“I’m Colin Dening, owner of P Dening and Son. We’re a diversified mixed farm in Somerset, farming 850 acres
and various other enterprises.
What changes have you made?
“We have diversified significantly. The farm used to include a dairy and beef herd as well as the arable. About 5 years ago, we were struggling to replace retiring members of our team with good, knowledgeable staff. We took a hard look at what we were doing and decided diversifying the business was a logical step.
“We’ve developed new income streams. We’re right on the edge of Yeovil, so one of our biggest sources of income is shipping containers for storage. The income they generate offsets the money we used to earn from Single Farm Payment. It’s a self-service site so quite low maintenance to run. We do have to be selective about the customers we have on site though, otherwise you can quickly get into bother if customers are up to no good!
“We store stone on pallets for the construction industry. It’s not just any old lumps of rock either, it’s mostly used to make high end bathroom tiles etc. I think David Beckham bought some of it! I pick the pallets up from the factory and we store them until they go back out on a lorry. Some of the stone could be sat there, unused, for 8-10 years until the company gets a job for it.”
What are the results of the changes that you’ve made?
“Our running costs are lower. We’ve reduced the amount of machinery we’re using and pay close attention to how much fuel we’re putting in each machine. We have Tankscout on our fuel tank. Every day I get a reading from it and know exactly what we’re using.
“With the dairy we used to use up to 3,000 litres per month for the mixer wagon, the Manitou and other vehicles. Now we don’t even use 1,500 litres a month. We’ve trimmed that much out by changing what we do on farm. That’s really good because we’re on top of our costs now. If you have no control over your variable costs, you have no chance of making any money.”
How does AF help?
“I order all my fuel through AF. I’ve recently started using AF Online to order white diesel on the internet.
There’s a chart to see prices which I found handy and it was easier than phoning round a few suppliers myself to get a price.
“I like that I don’t have to deal with anyone, I can just make a decision. It told me when it was going to arrive and I had a confirmation email. Job done. I think I did it at about 7 or 8pm, and I found it really straightforward.
“We’ve currently got a forward fix contract for our fuel because I didn’t expect the fuel prices to go down and wanted to be able to budget. But next year I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if we just order online.
“Although I buy white diesel in bulk, I have AF Fuel Cards too, just in case. My farm insurance and electricity are through AF. I put my crop protection
and seed orders through AF too. They’ve been spot on and I’ve never had any issues. It’s so easy – all I have to do is email what I want and it arrives on farm.
“Using AF has allowed me to spend more time on managing the business to push it forward.”
What’s next?
“I think we’ll keep on building on what we’ve done so far as it’s working well. And I’m told I’m a workaholic, so maybe I should take a holiday at some point!”
