New Horizon - Issue 3 - Agriculture

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Giving your best getsthe businessRoger Shearing (left) and Simon Jackson“if you don’t look after your customersas they expect to be taken care of, thensomeone else is waiting on the side-linesto take your place…”One of the most important values employed when taking careof his customers is timeliness and reliability. “If you say you aregoing to be there, then make sure you are.” Said Simon Jackson,founder of Simon Jackson Contractors Ltd. The business wasestablished in 1985 and today is one of the most successful‘specialist’ contractors in the area. Operating from facilities nearHigh Post, Salisbury, the company serves customers in a radiusof up to 50 miles or more from their premises.“We very much specialise in a few key areas,” added Simon, “forexample, we have had verge maintenance contracts with majorcounty council customers since nineteen eighty-eight (1988) andtypically in a year we might cut and maintain over 20,000 kilometresof verges. We also provide high-end, high volume muck-spreading,where our teams might spread a hundred acres a day or more forthree months of the year - solid. It’s a very efficient system and weuse high-quality machinery to minimise breakdowns because wecannot afford to let down our customers. We always strive to offerthe best possible service, no matter what we do.”Other services offered by Simon Jackson includes; hedgecutting,slurry spreading, big baling, bulk material haulage andsnow-clearance. Simon’s right-hand man is Roger Shearing, whohas been part of the team since 1988.Commented Roger Shearing, “Quality of service and reliablemachinery has always been our policy from day one. We’venearly always run John Deere tractors because we have foundthem to be very reliable, simple to operate and our drivers lovethem too. Today we have ten John Deere’s and although we havetried the likes of Fendt, Massey, Case and New Holland, for thework we do, the John Deere suits our operations better than therest. Our local John Deere dealer, Hunt Forest Group take goodcare of us with a first-class after-sales service, which means wecan rely on them to help us out if needs be, and that ensures wekeep our customers happy. We can’t fault Hunt Forest’s service.”All the John Deere tractors in the fleet are ‘AutoTrac Ready’and on particular tasks such as spreading chicken manure, theintegrated solutions technology becomes a very valuable asset.“When we spread chicken manure,” added Simon, “it’s difficultfor the operator to be sure as to where he has already been.So we use the GreenStar technology to map the applicationpattern so that there are no gaps and no overlaps. Again, this ismaking sure that whatever job or task we carry out, we are doingit properly, to the customers expectations and this is one of thereasons our customers call us back year after year.”Machine replacement policy is part of the plan to make surecustomer service levels are maintained. “In the thirty years or sothat we have operated John Deere’s,” added Simon, “we’ve neverhad a major breakdown. We probably clock-up some two and ahalf thousand hours (2500hrs) a year and when they have reachedas much as twelve thousand hours (12,000hrs) and, if they startcosting us money, then it’s time to move them on. It’s taken meover thirty years to get to know what’s good and what’s bad and allthe kit we run in our business today is based on our experience.”It’s hard not to notice, emblazoned across a poster on the wall ofSimon’s office - ‘Let’s take care of and protect our customers - orsomeone else will.’“Our policy is always to take care of our customers,” addedSimon, “which is something we feel clearly from dealing withthe Hunt Forest Group. They know, like us, if you don’t lookafter your customers as they expect to be taken care of, thensomeone else is waiting on the side-lines to take your place. It’sall about giving your best in everything you do.”8 HUNTFOREST.COM
Peace of mindwith PowerGardNevile Smith ‘With PowerGard, we cannow budget for an exact operating costfor the next five years…”The farming partnership of NG & RW Smith at IdlecombeFarm, Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight is a true family affair.Neville and his son Ralph run the 850 acre sheep and arablefarm together with some whole farm contract work. AnnaSmith, Neville’s wife, runs some 400 acres of National Trusttenancy at Compton Farm encompassing some of the islandsmost important environmental Downland features. Annaalso has a Suckler herd and award-winning Campsite. Inkeeping with the family’s focus on rural stewardship, Nevilleand Anna’s daughter, Ella, 17, is applying for universityplaces to study Environmental science.Neville is Vice chairman of the Isle of Wight Grain Storage Ltd,a co-operative which stores and markets on average 30,000tons of island crops annually. It has its own wharfage so the vastmajority of grain goes off by ship. The grain store has been inbusiness since 1978 and has some 50 members“At Idlecombe Farm,” commented Neville Smith, “much of theland is steep chalk and flint so we try to maintain a balancedmixed farming system. We run six hundred (600) ewes and finishall the lambs from homegrown feed. We rotate grass leys withwinter wheat, spring barley, oil-seed rape and around seventy(70) acres of maize crop and whole crop on contract to a localAD plantIdlecombe’s main tractor is a John Deere 6155R, which one yearago, replaced an old 6630, and this time, Neville and Ralph addedthe PowerGard extended warranty and maintenance programmeto give additional peace of mind to the main workhorse. AddedNeville, “Farm machinery is becoming far more technical andelectronically managed. By adding PowerGard extendedwarranty, we are protecting our investment and we can - withoutany possibility of additional invoices for any kind of breakdown.We’ve had John Deere’s since nineteen eighty-eight, (1988)and they have always proven to be extremely reliable - the bestthing about them is the back-up service we get from our localJohn Deere dealer on the Island, Hunt Forest Group. I can’t faultthem, they are a really nice, friendly team of people and theylook after us really well.”SERVICE OFFERJD RIDE ON MOWER OFFER - £99 + VAT• Pre-season engine oil and filter change on any john Deere domestic ride on mower.• Ensure your mower is ready for the upcoming season with our engine oil and filter service offer.• Service includes• Replacement of machine engine oil• Replacement of machine engine oil filterWithin a 12-mile radius of the depot. Offer valid until 31/05/2020John Deere machines only.HUNTFOREST.COM 9
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New Horizon - Issue 3 - Agriculture

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