THINK CHANGE THINK NOW THINK
CLAYDON
PROFIT
Typical Crop establishment costs.
John Nix 2023
Plough-based system£242 / ha
Min-till system£199 / ha
Claydon Opti-Till® £148 / ha
“The Claydon OptiTill® System reduced our costs by at least £40 per acre and without it the margins would not have been there to purchase a neighbouring farm. That made a massive difference to the business”
D. COOPER, ENGLAND
Fuel
Operational
Labour
Ownership
Opportunities
“On 1,000 ha, we have saved around 100,000 liters of diesel per year over four years. That’s just fuel savings.”
M BIEBER, GERMANY
“At most I could plough 12 ha/day then had go over the ground again to cultivate and drill. It used about 44 l/ha whereas the Claydon is a one-pass operation which can cover 24 ha/day using just 14.8 l/ ha.”
G DOUGLAS, ENGLAND
“Under the previous system, the New Holland T7.210 clocked up enough hours each year to need two 600- hour services, each costing £1200. Having changed to the Claydon System . . . only one annual service is required.”
J DAVIDSON, SCOTLAND
IMPROVE
• Yields
YIELD
“In three years, I have drilled 1,215 hectares with the Claydon and the crops that are in the ground now look fantastic. Average yields are the same as with conventional establishment, around 8.65 to 10t/ha for wheat and 7.5t/ha for barley, but costs are much lower and with no need to use compound fertilisers the margins are vastly improved.”
S MIDDLETON, ENGLAND
• Photosynthesis
• Plant rooting
• Plant health
“It’s all about yield security in years where there are vastly differing weather conditions. That is crucial. Yield security is the priority here.”
G BIEDEMANN, GERMANY
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5th May
“Half of the spring cropped area was established using the previous approach and half with Claydon. When both were harvested the Claydon-drilled area produced 0.5t/ha more yield. The largest yield increases have been in the spring crops due to the Opti-Till® System conserving moisture at planting, especially with the dry springs that we seem to get now.”
“Since switching from conventional direct drilling to direct seeding with the Claydon Opti-Till® System the performance of our crops has vastly improved, particularly on headlands.“
W GILMAN, ENGLAND
P WILSON, ENGLAND
SOIL
INCREASE
• Organic matter
• Resilience
• Soil biota
“Our soils and soil biology have improved immeasurably.”
R BRAY, ENGLAND
“The Straw Harrow opens up soil in the spring and breaks up any surface capping that might have occurred over winter. This introduces oxygen into the soil to boost plant growth.”
J. BRAIBANT, BELGIUM
• Drainage
• Moisture retention
• Crop consistency
• Better soil structure
• Easier working
• More supportive
Slake test illustrating soil resilience and good health.
Scan to watch here
“The land walks so much better now and has become almost self-healing: rather like a sponge, any wheelings that are created disappear very quickly. The worm population has also increased dramatically and there are so many that they are incredibly effective at taking the chopped crop residues down into the soil, so within about six weeks it has all disappeared. “
D HANKEY, ENGLAND
“This approach has dramatically reduced erosion of the soil and transformed its condition, productivity and ecology. It has also greatly increased my awareness and knowledge of the soil, its importance and the critical role of earthworms in fertilising, draining and aerating it.”
LORD DAVID KENNEDY, SCOTLAND
DIFFERENTLY
CHANGE
• Fields don’t have to be brown
• You don’t have to do what you have always done
• Ignore the neighbours – it’s your bank balance that counts
• Love your stubbles – they have so much to offer!
“It’s no exaggeration to say that the Claydon System has transformed the way that we think about farming and how we actually farm. Now that we have experienced the benefits we continually ask ourselves why didn’t we didn’t consider the move earlier . . . given the way that grain prices are at the moment I am very pleased we made the transition voluntarily rather than being forced into it by lack of profitability.”
R DAVIES, ENGLAND
“Direct seeding won’t suit those who like to see land brown and free of stubble when drilling, but those who judge a system on its benefits will realise the advantages. Without it, we would never have been able to take on more land and still have a life outside of farming.”
R ROOKE, ENGLAND
“A key goal was to improve the soils, which meant working them less, as well as reducing the time and cost involved in establishing crops. Labour is also a big issue because fewer people seem to want to work and even less want to work on farms, so that was another priority.”
W TURNBULL, ENGLAND
“Just as we once were, some farmers are still in a cycle of ploughing and pulling up land just because that is the way it has always been done, but that mindset is beginning to change. More people are now looking at and appreciating the considerable benefits of the OptiTill® System, which has become a talking point for numerous reasons.”
D COOPER, ENGLAND
“There is no question that direct drilling and inter-row hoeing with the Claydon Opti-Till® System has revolutionised the way we farm, and the benefits are increasingly evident the more that we use it.”
L RODWAY, ENGLAND
“It was the visual aspect of the new Claydon system which was perhaps the hardest thing for my father and me to get used to, because even after drilling the fields looked just like stubbles. …At harvest we saw no drop in yield.”
J HARRIS, ENGLAND
REDUCE
• Down time
TIME
“I questioned why on earth we were still spending every waking hour for weeks on end working with a plough and combination drill. There is a world of difference between what we were doing before and how we operate now; Opti-Till® makes farming much more relaxed and enjoyable.”
R ROOKE, ENGLAND
• Field passes
• Unnecessary operations
INCREASE
• Work life balance
• Timeliness of operations
• Expansion opportunities
“We have more time for other activities too as we aren’t running around with three additional tractors trying to prepare land, and that relieves pressure during the drilling season – especially this autumn when frequent rain showers meant conditions were rarely dry.”
D EALES, ENGLAND
“Compared with our previous system, establishing crops with Claydon OptiTIll® takes about 20% of the time, so timeliness is dramatically better and the ability to drill crops in optimum conditions will increase yields.”
L ROMAN, ITALY
Swap from wheat to beans in 48 seconds per row.
Scan to watch point change
“imeliness is the biggest factor. Instead of crop establishment being a two-man system to plough, cultivate and drill it is now a one man, one tractor, one pass operation. Being a mixed farm with just myself and one member of staff that is very important, especially early in the year when lambing and calving coincide with spring drilling. Now, we can both deal with the stock in the morning and I can jump on the tractor in the afternoon and go drilling.”
J DAVIDSON, SCOTLAND
ENVIRONMENT
CUT
• Erosion
• Leaching
• Emissions
• Agrochemicals
Blue dye shows deep water infiltration, minimising ponding and run off.
Scan to see test
“The wheat is healthier, probably because of the wide rows which allow more air and light to come in. So I have sprayed less on the Claydon wheat fields.”
G BIEDEMANN, GERMANY
“It does an excellent job of retaining moisture and because much of the land is left uncultivated the stubble and root structures are retained, this helps to prevent soil blows where light soils are over-worked.”
D COOPER, ENGLAND
“After a year or two we started to notice important benefits and those have continued to become both more apparent and more significant. The 2019 season, for example, was the first in which we did not have to use any insecticides on wheat or spring barley as there were so many beneficial insects which took care of any pests.”
A AXELSSON, SWEDEN
INCREASE
• Organic matter
• Water holding capacity
• Carbon capture
• Fertility
“Air infiltration is much better between the seeded rows and withinthe crop. This means we have been able to lower our dose of first fungicides by 50%. The farm also uses less phosphate –30 vs 50u. before. With the Claydon system we are also able to inter-row hoe.”
M KUBLER, FRANCE
“We have some light, drought-prone land towards the coast that, under conventional tillage is prone to soil being washed away in heavy rain. With the uncultivated strips it leaves between the drilling rows, the Claydon system helps minimise this problem, while also retaining moisture in dry conditions.”
J LEE, ENGLAND
RELIABILITY
• Consistent crop emergence
• Reliable yields
• Flexible
Plough Claydon
“One of the key things about the Claydon Drill is its simplicity and low running costs. I can replace all the wearing metal in under two hours.”
R BRAY, ENGLAND
“We have maintained our yields at the same time as having pared back all our operations to just a Claydon harrow and a drill. This was the security that we were looking for on our farm.”
M KUBLER, FRANCE
• Works in all soils & climates
• Straightforward machinery design & operation
“The Claydon Hybrid drill is very well made and very strong. Even after three seasons it shows few signs of wear.”
M DUCKITT, ENGLAND
“I concluded that although pure direct drilling is a concept which sounds good in theory, in practice it does not work well enough or consistently enough over the longer term. I missed the tine concept and experience had shown yields from the Claydon Opti-Till® System were significantly higher, so in 2020 I bought a new 6m Claydon Hybrid.“
W GILMAN, ENGLAND
“With our previous system, ploughed land would not dry uniformly and that led to uneven germination. With the Claydon System, seed is always drilled into moist soil which has been fully aerated by the drill’s leading tines. This means that germination and establishment are consistent whatever the conditions, making it much easier to time spray applications and produce better results. Yields are also higher and more consistent, particularly on headlands, which are the last areas to be drilled so that any compaction is removed.”
T SAUNDERS, ENGLAND
