Finding a cost-effective way to reduce ever-rising machinery costs is the thinking behind John Moffat’s agricultural contractors business based up in Dornoch, in the Highlands.

Having established the contracting business in November, 1989, he certainly has the experience and expertise behind him to know the industry inside out. Having moved to hiring in all of his equipment to ensure fixed overheads for the business has also proved a huge success.

That’s as well as collaborating with three other local contractors in his area, each specialising in different services to ensure that they can all offer what their customers are after.

A little bit of background?

From the very early days, I always showed a strong interest on the arable side of things, starting with when a contractor came into our estate and did some lime spreading – I said to him, at the age of eight: “I want to be like you.” It was a big laugh at the time, but as years went on, he always used to say to me: “You’ve made it.”

I really fancied the way of life of a contractor, going away and doing work for other people and the self-employed side of it always seemed appealing to me.

My first big job was 80 acres of ploughing when Graham Burnett took on an extra bit of ground. His father, Michael was quite high up in NFU in the area at that time and was always looking out for new starts, so I was grateful for the opportunity.

Between the late Michael and late Andy Kennard, they managed to secure me a one-off grant to buy tackle. It really helped get me on my feet, being able to purchase a bigger tractor, a new seeder, a baler and a dung spreader, which allowed me to accept a big contract with the MacIntosh family.

Both my mother and father encouraged me and supported me all through my career as well.

A few years of adding hay and sowing to the list, and then the whole thing went pear shaped, with our big contracts dropping out for various reasons. We went from sowing 800 acres to 150 acres overnight, so we had to rethink what we were doing – it was a hard time at that stage.

The turning point was when we secured a job with a big estate in Dingwall which we did for 10 years, planting potatoes and winter crops, as well as securing other jobs in the area, if it wasn’t for that contract, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

What services do you offer?

Our main services between our local contracting team are baling and wrapping. The silage business has been on the go since 1991, starting off with a Tanco bale wrapper, which was simply just a complete disaster!

Every day we would be phoning our mechanic with a breakdown, so in 1994 we were one of the first in the North of Scotland to invest in a McHale bale wrapper, because we were so fed up with our old one constantly breaking down.

I have never looked back ... it was a great machine and we could wrap double the bales in a day with it, with a personal record of producing 870 bales in one day.

We also do a lot of hauling bales through the winter – around 6000 bales – and come harvest time we will put our trailer on hire for an extra income.

Other services we offer include spreading fertiliser, ploughing, direct drilling, reseeding and sowing.

What areas do you cover?

East Sutherland and a bit into Ross-shire.

Are you diversifying the business in anyway?

We are a busy wee business. We are kept busy all through the winter and come spring time, we are flat out sowing and everything else, so for us there is no need to diversify.

What dealerships do you use?

We originally bought our Renault tractors through Highland Tractors, in Dingwall, we were putting 3000-plus hours on them annually, which is when we looked into hiring equipment.

About 15 years ago we started hiring our equipment through McLaren Tractors, in Dingwall, we thought it seemed sensible and it was much more cost effective for us. We would get a new Valtra every two years, the equipment was always spot on and we always received a really good service – however it was just getting a bit pricey for us.

So, just two years ago, we made the switch to working with John Deeres, through Garriock Brothers, in Dingwall and we have been delighted with the service.

It is a fixed clause agreement and all I have to do is pay the monthly hire, insurance and tyres. If it wasn’t working, we wouldn’t be in business and we are more profitable than ever since moving to hiring in the kit.

Plus, we are still able to be very competitive with our prices.

Best and worst bits about contracting?

The people we work with have all become our friends. I am old enough to be working for the second generation in some cases and I just really enjoy helping people.

I am very grateful for the work we have done over the years and very thankful for the people that have helped get me where I am today. It is a real privilege to have such loyal customers, many of which we have been working with for more than 30 years.

However, there are always the bad days, when you are trying to cram in all your workload without the rain beating you.

How do you cope with short weather windows?

That is the beauty of working closely with various contractors in the area, we are able to share the workload between us and always have someone to fall back on when we need to get a shift on.

What advice would you give to a new contractor?

Don’t try and stand on other people’s feet and don’t do everything on your own. We all need help at some stage in our life.

Any interests outwith the business?

None! I am very lucky I have a very understanding wife – she has given me a lot of help in life and we have a good family to enjoy any spare time with.

Has the pandemic had an effect on your business?

I think agriculture has been an industry which has been very lucky and it hasn’t had a huge affect. I think it has actually enhanced the industry in a funny kind of way.

Consumers are buying more locally-produced and sold food, and want to know where their produce is coming from, which has helped push the price of beef and lamb up ensuring there is more money in the farmers pockets at the end of the day to spend.

Farmers have been using their added income by considering doing reseeds this year, or other jobs that they might not have done previously because money was tight.

What changes have you witnessed over the years?

The size of the equipment. I started off with a three-furrow plough and now its on to a five-furrow.

Technology is the only thing we are going to lag behind on, being a smaller, older company. Small businesses like ours won’t be able to keep up with it. I am 61 years old and I am a bit too old to start learning how to use all the new technology available, so we are very old school.

What is the future of the industry?

There is a lot of concern about farming with the mass amount of tree planting that is going on. The big estates are getting too much finance for planting trees and getting rid of their livestock – it is just a matter of time until there is a shortage of livestock and people still have to eat!!

There are no longer families living in many of the glens and it has all just become a bit deserted. It is a very sad time.

But, there is always going to be a place for a smaller contractor in our area. The technology and price of equipment, means that a lot of farms – unless they get bigger – cannot justify the time or money being spent on them. Contracting is the way forward, there is no doubt about that.

Inventory list:

John Deere tractor 6130M

Bale trailer SlurryKat with hydraulic sides

Two McHale 991BE bale wrappers

KRM fertiliser spreader

New Holland four-furrow plough

Ack nah cultivator

Lime spreader

Dung spreader

Gluttler direct drill grass seeder

Other machinery hired when required