Like so many other UK farming enterprises, the potato sector is currently facing challenging times. Yet decent second-hand spud kit continues to sell, as witnessed at the recent Glebe Farm auction, Hanworth, Norfolk.
Specialist machinery sales can be tricky, as the draw isn’t as strong. Which makes it all the more surprising that the recent Glebe Farm auction attracted as many as 250 folk to the sale site, with a further 200 registering online.
“Those are good numbers for a potato equipment sale,” says Brown & Co auctioneer, Simon Wearmouth. “But, to be fair, there was a lot of other more general equipment on offer, too — both from the main vendor, M and J E Attew, and the Witham family. This definitely helped to produce a more rounded offering and the resulting increased attendance.”
Main reason for the auction was that the Attews are getting out of the potato sector, hence the long list of irrigation, planting, harvesting and grading kit at the top of the catalogue, whereas the ‘by invitation’ machines are predominantly down to the Withams’ decision to reorganise their general contracting business, in the process shedding a trio of 5,000-hour New Holland tractors along with a broad selection of grass and arable equipment.
As it turned out, sale day was a bit of a mixed success bag. For example, items such as the 2016 Grimme Varitron 270 self-propelled harvester, the grader and the Baselier topper failed to make their reserves. But then, in contrast, most of the irrigation equipment, which traditionally can be tough to shift, went to local buyers, with the reels, in particularly, fetching good money. The pair of two-year-old Grimme CS150 Combi Star destoners went to a Herefordshire farmer for £45,000 apiece, which, though a hefty discount on new, still represents a reasonable return.
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