Tag: fwe-20160618

The Autonomous Tractor Corporation (ATC) has found a way to recycle old tractors to get another 25,000 hours’ labour from a worn-out workhorse.

The US company, tucked away in a yard just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, has built a kit that allows a tractor’s clapped-out transmission and differentials to be torn out and replaced with diesel generators and electric motors.

Looked after correctly, the new-look driveline should double the life of the tractor – and it costs a fraction of the price of a brand-new vehicle, according to ATC vice-president Terry Anderson.

WHY DIESEL-ELECTRIC?

Mr Anderson set about redrawing the tractor-building blueprint back in 1999, after realising the limitations and costs of traditional designs.

Radical changes in tractor drive-lines have been pretty thin on the ground since the diesel combustion engine hit the agricultural scene back in 1927, and ATC’s system is the first aftermarket diesel-electric drive available for tractors.

Unlike Tesla’s foray into pure electric automotive power, the hybrid diesel arrangement avoids the need for an expensive combination of batteries that would struggle to store the sort of energy required for power-hungry farm jobs.

WHY REPLACE THE DRIVELINE?

The biggest and best tractors now come with a price tag to scare the wits out of most bank managers, and are almost wholly reliant on a dealer’s laptop to track down problems. Mr Anderson’s aim was to concoct a system that could extend the life of long-in-the-tooth tillage tractors at a fraction of the cost of buying new.

The idea is that conventional cabs and frames have a long life expectancy – far greater than the working components – but they end up getting scrapped when the rest of the tractor gives up the ghost. As a general rule, ATC’s rebuild costs about £280/hp, while buying new comes in closer to £500/hp.

Hire companies are particularly interested in extending the working life of their machines, and one – Pacific Ag Rentals – is seriously considering the idea of removing the transmissions of well-used tractors on the fleet and replacing them with electric motors for the front and rear axles.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Electric drive systems already exist in other markets, but developing one to suit a tractor required serious head-scratching, given the high starting-torque demanded by farm machinery.

ATC sells its eDrive system as a 200hp or 400hp refurb kit designed to fit any make and model, and includes the variable-speed electric wheel motors, a generator and the controls in the dealer-fitted package.

Installation is a daunting job that requires a complete strip-down of the existing drivetrain and takes up to three weeks to complete. In all, only the cab, frame and engine will remain.

To fit the new system, most of the old girl’s vital organs are torn out and either scrapped or flogged – the near-naked body of an old John Deere 6415 sat in the workshop (below) gives a good idea of the size of the task.

Truckloads of transmissions, differentials and axles are pulled out at the company’s base and sent off to the scrappy. In their place go ATC-built wheel motors and an electronic torque controller. Off-the-shelf diesel generators are fitted front and back on the big artic-steer tractors to drive the four 100hp wheel motors.

The system can also be fitted to two-wheel drive tractors – it just requires a single generator and two motors to do the job.

If the engine is a reliable runner then it can stay, but it’s just as easy to switch it at the same time, too.

A joystick control and big display screen is also fitted as part of the kit.

SOUNDS COMPLICATED?

Once the initial fit is complete, maintenance is easier than an old-school gearbox drive, says ATC.

Gearboxes are a particularly expensive component and downtime can rumble well into several weeks, so quick-fixes will be a big appeal to those that rely on fewer, bigger tractors.

Service life of the oil-cooled, oil lubricated motors is up to 25,000 hours, and they will need very little TLC before that point. If there is a problem, the motors are designed to be whipped off and replaced in less than an hour, with no need for any specialist kit.

IS IT BETTER ON FUEL?

Let’s take ATC’s converted articsteer John Deere 8760 as an example. It rolled into the workshop with a 10.1-litre, six-cylinder block rated to 300hp and was able to produce 239hp at the drawbar prior to the re-fit. Average fuel consumption was 16.7gal/hour.

The post-rebuild stats make better reading – it has morphed into a 400hp tractor capable of delivering 352hp at the drawbar, thanks to fewer power-sapping components. ATC also reckons it now averages 14gal/hour from the diesel tank – considerably less than before – and works more quietly.

The company has done the maths and makes bold claims of 50% savings over a standard set-up.

A veteran 8760 might cost £25,000 in North America. Add the cost of ATC’s hybrid kit at about £80,000 and, provided you haven’t got your heart set on a modern-looking machine, you’ll have a good-as-new 400hp tractor for a little over £100,000. In today’s market, that’s about half the price of a new machine.

DOES IT JUST WORK ON TRACTORS?

No – a hydrostatic sprayer is another machine that lends itself to electric wheel motors.

ATC is working on fitting four 65hp electric wheel motors to replace the hydraulic drives on a high-clearance Deere 4930 sprayer.

In the future, there will also be the option of providing an AC or

DC current to power electrically-driven implements. Several of the major implement manufacturers have dabbled with the idea of electric power to replace pto drives, so there’s a good chance this will be handy in the future.

WHO MAKES THE COMPONENTS?

ATC currently manufactures almost all of the components in-house – including the liquid-cooled circuit boards, which are built by a specialist division of the company.

The company makes the high-torque, high-voltage electric motors at its factory, too.

HAVE ANY BEEN SOLD?

The first hybrid retro-fit – a Deere 8760 – was sold to a huge farmer-owned group that covers 1.5m acres (610,000ha) across North America.

The idea is to establish a distribution network with dealers that will be trained in the complex fitting task and will also be able to service the tractors.

WHAT ABOUT GUIDANCE?

ATC has also developed its own driverless tractor system – an alternative to GPS navigation – that it can pair with its eDrive transmission.

Autodrive guidance differs from satellite-based farm navigation in relying solely on ground-based sensors, which means it’s the safest way to automate tractor driving jobs.

According to Mr Anderson, GPS will never provide a service that is reliable, safe and secure enough to leave tractors to get on with cultivation work without an operator in the seat.

Instead, its version uses laser and radio signals to locate its position and form a field boundary. Two RTK base stations fit to the tractor, and another two are propped up at either end of the field, to provide an accurate picture of its location without the risk of the signal dropping out.

At the same time, the tractor sends out sonar pulses, which detect any obstacles up to 18m ahead.

If the tractor loses its position, identifies a problem or spots something blocking its route it will stop immediately and send a text to the farmer.

The system is currently available only on an eDrive tractor, but the company hopes to roll out the technology to other brands in the future. It costs about £10,000 – not too far off regular GPS guidance.

THE SPIRIT

⁕ATC first hit the headlines back in 2012, when it pulled the wraps off its debut driverless tractor.

The boxy-shaped Spirit (below) comes with no cab or space for a driver, and uses two 200hp Isuzu engines to power a generator and a gang of electric motors.

Doing away with the transmission and differentials means it can potentially put 20% more power to the ground and run more frugally, compared with a run-of-the-mill tractor. It has since been used as a base for a self-propelled chaser bin. Using ATC’s laser-radio guidance system, the chaser can be left to scurry around the field between the combine and the wagon without any input from an operator.

Capacity is a modest 11t, but it can get up to 18mph and unload in 40 seconds – the idea being that it does lots of small loads to reduce soil compaction.

The southern edge of Northumberland is dominated by cattle and sheep farms, but Edwin Taylor is successfully growing 1,000ha of combinable crops on land rising to 1,000ft.

Northumberland holds the world wheat yield record, which demonstrates the high potential of this part of northern England with it long summer days. However, it’s not without its challenges.

One of these is the weakly structured loamy soils with a high percentage of silt over mixed-up glacial deposits and sedimentary rocks in an area west of Consett. The soil is prone to slumping after tillage and surprisingly – given the altitude – it can suffer from drought in summer.

This soil is suited to mixed farming – but back in 2001 the family partnership, E Taylor & Son, decided to get out of dairy.

“I was more interested in the arable part of the business, so we expanded the cropping area through a combination of acquiring land and taking on farm business tenancies and contract farming agreements,” Mr Taylor says.

He explains that the rotational three- to four-year ryegrass leys helped maintain soil health by building up organic matter levels, aided by the application of slurry and manure.

The business still has a beef enterprise with Belted Galloways and a sheep flock of 1,300 mule ewes, grazed on areas of permanent pasture that are not suited to cultivation.

The consequence of losing rotational leys has been in the way soil adversely reacts to the weather and cultivations.

“Our biggest challenge is the inconsistency with the weather on the edge of the Pennines and the way our soil reacts to it.”

Mr Taylor has spent the past five to six years developing a system that helps overcome the loss of rotational grass, with the introduction of cover cropping, a move to more diverse crop rotations and less-intensive soil cultivations across the arable areas of the farm.

ORGANIC MATTER

Total organic matter levels at Durhamfield Farm look reasonable at 6-8%, but as Newcastle University soil specialist Elizabeth Stockdale explains, like measures of P or K, the total amount of organic matter held in the soil does not necessarily help you to manage the soil.

“The soil can hold organic matter like a long-term bank account: through management practices you can put more in – in crop roots, residues and manures – and the soil biological activity takes some out as it breaks the organic matter down.

“On this farm, the high level is because a lot has gone in over the years through the livestock and it will also be stabilised by the clay in the soil.”

But she points out that not all organic matter is the same. “There is a huge spectrum of organic materials that have built up the soil organic matter over time. Some of the carbon will have come from plants that lived thousands of years ago.

“Organic matter contributes to the health of soil in a number of ways, but generally it is the biological activity that regular fresh inputs of organic matter support that is important for soil health, not overall organic matter level,” she adds.

Dr Stockdale believes that farmers can promote good soil health by putting three key principles into practice:

⁕ Don’t till too much – tillage can lead to a decline in organic matter.

⁕ Increase organic matter inputs through crop roots and residues or by adding manures/compost.

⁕ Increase the diversity of organic matter inputs and cropping.

However, she warns: “On each farm, application of these principles will lead to a range of different practices – so there is no simple recipe for soil health everywhere.”

SPRING CROPPING

Diversity also applies to cropping and she notes that introducing spring cropping means a whole range of changes for the soil.

“Spring cropping brings diversity in timing of growth, cultivations and when nutrients are applied, thereby feeding soil biology. The timing of everything is different.”

Mr Taylor adds that his previous rotation of winter wheat, winter oilseed rape and winter barley was not really a rotation. “It was just an autumn crop.”

He has since increased diversity with cover cropping and spring beans, barley, oats, peas and wheat, the latter Group 1 milling varieties.

However, he adds that it has not been easy to include more spring cropping – his aim is for it to account for one-third of the total cropping area.

To help overcome the loss of profitability with spring cropping, he has added value with peas for micronizing, beans for export into overseas human consump tion markets and oats grown for Quaker. Another benefit is that they are cheap to grow.

ESTABLISHMENT

In addition to applying compost and increasing spring cropping, Mr Taylor has ditched the plough and gone no-till, as ploughing was damaging soils.

He recalls ploughing an area back in 2012 that still has not recovered.

“Water sat above the plough pan and it was then that I decided on no more ploughing. It has slumped and gone backwards.”

Drills include two Horsch no-till drills (a 6m and an 8m) plus a 6m Moore drill. While there seems to be a lot of drill capacity, he says it gives them more flexibility and they are a low capital cost.

Both Horsch drills have been converted with Canadian openers, one with 2.5in points and the other with narrower, 0.75in points.

“We have seen differences and where crops have been drilled with the wider points, there has been some slumping. In contrast, the area drilled with narrow openers looks much better – it seems the message is to move soil less.”

But Dr Stockdale adds that it is not simply a case of ditching the plough. “The big problem has been the increased cultivation intensity and reduced timeliness.

“Forty years ago, ploughing was less likely to damage soil, as the smaller two-wheel drive tractors would not be able to pull a plough in less-than-ideal conditions.

“Ploughing is not necessarily a bad thing if the timing is right and if you can go shallow. But the windows are very small and are difficult to hit for these soils up here.”

Since the change, Mr Taylor believes spring cropping is more consistent as soil is losing less moisture and crops are establishing better. “They are not suffering in a dry spring.”

COVER CROPS

With cover crops, Mr Taylor often opts for the cheapest option possible, using home-saved seed. He uses what is to hand, but has also tried various mixes of pulses, phacelia and oil radish plus a high proportion of oats.

However, Dr Stockdale adds that getting a crop growing is more important than species choice. She questions the value of some species in the north, where establishment is late – for example, pulses won’t fix much nitrogen and tillage radish does not grow that big.

“You want something green and growing, capturing carbon and feeding soil organisms. About 20-30% of sugars produced from photosynthesis leaks out of roots and this feeds soil organisms, which thrive in soil near crop roots.”

YIELDS

Yields are starting to be more consistent. Last year, wheat weighed across the weighbridge averaged just under 10t/ha and the 10-year average is 8.5t/ha. Spring beans have been consistent performers, yielding 5t/ha.

However, oilseed rape has been less consistent, with variable establishment. As a result, coupled with high growing costs, the area is being reduced. Mr Taylor adds that, while the area is being reduced, in the north east oilseed rape is still looked on as a valuable break crop to guarantee early establishment of first wheat.

Spring oats have been another consistent performer yielding 6.2-8.7t/ha for the four years they have been grown – and they are cheap to grow too.

Dr Stockdale says that the long hours of daylight in summer means good yield potential. “This is why an area that some might think is marginal for cropping is offering good yields.”

⁕ The discussion with Edwin Taylor and Elizabeth Stockdale was organised by BASF.

LEARNING FROM OTHER SOIL-FOCUSED FARMERS

⁕ Being a member of a network of soil-focused farmers has been a great help to Edwin Taylor, when looking for solutions.

Biodiversity Agriculture Soil and Environment (BASE) was established 10 years ago in Brittany by cover cropping guru Frederic Thomas and is a club of farmers interested in conservation agriculture.

The UK arm is only three to four years old and already has 120 members. It is self-funded, with no commercial involvement, Mr Taylor says.

Base members all support each other with varying knowledge in conservation agriculture. “Our aim is to share information and experiences and I have learned a huge amount from it. It has helped us to refine our system and given us confidence to try new ideas and solutions.”

New members are welcome and interested farmers should contact the organisation at http://base-uk.co.uk.

ONLINE BENCHMARKING TOOL

⁕ An online tool that will help farmers benchmark their soils against their neighbours’ is being developed for the UK.

Newcastle University researcher Elizabeth Stockdale is leading a two-year Sustainable Agriculture Research Innovation Club-funded project aimed at rolling out the highly successful Australian soilquality.org.au tool in the UK.

Using UK data, she explains that soilquality.org.uk will enable farmers to benchmark their soil test results for measures such as P, K, pH and organic matter. “For example, is 6% organic matter a good number for your soil?”

The Australian version offers factsheets, online calculator tools such as the green manure calculator and videos.

Bigger is not better at the Mushrush family ranch, Kansas, where small-tomoderate Red Angus cows are challenged to wean a calf at a minimum of 50% of cow weight in 160 days.

This focus on function and effi-ciency is a key profit driver in lowinput systems and is the reason Mushrush Red Angus genetics are gaining popularity across the USA.

The ranch has 700 registered purebred cattle and 550 commercial heifers across 4,046ha of tallgrass prairie, supplying genetics into the US cattle industry and beef through processors and the family’s own brand, Mushrush Family Meats, which was launched early in 2015.

Registered cows in both spring (450-head) and autumn (250-head) herds are bred and sold annually. Meanwhile, Mushrush-bred progeny is bought back off other ranchers and finished.

Combined with a drive for low birth weights and easy-fleshing calves, the Mushrush herd is producing functional, maternal cattle that can perform in the extensive and challenging rangeland beef systems of the central states.

“Efficiency is one thing we focus on,” says Daniel Mushrush, a thirdgeneration rancher who farms alongside parents Joe and Connie and the rest of the family in the Flint Hills in eastern Kansas.

“Anything weaning 40-45% of its weight is usually a cull cow here.”

Exceptional cows wean 60% of their weight by 160 days, with one star performer last year weighing 453kg and weaning a 294kg calf.

“If she does it again this fall and makes it a trend we will flush her and try to get many more calves out of her,” adds Daniel, who recorded a herd average mature weight of 553kg last year.

SUPPLEMENTING COWS

Supplementation and cow costs can vary hugely year to year, according to the quality, abundance and price of grazing.

This year, the main feeding supplementation is coming from protein nuts at £140/t and bought-in hay at £33/t. General feed costs are budgeted at $800 (£550) a head for the autumn- and spring-calving herd of 700 pedigree cows.

“Hay-wise prices are really low – the same hay was $200/t (£130/t) during the drought,” explains Daniel. “But at $50/t (£34/t) we can graze the land harder and not worry about making hay this year.”

FLEXIBLE WEANING

Spring and autumn calving targets a 32-36kg birth weight to allow unassisted outdoor calving at or below 5% mortality, which is considered an industry average. Calves rarely need pulling, heifers aren’t checked at night and calves are born on the rangeland, explains Daniel.

“We say that you can work for your cows or your cows can work for you – we prefer the latter.”

Cows calve in 65-day blocks with cows served via AI after being synchronised, explains Daniel’s father, Joe.

“Any open cows get sold unless we like production figures for them, in which case we put an embryo in them,” he adds. Often they make ideal surrogate mothers if they have easy calving figures and good milk production too. If embryos then don’t take, open cows are sold and heifers are fattened or sold.

“We feed out registered cull heifers for the meat company because we want all of the meat from the ranch to be a ‘Pasture to Plate’ product,” says Joe.

“Although we do not have a [US Department of Agriculture] verified programme to guarantee it, we can market our beef by explaining that it was grass-fed until the last 130 days. At that time we put them on a high-energy corn diet to enhance the tenderness and flavour.”

Autumn calves are now weaned at 160 days following changes made in response to the 2012 drought, which forced herds to wean early. Meanwhile, spring calves are weaned at about 175-200 days, depending on grass availability.

Connie adds: “Spring fits us better but we do fall calving because many customers like older bulls, although this calving block is costly as these cows are supplemented more during lactation and breeding.”

The Mushrush cows are smaller than the national average, but Daniel points to extensive US research showing that bigger cows don’t necessarily wean bigger calves and that milk [estimated progeny difference (EPD)] are producing excessively milky cows for many US environments.

BULLS FOR BIG COUNTRY

The year’s work culminates in selling 200-head of breeding bulls at the annual ranch sale on the third Friday in March. One bull delivery route requires Daniel to drive yearling and 18-month-old bulls 3,000 miles in four days.

Good locomotion is paramount for sires working across expansive ranches, explains Daniel.

For this reason, bull development pens are located in an abandoned limestone quarry, with the rugged environment promoting strong pasterns and hard feet.

At home in Chase County, Kansas, a cow-calf pair is given eight acres (3.23ha) but Daniel stresses that US cattle country is hugely varied.

“In Missouri, where they have fescue and lots of rain, it may be one or two acres [0.4-0.8ha] a pair. In Nevada it may be 150 acres [60ha] or even more. Our own stocking rates revolve around supplementing with protein and hay through winter months.”

Winter frosts are prolonged in the Flint Hills and temperatures regularly fall to -8C. This requires dead grasses to be burnt off in controlled fires in April, with around 60% of pasture burnt off.

Annual burning fertilises the land, promotes growth when rains come (normally in May and June), helps to control weeds, brush, ticks and parasitic worms and avoids fibrous bunches of unpalatable grass developing, explains Daniel.

MATERNAL ABILITY AND MARBLING

Two new herd indices have been developed recently by the Red Angus Association of America – HerdBuilder and GridMaster.

HerdBuilder Index An indication of a particular sire’s ability to build up profitable herds, rating the ability of daughters to produce replacement heifers and sell progeny on the national quality-based carcass grid from typical Angus cross progeny. The index is derived from stayability (the ability of a daughter to remain in the herd for at least six years), heifer pregnancy and calving ease.

GridMaster Index Rates on progeny performance in feedlots and subsequent carcass on a Red Angus crosses derived from marbling, yield grade and growth EPD.

Mushrush breeding is a balanced programme of terminal and maternal traits, with a focus on commercial buyers.

Attention is therefore put on calving ease, maintenance energy and stayability EPDs, balanced against the marbling and carcass qualities of the Red Angus to suit the demands of the consumer, explains Daniel.

TESTING TECHNOLOGY

Efficiency doesn’t stop at breeding cattle. Three new pieces of ear tag technology are being deployed across the ranch this spring – EID and radio frequency identification (RFID) – with the aim of driving labour efficiency and management options.

With no equivalent to a British Cattle Movement Service, a cattle’s tag is used entirely for a ranch’s management purposes. Up until this year, visual tags displayed animal and parent ID – but Daniel explains this is changing.

EID tags Tracking all measurable pedigree information at every life event.

GrowSafe feed bunk Uses an RFID system to measure feed intake and monitor behaviour. Shown to benefit US producers by £28 a head.

Cattle tracking ear tags run to a gateway system, which can be a farm office computer up to 30 miles away. They run on a bat tery and solar panels, providing a capability that the Mushrush family have been “dreaming of for years”.

“This will save us hours of the day we spend just looking for cattle,” explains Daniel.

“It will alert us if a bull leaves a group of cows via text message – it’s amazing technology.”

In addition to the breeding operation, home-raised heifers supply a meat company and a growing number of animals are slaughtered for the family meat brand.

The feed bunks will be used to measure feed intake down to 0.5g, which is designed to drive savings through optimal marketing, early disease detection, improved management of poorer performers and reduced days on feed.

Daniel believes the technology will hugely improve efficiency in the US cattle industry.

“This way we can calculate exactly their feed-to-gain conversion rates.”

michael.priestley@rbi.co.uk

I’m peed off with poisonous talk about chemicals

In my more idle moments, I sometimes wonder about the exact circumstances in which these words might get read.

Is it in the bath amid the suds as the big toe on the right foot carefully manoeuvres the hot tap another quarter turn? In the loo (a room Mrs Smith brusquely likes to refer to as “his reading room”)? Then again, maybe Farmers Weekly gets read in bed?

It’s probably best not to explore the bedroom setting too much further. I will merely – in a timely tribute to one of my favourite comedians, who passed away recently – quote a Victoria Wood line from her song Let’s do it. It goes: “Not meekly, not bleakly, beat me on the bottom with a Woman’s Weekly.” And let’s be honest, who hasn’t played out the farmhouse version of that ditty?

Or maybe it’s at the breakfast table where you do your ag-mag reading? I’m imagining now my mugshot being pebbledashed with bits of fried tomato flak, mixed with the shrapnel from the bottom of the cornflake box. If by chance you are indeed now sat at the breakfast table, can I suggest you stop reading this and finish your apple juice first, because it’s the subject of urine that occupies me this week. “Too late!” I hear you cry.

Let’s be clear, it was some Green MEPs that started all this wee talk. In a stunt called “We’re peed off” they brought in their own samples to the European Parliament to complain how much glyphosate there was in them.

It was all part of the push by the anti-pesticide NGOs to have glyphosate banned. The urine test revealed glyphosate levels were about 1ng/ml.

At first I thought this quite alarming. As someone who regularly handles the concentrate, I suspect my readings might be higher. To be frank, I started wondering if I need to be more careful when caught short away from the yard. Farmers are blamed for the demise of wildflowers as it is. Do we need to ask ourselves what rare orchids we might be jetting into oblivion as we relieve ourselves behind a hedge next to our floristically enhanced margins? And should such applications (particularly the type of nozzle used, perhaps) be catalogued in our spray records?

But then I stopped to work out what amounts of glyphosate these green MEPs are getting in a stew over. One ng/ml is a billionth of a gram in a millilitre. To kill a thistle you need at least 0.015g of glyphosate. So you would need to pee more than 15,000 litres on to a thistle to get it to succumb. So good luck with that.

A bit of internet research further enlightened me about what we are carrying around in our bladders. There is 400ng/ml of arsenic, for starters, which doubles if you eat shellfish. There is 30ng/ml of cyanide, which doubles if you are a smoker. Finally, there’s 20ng/ml of mercury.

It almost feels as if we are carrying around Dr Crippen’s medicine chest in our bowels.

Then, of course, there is naturally occurring botulinum, a teaspoon of which can kill one billion people. Fortunately this doesn’t turn up in the bladder, but instead we deliberately inject it into ourselves for cosmetic reasons – its marketed as Botox.

But the easy thing to overlook is that modern analytical methods allow us to detect more or less anything at levels of microscopic inconsequence. It’s almost as if, in our hyped-up world of scare stories, we have forgotten the wisdom of Paracelsus, who wrote: “Poison is in everything and no thing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy.”

Guy Smith comes from a mixed family farm on the north-east Essex coast, which is officially recognised as the driest farm in the UK. He is also vice-president of the NFU

Next week’s columnists

Charlie Flindt and Neale McQuistin

⁕ Guy Smith is on Twitter at @essexpeasant and you can reach Farmers Weekly at @farmersweekly

Want to put your own views forward? Visit www.fwi.co.uk/forums or email tim.relf@rbi.co.uk

Created by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, the England Coast Path (ECP) will be the world’s longest coastal walking route.

The path itself may be up to four metres wide and will also offer a coastal margin or “spreading area” for the public. This usually extends seawards, allowing unfettered access to cliffs, dunes, mudflats, salt marsh, beaches and the sea.

Natural England (NE) has eight teams working around the country. Among recent new sections are an 82km stretch off the Lancashire coast from Silverdale to Cleveleys, the 57km stretch between Highcliffe and Calshot, Hampshire, and a similar length between Iwade and Grain, in Kent.

Since March, a stretch along the Somerset coast has also been opened, while more sections in Kent and a route from North York-shire to Middlesbrough will be opened this summer.

HOW IS THE PATH CREATED?

Landowners are urged to talk to NE at the earliest opportunity as it continues to roll out more of the path.

Five stages of work are undertaken by NE to create stretches of the path:

⁕ Preparatory discussions with national and local organisations, such as the local highway authority, local access forums, the Country Land & Business Association (CLA), the NFU, user groups such as the Ramblers, the Open Spaces Society and wildfowling clubs. At this stage, NE assesses the problems, opportunities and constraints and identifies landowners that may be affected.

⁕ NE then speaks to all local landowners and others with legal interests and invites landowners to “walk the course”.

⁕ Proposals for the path route are finalised and published in a report to the secretary of state.

⁕ Landowners and occupiers then have an eight-week window in which to submit an objection, which goes to the Planning Inspectorate for ruling. Anyone can make a representation to the inspectorate.

⁕ The final stage is the designation that the stretch of path is open.

So far, there has been no formal legal challenge to the route of the path, due in part to the expense of such action. But there have been objections, some of which have been upheld by the secretary of state – for example, where the proposed path is too close to a residential property.

Sarah Slade, CLA national access adviser, says she is pleased that NE is taking its engagement role seriously. “There is now much more consultation at an early stage than when the pilot stretch started, and NE is making use of existing coastal paths where possible.”

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) was instrumental in persuading Defra to place a duty on NE to take account of sporting rights on the coast, and also secured a right of appeal to the environ ment secretary to change the route for sporting purposes.

Glyn Evans, BASC’s head of game and deer management, says NE has taken a pragmatic approach: “Obviously, we are still at a fairly early stage and there is a long way to go. But we have been encouraged by the way we are consulted early about their latest plans.”

LANDOWNER LIABILITIES

People who occupy land covered by the coastal access rights benefit from a low level of occupier liability, says NE. Essentially, occupiers are not responsible for any damage or injury caused by any physical features of the land, whether natural or man-made. However, when the ECP follows existing rights of way, existing rights and responsibilities apply.

The CLA says liability is a complicated area but it is lower on coastal access land than in a situation where the public has been invited on to farmland. However, liability is not excluded if a landowner does something reckless or deliberate that would endanger someone.

Land managers are advised to carry out a risk assessment if they plan to have livestock close to the path, and should be familiar with the Health and Safety Executive’s Cattle and Public Access England and Wales leaflet (revised): www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ais17ew.pdf.

TENANTS

Legal occupiers, such as tenants, are treated in the same way as land managers, says NE. George Dunn, Tenant Farmers Association chief executive, says he has encountered only a few concerns relating to the path, which have been resolved following discussions between the landlord and the tenant.

“These concerns have largely been from individuals on shortterm business tenancies and where landlords are seeking to make changes to renewal agreements to accommodate matters relating to the coastal path and their negotiations with NE,” he says.

ROLL-BACK

An important part of the coastal path legislation is it allows the route to “roll back” in future if the coastline erodes or slips. This applies even when existing routes, such as the South West Coast Path, are adopted.

The CLA says landowners need to be aware that the path can roll back indefinitely. “As a result, it’s not just coastal landowners but others inland that need to discuss this issue with NE now,” says Mrs Slade.

LANDOWNER RESPONSIBILITIES

Implementation of the ECP does not impose maintenance obligations on farmers or other land managers. But where the ECP follows existing rights of way, such as footpaths or bridleways, the current rights and responsibilities remain – for example, the landowner should keep side vegetation cut back in the summer.

NE says it may be necessary to restrict the public from an area for land management purposes at certain times or seasons. Restrictions for land management can relate to anything from public events and visitor attractions to management of livestock.

In these instances, an owner or occupier may seek a restriction. Examples include exclusion of dogs from a small enclosure in the coastal margin for a period when cows and calves are present, or an alternative route being put in place to allow a boat-lifting to take place.

“We follow the principle of applying the least-restrictive option that meets the need and strikes an appropriate balance between public access rights and interests of landowners,” NE says.

However, landowners cannot restrict public access to manage risks to public safety from natural features, such as cliffs and potholes. NE emphasises that visitors should take responsibilities to keep themselves safe.

Eventually the coastal path will be designated a National Trail, which will mean that maintenance becomes the responsibility of a local trail partnership, which normally includes local authorities, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, landowners and user groups.

2020 TARGET

Some people are concerned that NE will not meet its 2020 deadline to complete the path and may try to cut corners when it comes to consulting over some of the more difficult areas of the coastline.

When the legislation was going through the House of Commons, the cost of the path was estimated at £50m.

Neil Constable, NE’s principal adviser for coastal access, says it will cost considerably less.

He adds that, while it has started slowly, the government is committed to completing what will be the world’s longest coastal walking route by 2020.

“We have opened or are now working on 60% of the coast, which will bring a boost to local tourism and grow the rural economy. We have built momentum to continue this across the country and are on target to complete the entire route by 2020.”

Mrs Slade believes this target is just about possible, but only if ongoing engagement with landowners and good co-operation with stakeholders is maintained over the next four years.

“It is a very tight deadline and is only achievable with good cooperation.”

The CLA had always maintained that the approach in Wales was more straightforward and took less time, with a simple path being designated and no roll-back provision, she said.

Source: UK Government

ENGLISH COASTAL PATH

⁕ 2,700-mile coastal path being opened in stages to 2020

⁕ Landowners can object to proposed routes

⁕ Temporary suspensions can be applied, for land management reasons

⁕ Liability for their safety rests largely with path users

⁕ Where existing rights of way and the path converge, existing obligations relating to those rights of way must be observed

⁕ The Country Land & Business Association, with Defra and Natural England, has produced more detailed guidance. Search “coastal liability” at www.cla.org.uk.

Peter Kendall

Ex-NFU president and Britain Stronger in Europe campaigner

✱ I am convinced that, for farmers and those building a career in agriculture, staying in the EU means more opportunities and fewer risks.

For UK farmers in the single market, this means 500 million of the world’s richest consumers on our doorstep who can buy our great British produce free of tariffs.

This market is important in setting the price we receive, but equally importantly, we also have common standards. That means our militant French colleagues cannot keep our lamb or any other product out.

Brexiteers argue that “they need us more than we need them”. It’s not that simple. Nearly 50% of what we export goes into the EU market, yet less than 8% of what the rest of the EU exports arrives in the UK.

For agriculture, 73% of UK exports go to the EU. I remember only too well how the foot-andmouth disease outbreak stopped exports and how the price of lamb fell dramatically overnight. No one can guarantee tariff-free access for our products into this vital market, so let’s be crystal clear: any tariff or an increase in the cost of trading will come straight off the farmer’s bottom line.

CHEAPER IMPORTS

Let’s also take a look at the trade aims of those advocating Brexit. Michael Gove, secretary of state for justice, recently noted that a big selling point of leaving the EU would be cheaper food; yes, cheaper food. We all know who really pays for cheap food – farmers, rural communities and our unique environment.

Thankfully, E U agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan knows, for example, that the EU beef industry would be devastated if South American beef was allowed unlimited into the EU free of tariffs.

I know Mr Hogan will defend the EU beef industry to the hilt. I don’t have the same confidence in the free traders of the Conservative right who can’t wait for unfettered free markets.

I am also not convinced it’s an easy job instantly striking new trade deals around the world. The recent EU deal with Canada took seven years to negotiate. We benefit from more than 50 such trade agreements; all of these would need renegotiating with very little time to do it.

FUTURE SUPPORT

The important topics in this debate are money and access, so let’s move on to cash. I have long argued that the future lies in growing markets and less reliance on support payments. I believe that, if support is to be reduced, it should be unravelled across the EU so that as farmers we don’t face unfair competition from our near neighbours. So what have the Brexiteers in mind? The campaign group Farmers for Britain says it will protect subsidies, probably increase them and at the same time abolish cross-compliance. I have always been nervous of politicians bearing gifts, and even more nervous when I’m told the cheque is in the post. We would all be wise to see through this.

Mito images/Rex/Shutterstock and ING

There’s a need for a reality check on the “£350m/week” to spend if we leave claim, representing the apparent “cost” of our EU membership. After Margaret Thatcher’s rebate, the regional funds and the money for farmers, this figure is actually £153m at best.

Promises abound on what this mythical £350m a week will be spent on – the NHS, a rebate on council tax, the list goes on. It sounds to me like farming would be at the bottom of a big pile of other priorities.

RED TAPE

Finally, let’s look at the promised bonfire of regulation. We must face facts. We live in an urban country and politicians are dependent on votes. Add in strong pressure groups in the UK and its clear we actually get a tougher time than most of our EU colleagues. The UK government has a tendency to “gold plate” legislation.

The UK is the only country in the EU to protect badgers. The UK banned stalls and tethers early, halving our pig industry. The UK has lower stocking densities for chickens than what is permitted by the EU.

This government is supportive of farming yet has to listen to an urban majority, and that doesn’t always give us the right results. Being a member of the EU with countries that are more rural, who place a higher value on their farmers and go into bat for them in global trade talks, is emphatically good for UK farming.

I remain optimistic for British agriculture. Demand for food is growing. We produce some of the highest quality food in the world. By remaining in the EU and working with our neighbours we can strike new trade deals that will open up tariff-free exports to exciting new markets, as well as cushioning us from the extremes of volatile global markets.

Michael Seals

Farmers for Britain campaigner

The Brexit referendum is a momentous event, a once-in-alifetime choice that will affect our industry more than any other. We’ve had debate with few facts, but a lot of emotion.

There are good points about being in a market of 500 million. However, the EU belongs to a bygone era as the world opens up. Future growth will come from countries such as China, a country of 1.36 billion people, and a world market of 7.1 billion.

World trade has grown, there is an interdependency between nations. Look at your cars or tractors. They owe nothing to one country or even the EU. They are world products produced by global companies.

The CAP itself was generous in the past to UK agriculture, but that generosity is quickly diminishing with increasing interference, bureaucracy and inflexibility in a system that limits the power of the UK government and ministers to do anything but try to influence outcomes.

The Remain camp cites the benefits of common standards. But ask the pig and poultry industries if they feel standards are applied equally across the EU? While the system remains there is one rule for all, which is perfect for none.

This really is your decision. A vote to leave will mean changes for UK agriculture, but the alternative is to remain mired in an ever-decreasing support system riven with bureaucracy.

TRADE MATTERS

What will a UK agricultural policy look like when we leave? David Cameron has clearly stated, “the UK government will continue to give farmers and the environment support”. But, Mr Cameron will not be PM beyond this parliament.

My vision for our industry outside of the EU is a thriving world leader, unfettered by bureaucracy, yet supported in ways that encourage innovation, competitiveness, youth and investment.

If we leave, the big issues to deliver that vision will be trade and support.

We will inevitably maintain trade. Many outside countries trade with the EU. Last year, we exported more than £11.5bn worth of food to the EU, but we imported food products worth about £31bn. We have an annual trade deficit with the EU in food.

This is part of more than half a trillion pounds worth of trade back and forward between the EU and UK, leaving Britain with an overall deficit. There is no benefit to any country for this to stop, but trade changes all the time, and that will happen whether we are in or out of the EU. Success will be having a product that is demanded at a price that is competitive.

Mages/Rex/shutteRstock and ing

In terms of support, this is a greater unknown. We all know government is short of money and has priorities beyond our industry. The Treasury and others could see this as an opportunity to save more by cutting agricultural support.

But farming unions and the devolved administrations will all have an input; there will be a UK agricultural policy. The challenge will be to find new ways of supporting this industry as it develops and grows away from the stifling bureaucracy and declining area payment which will continue should we stay in the EU.

A NEW FARM POLICY

What could a future support system consist of?

First, government must continue to invest in science and innovation, to give us the technology for success.

Second, farming has always been a risky business because of the weather and price volatility. I see opportunities for government generated insurance schemes, such as those in Canada.

Third, an area payment based on environmental measures, possibly broadened to include animal welfare, but one which is simpler and more rounded.

Fourth, marketing, our biggest issue in sectors such as the dairy industry. Developing a government-sponsored marketing body alongside US-style marketing orders will pave the way to a better future.

Finally, to become that world leader we will expect government to support industry initiatives, such as government-funded endemic disease eradication, supporting young entrants, older farmers’ exits and, more particularly, capital investment in new plant and fixtures.

All this is possible, only if we leave. Change will come gradually and will transform UK agriculture.

The CAP provides billions in direct payments and bureaucratic grant aid through Rural Development Programme for England, yet none of it is working.

We are struggling drastically across almost all sectors. To take control of our future we need a vision and ministers with their civil servants to start thinking policy ideas through from first principles. Then we can deliver the change British farming needs.

Voting to leave will mean change, and yes, our industry will be affected. But in five years’ time the only question people will ask themselves is why we didn’t do it sooner?