Based across East and North Yorkshire, Swaythorpe Growers is a producer organisation growing peas and beans for freezing. With over 71 farmer members from Holderness across to the Yorkshire Wolds, they grow 3650 hectares of vining peas, producing 17,500 tons of peas (frozen weight) each year.
Matthew Hayward and Nick Lount of Swaythorpe Growers gave the go ahead to install John Deere technology onto their fleet of six Oxbo machines in April 2024, having already had an alternative system that wasn’t bringing the full benefits of repeatability and accurate steering, they had high hopes that all would be in place for harvest later that year. AutoTrac Guidance and JDLink were installed across the fleet and on 9th July 2024 they pulled into the field to begin harvest 2024. “We were pleasantly surprised with how smoothly the installation went, we had three minor hiccups that were sorted straight away in the field. Ripon’s Technology team put on training sessions for our operators prior to harvest so we could hit the ground running,” says Matthew.
Multiple pea harvesters commonly work together in the same field at the same time during harvest. Having AutoTrac Guidance, an automated steering system, on the pea harvesters allows the machines to follow precise, repeatable paths across a field, it minimises overlaps with consistent row spacing and makes the operation more efficient and therefore reducing input costs. Each of Swaythorpe’s harvesters are now taking full cuts in each pass, overlaps are minimised and the downtime has decreased. Nick comments “We have seen a 10% reduction in fuel usage this harvest with a greater output from the six machines by at least 5%, with the tonnage produced more consistent than in previous harvests.”
The tractors operating in the field alongside the pea harvesters are also connected via JDLink, giving the tractor operator full visibility of how the pea harvesters are performing. Peas have a 150-minute deadline from field to frozen so the whole operation is time critical. The tractor operators are able to manage this stage of the crops journey more efficiently with live data. "Within the first hour of harvest we could see the benefits of the technology" comments Matthew.
DataSync enables Swaythorpe Growers to share guidance lines and all set up data across the fleet for faster error-free work. Previously all machines would have to wait for the lead machine to make the initial start in the field, but now all six machines can begin the field at any point and work on any breed of peas.
Matthew goes on to say “I have never been a fan of retrofitting kit, if you can get it initially from the manufacturer then that has always been my preferred route but this has proved me wrong. I was dubious, especially on machinery that’s washed down with water every day in the season but we wouldn’t go back.”
Swaythorpe Growers are shareholders in Yorkshire Greens, the frozen vegetable factory located near Driffield, producing peas for a wide range of customers, from retail through to food service and export. Broccili, carrots and parsnips are currently processed during the remainder of the year at the site.
