With harvest 2024 yields down 12%, can I still justify owning my own combine?

[@johnparnell8571]

Harry, your depth and detail of farm management, down to the last penny, is mind blowing. And to think that the success or failure of an entire years work is so dependent on the weather really brings the message home to the rest of us. Huge respect to all of our hardworking farmers and their co-workers.

[@ghostrider7688]

That’s a fact . He has outlined it clearly as it. However from this year forward his operation is not looking financially viable for farming . On top of that he is taking the Kings pound to join the re wilding climate campaign . This gentlemen is a very grave situation for the future of British Food production.

[@FitzieJJ]

Are the immense taxpayer subsidies ever included in his #'s?

[@muzero2642]

Great video from Harry. I suggest renting the combine out to whatever neighbors' crops are ready earlier or later each year. One can make a ton in daily rent income during harvest season. It makes much more sense to charge by time rather than area, since that is the limiting factor.

[@WelcomeToTheWorldOfTheReal]

Do you spend much time looking up Harry?

[@naturestimeline]

Absolutely @johnparnell8571 and as a non-farmer member of the public I find such videos so entertaining and informative. The man is a legend and deserves more than his 150,000 plus subscribers he currently has.

[@danielmarshall4587]

As a "TOWNIE" who has little idea where my food comes from I find your vids a great insight, much appreciate your time and effort putting this together, cheers.

[@litehammer69]

This is why you command so much respect Harry, honesty, reality and transparency

[@-DC-]

You can't beat the peace of mind of having a Combine ready to go when conditions are right, Being Independent of Contractors is Priceless.

[@PeterWickett-w4h]

To be fair you had the good times 🤑

[@benedictleslie1447]

I wish these were an hour long and weekly - feels like the perfect therapy session listening to Harry natter about farming.

[@Ganyersel]

No, they're the perfect length. Look at the American KZbinrs, their farming videos ramble on for far too long, and frankly, working farmers don't want to listen to another farmer talking to their dog, we're too busy to waste time watching another farmer waxing lyrical for 30 minutes.

[@geraldbeard856]

a bit of advice for you harry.........lower your front mounted spinner closer to the ground .......the seeds won't get caught by the wind so much closer to the ground........i sow grass seeds with a fertiliser spreader and you will probably find the seeds may even spread a bit further without the wind catching them

[@IanWright-b2h]

Staggering numbers. So grateful to our farmers. So informative, Thanks Harry

[@scottmartin356]

City boy here, grateful for you explaining the mysteries!

[@muzero2642]

ciddy booi

[@FrogBoyDances]

STAAAAANLEEEEEYYYYY!!! 🥰🤗💖🐾 Total scene stealer 😂

[@Prince_Pig]

More of Stanley please!! Best supporting cast of Harry's Farm.

[@ianmckay1780]

Thanks Harry for such a good, reasoned, video of the problems WE will face, if nothing is done to clue in the politicians! They haven't got a clue where their food comes from honestly! Lets get some of the older gen farmers to stand for parliament, and give a real view of how things are going on in rural life?

[@RaithUK]

Good ole Harry, great video fella, i hate whats being done to farmers i really do. We have now changed all of our meat egg purchases to farm shops and get id say 30% of our veg from farm shops too.. working on being more farm friendly and supermarkets can sod off.

[@hughmarcus1]

Thanks. 👍👍

[@LuisCarruthers]

If house builders had their way, there would not be a single farm left in England.

[@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13]

My Godparents own a huge farm here in Australia where they produce cattle, canola, wheat and some other assorted crops depending on the year... They own all their machinery, including a huge Case combine and four prime movers with B-Double tippers and a couple livestock trailer sets. Another thing they do is breed, train and sell cattle dogs. What they actually make a lot of their money from is by contracting out their machines, particularly the combine, sprayers and trucks, along with the operators who are also staff on their farm. They say if they didn't do that, the costs of owning the machines and paying the staff just wouldn't make sense and their farm would produce a fraction of what it's capable of. You really do have to be a savvy businessman these days, who's not shy of talking on massive risk, if you want to operate a productive farm.

[@simony2801]

I’ve always wondered about the economics of combines, £250,000 for something which is used two weeks a year, factor in depreciation and running costs, it’s no joke.

[@piccalillipit9211]

My uncle gave up his combine years ago in favour of contractors - I'm pretty sure he regrets it. WAY more in drying costs, endless agro from the luxury housing development they built next door cos they paid £1million for their house and dont want to listen to a grain dryer all-day. But once you give it up its hard financially to get another one - you are kinda trapped down that route. Grain dryers use a LOT of LPG - there are big costs each side of the argument

[@fanfeck2844]

@@piccalillipit9211don’t know about the economics of drying, but I would ignore these idiots in the houses

[@piccalillipit9211]

@@fanfeck2844 He is old now - if he were 30 years younger he would have taken every window out with the 5h0tgun. He is past bothering now - but honestly, I was there one year, I dont know how he kept his cool. The sort of people that buy a £1 million + house in the countryside with electric gates and security cameras are not the type of people you want as neighbours trust me. These things were £1 mill back in 2005 so God knows what they would be now.

[@eddiewatts7792]

There is always the trade off of flexibility with your own machine to cut when its fit and save drying costs vs using a contractor

[@piccalillipit9211]

@@fanfeck2844 One of the houses when it sold they immediately ripped the brand new unused kitchen out and threw it and all the appliances in skips. We went around a couple of times and rang the doorbell to ask if we could take it - no one was living there. so the next day we took it out of the skips. Long story short they called the police - the police refused to do anything but they made a point of stopping the Range rover and telling us how disgusted they were and they could not believe they had moved to such a low life area "We have heard that things like this happen in LONDON but we never imagined it could happen here!" Im sorry - I was brought up to believe its a kind of moral obligation to make use of anything is a skip - not let it go to waste.

[@peterredward9452]

Thanks Harry. I'm not too surprised by your numbers. Back in the early 90s my parents bought a hay press and we did the family farm hay, and contracted out across the district. It was a family affair, I ran the hay truck. Helped get us through university. I did a careful accounting exercise after the first two seasons and it was apparent that it was a highly profitable business. We used second hand equipment but even accounting for depreciation and capital costs it was yielding a return on capital well north of 30%. The key however was utilisation, and staff. Having people who were gentle on the equipment and avoiding breakdowns and breakages. That's tough. Made it a business you couldn't really scale.

[@harrysfarmvids]

That's basically our model too. My son, Charlie, used to drive the combine for the contractor we used before buying our own combine. Without that in-house labour resource, it wouldn't make as much sense.

[@davidlane166]

Love the facts and figures- it’s what’s missing in most other KZbinrs I see

[@Rickwardful]

It’s a no brainier! Don’t even think about not having your own Combine. Just the ability to cut it dry when you want to is a huge advantage.

[@Andy_T79]

Not every farmer is a millionaire and has a spare 90k laying around.

[@piccalillipit9211]

Yeah my uncle gave up his combine years ago in favour of contractors - I'm pretty sure he regrets it. WAY more in drying costs, endless agro from the luxury housing development they built next door cos they paid £1million for their house and dont want to listen to a grain dryer all-day. But once you give it up its hard financially to get another one - you are kinda trapped down that route.

[@Thetache]

@@Andy_T79 The ones who own the farms are, they just never admit it! Farmers are notoriously tight it is ingrained in the culture.

[@Rickwardful]

@@Andy_T79 No farmers buys them for cash anyway. They are all on Bank loan, HP/Leased through various farming finance companies. It still makes sense for Harry to hang onto his Combine.

[@Andy_T79]

@@Thetache Harry hasn't made any money from farming, it's all been from his Evo publishing business.

[@Daytona2]

As with all vehicles, not being ripped off by the manufacturer is the key. It was a good buy at £86,500, giving a piddling ~3%pa depreciation.

[@bentullett6068]

Case/New Holland seem to be reasonably priced as a manufacturer. I used to work at a New Holland dealership and a lot of the customers tended to be ex John Deere customers.

[@TheRealMrLaserCutter]

Buying the combine before a massive bout of inflation was lucky. But this may not be the norm going forward also interest rates have gone up since then so if you finance things have changed there too. A tricky decision

[@nickhealey3388]

As always informative and engaging Harry , breaking down the costs of the combine compared with using a contractor was very interesting. Wishing you a high yield 25 harvest !

[@Panzax1]

Great video. I loved to see the actual costs of running a combine.

[@christopherparker5801]

So informative, a real education, thank you for your unique communication skills, love the farm and the garage. Kind regards.

[@paulmarriott7683]

I love these insights into the world of farming, I've been so ignorant most of my life in terms of how farming actually works! Thanks for opening up your world to us, it's totally fascinating.

[@Smudge64]

I never dreamed farming could be so interesting. love your videos!

[@Fourwheeledfarming]

Love watching your video Harry. Been following them for years, seeing the highs and lows of job… sharing the joys and stresses of battling Mother Nature

[@greengreenie55]

I find these videos fascinating, really show the reality of farming.

[@alfatechniks887]

Another fantastic and informative video Harry. A tough year weather wise, could have been worse, could have been better but you made the sensible investment in 2018 and have the technology to hand to be able to control your own harvest. The most important part of the farm calendar in my own opinion. Keep them coming and might see you in "The new local" one day.

[@redjacc7581]

how can it be environmentally good to have to import MORE food rather than grow it in the uk?

[@mediocreman2]

The logic of eco-mentalists. They freak out over the things that are easier to be tyrannical about and let the major offenders slide.

[@charlesharper2357]

Same as importing steel from China and India...more damage gets done there.

[@simony2801]

@redjacc7581 its about box ticking

[@OliCM3]

When you've got foreign business's in the pockets of leading politicians, you've got no hope of getting what's best for our Country.

[@ronanlucid9588]

Think British government could be creating a future crisis with amount of land taken our of production in terms of food security...although that plus lower yields should increase proce for farmers...Great videos keep it up

[@w056007568]

Reduced UK output for wheat will simply suck in imports from Europe, Russia and the Ukraine (or even further afield) once prices get high enough. Wheat is a world wide commodity and traded as such.

[@stevewells5450]

Harry massive respect for bringing the difficulties of farm management to the populas.the fairytale of green fields wheat swaying in the wind livestock all cooing mooing etc is the complete opposite of the harsh reality of dealing with bad weather costs of diesel fertiliser labour repairs and government legislation.a tough season for all but our farmers keep positive somehow.cheers for the post harry always look for the next chapter especially now as the farming calendar on the arable side starts again

[@nickhoward9343]

Thanks, Harry. Hopefully this winter weather is a bit better for you.

[@ThePastaManCan]

Thanks for putting so much of the big boy stuff in perspective.

[@peterdawson5115]

Fascinating Harry, I always enjoy the updates of how things are going, take care 👍

[@ianstewart56]

Thanks Harry, always a well informed update from the farm, always amazed with you level headiness no matter what the elements through at you, keep up the great work. Thanks. Ian

[@SH-pg1wo]

Always love the annual round up. Fascinating. Thx Harry.

[@petergoodman4922]

I’m just glad that you work the land and manage to get crops from it. How you manage to do that despite ever changing rules and make money out of it to keep going seems almost miraculous to me. Thoroughly enjoy your videos and look forward to the next one. Very best wishes.

[@philipkimber6302]

Thanks Harry. Love the detail on yield etc. Farming is not an easy job.

[@tomgreene1843]

This is a great presentation of farm's costs ....welll done indeed from a retired agricultural economist/accountant!

[@MrHasherd]

Most interesting Harry. Please keep us informed. Thanks, David

[@ammo4184]

The biggest winners on the AB8 areas are the seed merchants. £12k/tonne that seed costs. Frightening!! Always enjoyable, thanks again Harry

[@lordsnooty4138]

Much more sense investing in a concubine , works all year round

[@antonoat]

Lol, the service costs may be similar!

[@SeattlePioneer]

Useful at night, too.

[@terryurquhart2413]

😏🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@richryan8904]

All of the integrity and interest of your content….and Stanley too!

[@tstuart7333]

Super video. a great learning curve, whether you farm or not. Many thanks for all the efforts and input.

[@peterturnbull9133]

I really enjoy Clarkson's Farm. It revealed so much about what it takes to run a Farm and how difficult it is - definately increasing awareness. Having followed your car Channel (which I really enjoy BTW ) I have discovered your "adult" version of a Farming program and strangely, I really enjoy being educated by you about Farm management and the considerations and challenges facing farmers today. I grew up, and still live in the country but not at all associated with Farming.

[@r1bew42]

I have been talking about this for weeks now. The corn fields around here up in Newcastle and Northumberland have looked amazing despite the months of rain. I was saying it will be interesting to see what the yields are. This answers it. Cheers.

[@nicklov1]

Very interesting video, I think your best so far. It is very satisfying to see the results of the harvest, with all the numbers & costs, good & bad and also the planning for the future in each field area. The planning for wet areas to be seeded with grasses for environmental reasons seems to me to be a positive step but the paper work involved must be a nightmare to keep up. Here in Finland we have had a wonderful summer with what looks like, ( to me, I am now retired), an excellent harvest. Unfortunately we do not have podcasts or videos that I have found giving interested parties anything like the information that is given on Harry’s farm. Congrats.

[@beev]

At only £1,500 a season for charlie, i'd be contracting him + the combine out.... 😉

[@sullacicero2610]

He gets to drive some pretty cool cars though😂

[@mwnciboo]

I love farmers who do it properly - Excel spreadsheets and keep an eye on costs, depreciation etc.... It is business. You've got to be on the ball and diligent.

[@ronanmc2112]

It’s a real tease seeing old farmhouse and buildings behind the combine! We’ll get a tour one day I’m sure…

[@Gwril76]

Always a good enjoyable watch. I hope farming and harvest for 2025 is better. Thanks for sharing.

[@QualityContentComingSoon]

so much more detail than Clarkson's farm, enjoy learning about it all.

[@manonabeachjourneys]

Great, really enjoyed that as a layman. Well put across and informative. What a nightmare being a farmer!

[@TheMdog8]

Love the way you're doing your bit for the wildlife

[@Palmit_]

Thanks for the time to film, upload and share :) always good. i only wish harry would upload more often. even it's only to complain about his neighbour, clarkson or something. the farms always have tons of things going on that are worth filming.

[@1katotter]

Ah yes, love Harries farm videos, hallo from South Africa.

[@ianclarke4660]

Great explanation of the combine cost. Not sure it will still be justifiable with fewer acres to combine. I like the detail you go into and wish politicians would listen to your videos.

[@williamholmes7529]

Harry and Charlie and Bob. I'm sure I watched this show as a lad back in the sixties. Great update as always, ta Harry 👍

[@Hugh-nr5sx]

Really enjoy these videos. Yield maps really interesting.

[@ScrotusXL]

Harry, those zebra stripes are a striking new feature in the fields around Hemel Hempstead. Technology making changes to the agricultural landscape. Fascinating stuff

[@johncourtneidge]

Lovely, thank-you! The micro geology of an English field puts me in mind of AG Street's book 'Farmers' Glory' :'Don't 'ee do it sor! 'Baint roight!'

[@philtait62]

Really interesting video. I seriously thought that, with the reduction in farmed acres it would be uneconomical to own your own combine. Glad its working for you 👍🏻

[@steffydog]

Cheers Harry, keep well.

[@padraiggalvin2807]

Hi. I really enjoy these videos. Interesting to see the cost comparison of owning combine vs hiring contractor. But what i like most is the scale of the farm. its not super large like most farms nowadays.

[@antonoat]

Great stuff Harry, we live on an arable farm in North Yorks where the owners let the land to another local farmer( who incidentally follows your KZbin channel) . Last year there were quite a lot of issues with flooding and it was clear to see that the crop (Wheat) wasn't as good as it could have been with some very poor patches due to the rain and flooding. We still have stubble and we are waiting to see what they are going to do with it for the next growing season. The figures you give are very interesting and a real eye opener, I should think that many people would be surprised to see the costs involved with farming generally, not only the cost of seed, fertiliser etc but also costs of running and maintaining machinery it's also important for the public to realise that essentially arable farming is one big expensive gamble! Let's hope next year is kind with the weather and everyone has a good yield to compensate for this years poor results. Cheers!

[@paulowen-iy6vm]

have serviced combines I would agree with Harry that the engine doesnt need a service every year. I would change the engine oil ( but not the filter) before winterising and drain the fue filters though. Oil is cheap compared to fuel and whats left in the filter wont do any harm vs leaving all the oil for another season. For those that have never done it, a service on a combine is hard work and takes a lot of time. Things are hard to reach, lots of climbing up and down for tools and parts, you get covered in dust, and worse. First job is to start and run all the parts, to ensure any mice or rats are cleared out.

[@NorthernChev]

When I was a kid in the ‘60s I remember we had a three-row corn head on our tiny combine and it took every bit of our resources to justify keeping it on (at the time) only 120 acres.

[@faFsman]

Thanks Harry, in my experience trying to get grasseed to travel anymore than 6 or 8 foot is next to impossible with a spinner. Keep the combine, she’s doing the job fine…. Give Charlie a few more quid😁

[@peterkubilus5972]

Looking forward to see what the wildflower / grass mix looks like blooming on that landscape.

[@tonys1636]

Fantastic bookkeeping Harry, that should impress the Bank Manager when going cap in hand. Only works when the manager is human otherwise a "Computer says no" comes back.

[@Michael-ll8sh]

Love looking at the L322. Same colour as mine.

[@OldskoolCatflap]

Brown? 😂

[@markbriggs5531]

Entertaining video as always while I do my boring dishes! I maintain a bowling green and so wish I had GPS guidance on the mower to get those stripes after liberal refreshment down the pub the night before! Looking forward to the next installment already :)

[@kirmy1]

16:02 looks like a C17 going into Brize.

[@IslaSprollie]

Love the honesty

[@bentullett6068]

You definitely have a advantage on having your own combine. Plus if you did need extra income you could always contract it and your operator out to neighbouring farms who haven't got a combine to help them with the harvest.

[@jonh9561]

Great analysis of a fascinating subject.

[@edwardrook6246]

Another interesting video thank you. There is no need to apologise for using acres in the video. I can picture an acre in my minds eye but not a hectare .

[@DerekWarner-x6s]

Fascinating as always!!!

[@reinmansmith]

Fascinating figures on the running of your combine as opposed to paying a contractor. I’ve often wondered how the costs stack up for such a rarely used large (and expensive) machine, but now I know! …… I suppose you should also include any financing costs into the equation, even if you had the cash to purchase the machine you have still lost the use of that money whilst it’s tied up in the combine. Great insight as ever Harry 👍

[@agmachine]

Incredibly informative as usual. Farmers have to follow price incentives from wherever they originate, whether it be from the free market or government environmental schemes. Yields and production were down this year and that means more imports from far away countries. Goodness knows what the import situation will be in 2025/26 as more farmers take their land out of grain production. Perhaps Government, DEFRA and environmental groups should 'do the climate change math' as Bill Gates might say.

[@kisielthe1st]

I'm fairly certain that the UK as well as the developed countries of US and European Union are food secure. Yields being down just means less of it gets exported to third world countries.

[@agmachine]

@@kisielthe1st Many thanks for the comment. Perhaps this might help explain the UK self-sufficiency situation (www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agriculture-in-the-united-kingdom-2022/chapter-13-overseas-trade)

[@ianriseborough7216]

As always very interesting Harry , keep up the great work !

[@sugarfree1894]

Food prices going to be up then. I was driving from West Cornwall to East Devon a while back, saw the cabbage picker trucks all heading west, they were very distinctive with their treadles and cups.

[@JohnEvans-zo7kk]

Very informative, thanks Harry.

[@garyreid7865]

keep your combine ,,keeps you inderpendent

[@petergarthwaite6805]

Thank you 😊

[@woodrow60]

A farmer’s ability to harvest at the time of his choosing - rather than sweat on a contractor’s availability- must have value, assuming he knows when conditions are best for harvesting.

[@joseduarte176]

Those wild fruits must taste amazing! 😋

[@stco2426]

Thanks for the update. Very interesting.

[@HarvestDailyLife]

The fruit harvesting scene is very worth watching.

[@flightmonkeyuk6944]

Really interesting video about after-harvest “admin” around the farm.

[@wraitheful]

ty, Harry - fascinating stuff!

[@HROM1908]

The seed spinner appears to be well off the ground. Perhaps a spinner located to just above the ground would eliminate the offset seed scatter due to the wind. Enjoy your Farm series very much.

[@nealshopland4249]

Interesting as ever. Did you come to any conclusions regarding the two drilling methods you were using?

[@Pesmog]

Good point.

[@ScootyG]

Fuzz Ground - in Devon Fuzz was the name for Gorse, which used to grow on poor ground.

[@jncg2311]

I've heard furze, but not fuzz. We call is whin in the north, funny how something so familiar gets completely different names around the country.

[@Paul-dorsetuk]

very interesting nice to see the numbers. And I thought the 80 pounds sack of bee mix last year was expensive, turns out not.

[@chrislee2221]

Yield mapping is an essential must have these days with such high imput costs. Now with a change in direction with various schemes etc Yield mapping becomes an even more essential tool in order to make sound management and business decisions.

[@Trickynickymarts]

Here in West Wales some of the small but go-ahead farmers would buy themselves machinery that was maybe a bit extravagant for the size of farm but then do some contracting with it to make it earn its keep.

[@69spook]

It was a wet winter, spring, early summer. A few sunny days, then autumn arrived prompto....😕

[@rogerathome6980]

Have you considered hiring or renting the combine to your farming neighbours. You gave figures for hiring a unit, it’s quite likely you could do it for a lot less than a company which is highly profit driven and still make a profit which would at least offset the service/maintenance and depreciation costs

[@peterturnbull9133]

I guess the challenge in the UK is that weather is deeply unpredictable. So when the weather is right for harvesting in the area (probably a small window of opportunity) every Farmer needs to be out havesting their fields, so all the Combines will be in use. By the time one of the Combines are free to use, the rain has started.

[@linasd5678]

Amazing videos! 👍

[@MisFakapek]

Manage soil compaction, aerate soil, put nitrogen biding plants somewhere around your planting season, keep compost around (build composting routine). In areas affected by flooding -> do some earth work and include canals / french drains that would take the surface water out of your fields.

[@TechnikMeister2]

Here in Australia the break even point for a farm to own a million dollar harvester is about 100,000 acres. Harrys farm is only the size of a paddock down here. In harvesting seasons (2 per year) we keep our two going 24/7 for 4 months of the year. We do ours first than they are off to do our neighbours and further.