“So long as it makes a profit I’m happy”

David Spence of Thorngarth Home Farm, Aysgarth, has a simple philosophy: “I’m a business man, not a farmer who keeps up with the Jones’s”. This was foremost in his mind when he visited the Foster stand at the Great Yorkshire Show in July 2009.

David, a small dairy farmer from Wensleydale in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, had happily operated a rear discharge Foster D600R forage box for 14 years and was faced with the choice of refurbishing or replacing the machine.

To replace the bed chains and sprockets and generally tidy up the old machine to provide several more years of reliable service would cost more than £1000 in parts and labour, whereas trading it in against a new one meant an expenditure of  £8500 with the benefit of tax write off reducing this figure considerably. Now in his 50s, and with neither of his sons interested in taking on the farm, David recognised that purchasing a new machine now was the right decision and would see him through to retirement.

“I have limited space, especially headroom, in my sheds and I am not prepared to pay upwards of £20,000 for a big cumbersome diet feeder” says David. He currently has 80 Holstein Friesian cows, all crossed to a British Blue bull, housed inside for the winter. Preparation and feeding takes him less than 15 minutes twice a day including bale chopping, loading and feeding into troughs.

“I have been very happy with my Foster forage box. Its design, construction and build quality are excellent. The operation of the machine and its maintenance requirements are very simple. If required, I can service the machine myself and I know that if my supplying dealer, Peter Bowe of Burneston near Bedale should not have a part in stock, Fosters can send one from their stores on a next day delivery, or if necessary I could be at the Foster factory in Beverley in less than two hours”.
The last word goes to Peter Bowe of Burneston: “We were happy to advise David on the cost of repairs to his original forage box. Even after 14 years of service it was in excellent general condition and still feeding silage until the day we delivered his new one. Once the bed chains and sprockets have been replaced and the machine serviced we will have no trouble in selling it”.

For further details of products and dealers contact Foster Sales Company by email: sales@fostersalescompany.co.uk