General
Rotation is the key to our success. Fridlington Farms six course rotation revolves around the potato crop. It is the farms mission to provide the best field condition for every crop to maximise yield and quality. We treat all land the same, whether it is on rented, contract farmed or our own. Testing soils is key to our success, making sure the levels of N, P, K and pH are right for the crop as well as testing for organic matter. Before our grass leys the total carbon sits around 27t/ha this is due to the sandy nature of our soils. After a 5 year ley this comes up to 73.5t/ha reading showing the natural of our land type.
Cover crops have helped in our spring cropping and helps again in our carbon capturing with less fields being bare over winter it enables areas to draw carbon in over the winter months. Fridlington Farms usually does this with a stubble turnip mix, so nothing goes to waste with block grazing of the sheep. This also helps with organic fertiliser going back into the soils again increasing the organic matter of the farm.
Combinable Crops
Winter wheat and spring/winter barley are major crops within our rotation. The yields vary from year to year and with the sandy nature of the farm we struggle to get top results but with rotation and precision farming techniques we get the best our land can offer. Modern and efficient machinery is used to drill and harvest our good quality cereals. Presently the farm uses an 6m Horsch Sprinter and a New Holland 8.90 Combine with a 30ft header for harvest with grain storage of 5,000 tonnes. The farm also owns a state-of-the-art Alvan Blanch drier which is capable of drying 40t/hour.
The drilling date of Oil Seed Rape has become earlier over the past few seasons with the loss of pesticides. We start drilling with a McConnell discaerator minus the discs mid-August and finish end-August which we’ve found gets our best results.
Linseed has been a sporadic addition to the cropping rotation due to the uncertainty of OSR but it has its place in the rotation and with the farm getting good results.
- 1.Modern Machinery
- 2.Crop Diversity
- 3.Reduce Environmental Impact
| CROP Yield t/ha | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Winter Wheat |
10.17 |
8.25 |
9.39 |
|
Winter Barley |
8.93 |
6.81 |
7.01 |
|
Oil Seed Rape |
3.76 |
3.76 |
2.86 |
|
Spring Barley |
6.06 |
6.35 |
5.04 |
|
Linseed |
- |
1.75 |
2.06 |
For full information and to see the comprehensive list of soil sample information, click on the link button below.
Potatoes
Potatoes continue to be the principal crop of our six-year rotation. Up to date, efficient planting and harvesting systems are used to maximise crop quality and yields. The crop is grown to the specification of our customers then harvested and graded into our farm’s modern storage facilities. The farm owns three main box stores and two bulk stores. All together Fridlington Farms can store 10,000 tonnes of potatoes on site.
To leave the land in good condition after harvest the farm has invested in a Grimme Varitron 270 and 220 self-propelled harvesters, which will also be readily available for contract work.
The farms have also invested a lot in improving its own grading and washing facilities, which in turn will be open for contract work. Our washer has the capacity of 30 Tonnes / hour.
We provide our processing customers with a reliable and continual supply of quality potatoes. We pride ourselves in our potato production and seek to improve productivity by ensuring that we are utilising the latest technology and agronomy to produce a consistent high yielding quality crop. 85% of land has organic manure incorporated into it again to cut back on inorganic fertilisers and increase land organic matter.
Again, we are looking to aid our carbon footprint on the farm and continue to work on cover crops which help both the potato crop later and the environment. We have trailed an assortment of cover crops and are still to find the best mix for our purposes. It’s a fine balance in helping the crop and hindering it with increased root structure in the soil this allows PCN numbers to increase and therefore devastate the future growing crop.
Rented in land for the crop we try and get from a 5-mile radius of the farm again to keep the carbon footprint down on fuel. On the potato stores we have 140,000kWh solar which powers the stores.
- Six Year Rotation
- Environmental Protection
- Modern and efficient machinery
- 5,000 Tonnes Grain Storage Capacity
- State of The Art Alvan Blanch Drier
- 30 Tonnes Per Hour Potato Washer