Agriculture on the Nottinghamshire Wolds: Interviewee 12: Geoff Garratt

Geoff was born in 1948 at Loughborough. His family farmed at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in South Nottinghamshire. When in 1968, the power station at Ratcliffe wanted to put ash on their fields, his father bought Hill Farm on Thurlby Lane at Widmerpool, close to Stanton. Later he made Geoff a fellow director of their farm company.

Cost prices: In 1967 we sold our corn for £124 per ton in actual fact, and in the year 2000 off the combine we sold it for £55 per ton. It has improved slightly now, we're talking about £65 for the corn at the moment, possibly £70 selling the same time of year when we sold for £124.

The price has gone up because the yields this harvest look to be quite low, so I think there's going to be possibly a shortage. But I think the biggest shock: we bought fuel in '99 for 8 pence a litre, and in 2000 we paid 28 pence a litr e- and that's a major cost for the farm. And the fertiliser went up by the same amount virtuall - because it's oil-based. So besides the drop in prices we've found an increase in costs.
We use liquid mainly, but all fertilisers have gone up. It's not because it's liquid it's gone up; it's to make fertilisers. They use lots of fuel.

Enterance to Hill Farm

Verges on Thurlby Lane
at Hill Farm

Farmhouse at Hill Farm

Garden at rear of Hill Farm

Machinery: We tend to buy modern tractors. But we make most of the cultivation equipment, or modify it. My best achievement: I made a 28-metre sprayer, fourteen years ago - and it was the biggest in the Midlands then. It's nearly - it's standard measurement - over ten years; but at the time it was the biggest… I would think I'd be going smaller if I was doing it again.

We have three main tractors, but one really big one and two smaller ones. It's 200 HP, the big one; and we've got two smaller ones. We have the big tractor - does the mole draining, which we do every three or four years on the farm; and so it has to do 150 acres a year moling. So that's why we need the power. But we have actually put proper tile draining underground to mole into. It was clay pipes; it's plastic now - but it's a similar principle. We put gravel to them - 15" to the surface - and we put the moles into the gravel… We just put gravel in the trench when we put the clay pipes in.

Because of no labour, we've gone for all in one combination drill, it's a power hammer with a drill on the top.

Environmental work: We've planted all hardwood trees. The hedgerow trees - probably off-hand four hundred hedgerow trees - we put in. They've mainly been supplied by the council to replace elm trees. Every time we have to get permission to fell a tree, we have to plant two to replace it. But besides that we have planted several hectares of woodland. We planted all hardwoods - not really commercial hardwoods. We've mixed some cherry, elder, ash, oak. We've put a few beech in. I think we had about eight different varieties of hardwood, a complete mix. But there is so little - I mean, when we planted them five years ago, they were six inches high. You never thought they would grow. And most of them are - probably are - ten or twelve foot now. So we are quite impressed with the speed the trees are growing.

trees along western ridge track

trees planted in the spinney

For a recording: press the play button

audio

Full transcripts and audio recordings of the interviews are available
through the Nottinghamshire County Libraries and the Nottingham City Libraries.

	Geoff was born in 1948 at Loughborough. His family farmed at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in South Nottinghamshire. When in 1968, the power station at Ratcliffe wanted to put ash on their fields, his father bought Hill Farm on Thurlby Lane at Widmerpool, close to Stanton. Later he made Geoff a fellow director of their farm company.
Cost prices: In 1967 we sold our corn for £124 per ton in actual fact, and in the year 2000 off the combine we sold it for £55 per ton. It has improved slightly now, we're talking about £65 for the corn at the moment, possibly £70 selling the same time of year when we sold for £124. The price has gone up because the yields this harvest look to be quite low, so I think there's going to be possibly a shortage. But I think the biggest shock: we bought fuel in '99 for 8 pence a litre, and in 2000 we paid 28 pence a litr e- and that's a major cost for the farm. And the fertiliser went up by the same amount virtuall - because it's oil-based. So besides the drop in prices we've found an increase in costs. We use liquid mainly, but all fertilisers have gone up. It's not because it's liquid it's gone up; it's to make fertilisers. They use lots of fuel.	Enterance to Hill Farm Verges on Thurlby Lane at Hill Farm
Farmhouse at Hill Farm	Garden at rear of Hill Farm
Barns at Hill Farm	Machinery: We tend to buy modern tractors. But we make most of the cultivation equipment, or modify it. My best achievement: I made a 28-metre sprayer, fourteen years ago - and it was the biggest in the Midlands then. It's nearly - it's standard measurement - over ten years; but at the time it was the biggest… I would think I'd be going smaller if I was doing it again. We have three main tractors, but one really big one and two smaller ones. It's 200 HP, the big one; and we've got two smaller ones. We have the big tractor - does the mole draining, which we do every three or four years on the farm; and so it has to do 150 acres a year moling. So that's why we need the power. But we have actually put proper tile draining underground to mole into. It was clay pipes; it's plastic now - but it's a similar principle. We put gravel to them - 15" to the surface - and we put the moles into the gravel… We just put gravel in the trench when we put the clay pipes in. Because of no labour, we've gone for all in one combination drill, it's a power hammer with a drill on the top.
Environmental work: We've planted all hardwood trees. The hedgerow trees - probably off-hand four hundred hedgerow trees - we put in. They've mainly been supplied by the council to replace elm trees. Every time we have to get permission to fell a tree, we have to plant two to replace it. But besides that we have planted several hectares of woodland. We planted all hardwoods - not really commercial hardwoods. We've mixed some cherry, elder, ash, oak. We've put a few beech in. I think we had about eight different varieties of hardwood, a complete mix. But there is so little - I mean, when we planted them five years ago, they were six inches high. You never thought they would grow. And most of them are - probably are - ten or twelve foot now. So we are quite impressed with the speed the trees are growing.	trees along western ridge track trees planted in the spinney
For a recording: press the play button audio