James Peck describes his father as a “massive co-op man, really keen” but who by 2002 no longer wanted to invest in agriculture. James did. With his drive, the farm is still growing and diversifying. What both generations still share is belief in buying better, together through a co-operative.
Help with the right decisions
“Some decisions I want to make myself. Others I leave to AF and have total peace of mind they are getting best value for products from good companies and on farm or onsite when I need them."
We’ve tried different co-operative groups and chosen AF for its more attractive cost of membership and service charges.”
What do you get from AF?
“We get 95% of our building materials through AF. We get fuels. We run our own lorries, twelve now and employ 38, and about 50 with the seasonal help. We have bought land and with contract farming the estates of the Cambridge colleges of Trinity and St. John’s the total we farm in 6000 ha. I worked out the whole estate is worth over £270m. I’m like a mini AF in that I aggregate the inputs needed for each landowner together with what we need for our own land and put it all through AF.”
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Protected from high energy costs
“We use a lot of energy. We got caught by those really high electricity bills when the prices spiked. We put up to 50,000 tonnes through our grain hospital or 100,000 tonnes through our grain store. I worried how vulnerable the business was to price hikes. AF’s John Wadeson planned our latest 650 kWh solar array, got the quotes and managed the installation. If he hadn’t been involved, I don’t think it would have got done. Now we are 80% self-sufficient in electricity. Next, we want batteries or a wind turbine.”
