that farms spend money on employing people rather than buying hugely expensive equipment
3. Creates work and jobs in rural engineering workshops and fabrication companies
Future Goals
A high proportion of farmers still have never seen a copy, let alone
have it as regular reading. So the first goal is to show every farmer a copy. The second is to
expand into Europe and other countries, so farmers share ideas across
country borders. |
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