Live from the Claas cab: Talking machinery and careers

This week's Farmers Guardian podcast is a little different.

FG's online editor Emily Ashworth joins the machinery team, Toby Whatley and James Huyton, to delve into the world of machinery and talk about the opportunities in the sector, especially when it comes to careers.

From technology talk to taking a first - and very slow - drive of the Claas combine on James' farm, this podcast really highlights that we need to bridge the gap between agriculture and the wider public. 

Transcript

This week's Farmers Guardian podcast is a little bit different. You're with me. Emily Ashworth, Farmer's Guardian's online editor, and I head out on farm to join FGS machinery team Toby Whateley and James Highton. Now Toby invited me to the farm as the machinery team have got one of the latest class combines test. Now Toby's idea
was a little bit different.
Rather than do a regular on test podcast and kind of review the machine, he wanted to come at this a little differently. So the idea was to take somebody like me who, although has a farming background, doesn't really know that much about machinery, doesn't know the technology, doesn't know the intricacies, doesn't know how to drive one which, apparently I can.
That was new information to me.
So the idea was to talk about it from almost a consumer point of view at a general public point of view. Do the general public know when they see this machine, which is always out and about during harvest time, what it's all about?
The career opportunities, the kind of engineering that goes into making one of these machines.
But, you know, at the forefront of this is that, food production is part of everybody's lives. But we're also, you know, we're quite removed from it. So this was a chance to do something a little bit different. You will hear a section at the end where I actually drive this thing. So brace yourselves. It's a bit of a journey.
But what came out of this conversation was that
people perhaps should get closer to,
the farming world and find out a little bit more. Because when you start to dig a bit deeper,
it's such a vast industry and there are loads of opportunities to learn. There were loads of opportunities for careers, but more so let's just bring people a little bit closer to agriculture.
I really hope you enjoy it.

Hello and welcome to the Farmers Guardian
podcast. Now you might recognize my voice from
previous iterations podcast.
I'm Toby Whatley, I'm the machinery editor here at Farmers Guardian. Joining me, Emily Ashworth, our online features editor.
When where are we standing next to? Emily, could you could you introduce and tell us what's going on here?
Quite honestly, I have no idea.
this is a little bit different for me. Normally, I'm kind of on farm, either speaking to the people about what they're doing, but this is actually a bit of an education for me.
We thought it would be a good idea to do some sort of educational podcasts, given that Toby gave me some information last week that I was definitely not aware of.
So. So if we think about a little a little trip down memory lane last week, we were just in the office about content that we might do for podcasts looking at machinery.
And Emily said, well, I'd do anything about machinery. I wouldn't know how to drive any of them. I don't think I can drive them and know it's Sunday night, which I still stand by. Yeah, we we want to point out that actually, Emily's view that a machine is inaccessible, the industry is inaccessible. You can't you can't access any of it.
And I said, well, you're driving license regardless if you want to believe it or not, completely legally allows you to drive this machine on the road and actually operate this machine in a, in a setting on the highway or in the field. And I think it opened the door to a store, probably despite some of the myths regarding machinery, it's accessibility, but actually machinery.
Now as an industry in terms of how accessibility is both for new employees, but actually altogether what the tech does and how that works. Now, joining us is my colleague James Highton,
this combines on your farm.It is. Yeah. Yeah. It's I mean it's a fantastic bit of kit, isn't it. But every I suppose schoolboy's dream to be driving such a magnificent thing like this class combined we've got here.
But yeah, it is deceiving to a lot of people on how it is accessible. Unusable for many, even people. New people coming into the industry can learn to drive this combine and legally drive it on the road. So yeah, it's it it's it's quite a big insight.
So you you've been using this combine for the last,
four days.
Five days coming your long suffering spring wheat.
Yes, yes. Long suffering. Like me and the wife, no doubt.
Yeah. Could you just give us a bit of an insight? So you've you've sat using it.
What machine is this?
What does it do? Obviously it's common harvester. So we all know how those works.
But what model is this? And what's this?
What was this offer you.
Yeah. So I mean, we've got here a   ft cut, class tree on    . It's a single rotor. Combine. Obviously the main the main benefits of the class, class
is confessing that this product has this. It's got the capacity of a of a rotary combine unit, but then also one of the, the issues around a lot of rotary combines, they have the capacity, but then they, they, compromise stroke quality.
And, this hybrid system that class of developed is looking to counteract some of that stroke quality issues behind to. Come on.
So just just going off.
You've just obviously given us a bit of an overview in terms of what we were going back to before.
And that disconnect between kind of the, you know, general consumers and, you know, you're here using this on farm.
It's huge. Everybody kind of would briefly see you on in the field and maybe have a fleeting thought about it.
But there's a there's nothing further than that. And we were talking before about kind of that attitude towards, you know, if you were driving this on the road, can you just talk a little bit more about that? That kind of,
view of the public, I guess, when it's, you know, like silly season.
Yeah. I mean, obviously silly season is is a high pressured situation. We've had some particularly challenging weather this year. Yeah. And, you know, you got time pressures on having to harvest crop at the right moisture content in the right weather conditions. So, you know, you're not going to see a combine ice in the field when it's wet, raining or anything like that.
So when you've got the right short window of opportunity, you're going to be clearing fields quickly and then obviously traveling to the next field normally on the road.
This combine is quite fortunate in its sense. It is a very large combine, as you you've mentioned previously. And but it's it's with a slightly narrower than some of the Walker machines.
It will just fit about on the white line as a, as a standard road width. But it's still a challenge to maneuver this machine on, on the road. And you always get a percentage of road users that the appreciate, you know, you've got a challenging machine to handle on the road. And tight confined spaces. And but there also are challenges around other uses that either have a fear of God.
When we see see such a big machine coming down the road at them and wonder what to do, and still or other road users that don't really understand perhaps that the pressures of the job, driving the machine and making sure everything's safe around you while you're on the road as well.
it's I suppose it's something that you, you progress to and work with at the time.
So certainly we would we were talking about before we start recording was the, the technology and how the machines work.
Now for James and I that's what we do. It's a real great interest to us. I appreciate that probably isn't of the same interest to the the wider population. Perhaps. But one thing we were we we took Emily, have a look at the back of the combine went up on the engine, which in itself there was immediately that you would, don't have to climb a ladder.
This is ridiculous. Oh, my God, you killed. And only slightly. We are actually standing in the rain holding onto the side panel, which has made the steps particularly slippery for maximum deathtrap every.
one of the things we were talking about is actually the,
sort I'm using, which was the way the machine's powered. And actually, we live in the world now of hybrid vehicles, electric vehicle turns fuel.
And you effectively said this is just a big diesel engine. Yes, it is.
And there was that disconnect to where where does this fit within the world of net zero? It's a very, very big diesel engine. It does have exhaust cleaning technologies.
We were talking about,
energy sources and fuel sources and bits and pieces, which we see a lot in media across different formats. We talk about net zero, we talk about agriculture's carbon footprint, and then we're sort of standing next to a very, very big machine that is entirely running on diesel, which sort of jars a bit.
Yeah. And I think that that to me was one of those points. When do you think that we as an industry, are we communicating what we're doing that well? And, and why in the case of this machine, why it does run on diesel because of what it has to do, the way it works. And yes, there is research going on and prototyping on different fuel systems, be it a hydrogen for ethanol, B hybrid drives the fundamentals of this machine's ability to take a standing crop and turn it into grain hasn't really changed since the Thrashing Box, which is a lovely vintage, bucolic scene Emily is now immediately.
Yeah, I would have loved to actually be stood next. Dave. Yeah, I think I think the thing is, you know, we can think about things like Open Farm Sunday, for example. I actually don't know what the answer is in terms of communicating our message better,
you know, I work in the industry. My dad was in the industry, but I still wouldn't actually know all the intricacies of of what this machine can do.
So we somehow and we were going to talk about lambing in the career zone, for example, you know, getting kids to actually come in and see machines like this is really important because we get kids out on a farm,
but we never seem to kind of do it for the machinery side. And actually, when you're talking about net zero and sustainability, there's so many opportunities for them to think about future careers.
Well, it's it's something which is I personally quite,
quite passionate about that. We we have a vision of what working in machinery looks like and particularly service and support. So all these machines, this one is a fantastic example. Require very skilled, highly trained individuals to keep them working. And that sort of vision of agricultural engineering being some sort of greasy overalls, a box of spanners, and then the hammer playing the the starring role in the whole service is    years out of date.
Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, John Deere is a major agricultural brand globally. You know,
the main engineers are a computer based technology engineers. And a lot of
design is and certainly like computer
circuitry and also, you know, product development on on looking at field mapping and, you know, autonomy within the industry going forward.
It's going to be a big thing.
And it's certainly not an archaic industry from that point of view. And and I would urge people who have an interest, even in computer programing, to still consider the executive for that sort of thing, because there are jobs and roles
at the forefront of that kind of technology,
you know, out there.
Yeah. Now we will in a moment, move around, sit in the cab and look at the operator interface of the machine.
And immediately slightly nervous that we might. You did. I was going to say you did mention this before, so
we won't look at everyone. Well, maybe a little bit, but it's it's something sort of James touch upon them with, with autonomy. And that's something we have. We are massively seeing and very, very quickly moving in the sector.
And I think that we,
we have this sort of vision of the autonomy being completely driverless initially, which will come,
and it's a big asterisks by that. And I'm not going to explain when the will is and what the will look like. They will come. But what we're going to see in the, in the intervening period, again, I'm not sure how long it's going to be
a world of semi autonomous.
So when James been going down on the field on this, this machine has ability to drive itself with a GPS signal and steer itself. Now that's technology been around for probably approaching    years now, maybe a little bit longer.
But it's the changes that we're seeing, particularly in harvesting,
where the operators
proficiency in maximizing the machine performance. Now, what do I mean by that?
It's you go back    years,    years, a combined driver knew that machine, not the bolt. And they would adapt to that machine with adjustments accordingly for the crop conditions through experience and using it. And much as those skills are incredibly valuable, they are dying out as that cohort of person did that. But also, we've seen comments now.
Now, you saw in James you saw a new hello machine early this year where the manufacturers essentially said without using the on board autonomy, without using the onboard adjustments and a machine optimizing an operator of their own will never get the best out the machine.
Now, if you took somebody here who was in their   s and said you've been a common driver for   ,    years and told them this new combine, no matter what you do, Mr. Operator, you could never make it work perfectly.
Yeah, they wouldn't believe you, but that's the level of tech we've moved to. And actually, all that tech needs people to look after it all that tech needs people to support it, but inform us and also design it and develop it and understand it.
Yeah. I think came in just in terms of getting that education piece across, you know,
John Deere for example, they all do have, you know, these quite good apprenticeship schemes or you know, kind of educational routes in what it is then how we take that further.
Because I would be interested to know actually the people that do do those sorts of apprenticeships or schemes, you know, what their background is, have, have they had some form of connection before, or is it kind of maybe one of those more stereotypical routes? The next step isn't it, is getting people from outside
our world.
Well, that's that's quite interesting because there's other manufacturers who are working exactly on this.
So we have across the sector shortage of technicians, service engineers, parts sales service within the whole machinery sector, which is phenomenal. Our dealership network across all brands, it doesn't matter who it is. Everyone has a shortage of stuff.
And traditionally and you've sort of touched on it there. We drew stuff from the base is that if we go near a farm, your parents doing some farming too fancy doing some mechanics?
Come on down. It'll be fine. And we're seeing quite a quick shift to going, actually. We need to recruit people from the HGV sector. Yes, because there's quite a lot of combine, which is very similar to lorry. We're recruiting people from the industrial equipment sector. So if you're if you're in charge of service and support on a big budget in a factory making cardboard boxes, the processing machinery, the sensing technology, the data reporting technology, oh, just a minute.
It's very similar on a combine. But we're recognizing that we can't just take people because they're nearby. We actually need to have people that have that really cutting edge skillset. Yeah. And the other side is that we're now slowly and I wouldn't say we've got there by any stretch of the imagination. We are moving to actually pay salaries, which are reflective of the skills that exist now.
Yes. This company behind us has a retail price of somewhere. What is it,
Three    ,   , somewhere like that, that sort of figure. Yeah. So it's it's a sizable chunk of money and it's a sizable chunk of money for the farmers finds. But at the same time, you know, there's a lot of time, effort and development that's gone into bringing this machine to where we are today.
suddenly I think when we start looking at the cost of machinery, this is always quite emotive because machinery costs in the last two years have massively changed for a whole host of reasons, which in itself is a completely different forecast. Yeah, I'll leave you to that one. However, we, we look at we look at Kit now this this at    ,    is actually a cheap combine which is slightly interesting to get your head around.
But we're seeing absolutely top end biggest coal mines on the market. Comfortably over   million pounds. Yeah. Now if you're if you're running   million pound machine, you need some really, really good people behind that product to look after that product. And
keep that product optimized because it's it's if you're running a machine that big. As James, we touched on earlier within the windows of whether we've got we've got a change in climate harvest.
This is what third harvest on the bounce that we've had challenging weather conditions challenging yet that you start to think realistically. Do we now go, this is what it's like. This is what it's like. What do we know?   rd of September. When did you finish cutting your spring wheat? Two days ago.    days. Three years ago and    years ago, we would have grown spring wheat to begin with.
You didn't need to know, because you've got all of your crops in the ground in the autumn. But people were finished combining by. Yeah, by August. And actually suddenly you move a month on with, with larger farms, less people. That's that that pressure point becomes particularly in arable business. And lots of businesses are very, very different to that pressure point in viable business.
And the machinery comes down to the productivity and the efficiency and the ability of the machines to work and the people who will support it and back it up.
We've spoken about it. We're going to go and have a look. I'm going to get it there. Yeah. Give it a tour, Toby. Come on then. Get used to it.
So we'll we'll collect up all of our and go, go, go up the big steps.
You guys look so terrified. I'm. I'm not. I'm excited. You're going to go by followed by James who's actually driven it. Listen, it's not it's not me who needs to be terrified.
so if you just twist that large key, this one to the power symbol, I don't know why I'm so nervous. Just just one turn now. Just one turn
So now it's all booting up. Now, if we'd been more organized, you'd have done this in advance. And then we would know. But it wouldn't be in this entertainment machine. You see in these eyes, it tells you because it drives forwards and they come on and seed feed your van into the header
So loading up now to screen. So if, if you, Emily, can you give us a bit of a what what what do you say to say so say what you see.
Okay,
So first of all, I do just want to say, and I said this, James, before,
you know, like I did spend a lot of time with dad in summer and I actually used to love it, but I haven't been in a cab for God knows how long. So I actually do love
being in it.
But yeah, there's obviously two screens
use screens. Just told me something.
It was just the GPS swarm a oh, there we go. Yeah. Which will sense my tire and be like, do not drive knows. But yeah. Screens. And then we've got obviously like a control panel to my right.
Yeah. So I mean, the main thing you're looking out there, Emily's, is that a lot of these touch buttons heal on the side, getting control of the main traction system of the combine. So you've got various bits on on that film and rotor speed,
and also safe clearance that you might have adjustments to and the fan speed as well.
And those, those sorts of settings can be customizable.
Depending on the crop and how you speed and what you, what you come in in.
Obviously costs are pretty good because
they load some, I suppose, parameters within the combine. And you can select that. You're cutting weight and they will set up combine up to what it thinks we should be cutting out with those sorts of settings.
But as an operator, going back to what Toby says, you need to make an assessment once you start cutting. Yeah. How the crops feed in and also how more importantly, it's either going into the grain tank and how clean the crop is and, that you're not losing any crop over the back of the combine, which is also a possibility.
And then you would make those adjustments on those touchscreen to act on those that keep,
and that will obviously then set those parameters up on that, overall display at the combine screen. The 
this just kind of goes back to that level of sophistication that we were just talking about before, like it's still in.
I know that I wouldn't just come along and jump in this machine and start driving it. I fully understand that. But the fact that
I could
it's pretty insane.
It is. But it's
the sector needs to be more accessible. Yeah, both in terms of different people's working requirements, different people's outlooks and and needs and wants for, for work.
And yes, I mean, we really need to address what's what I find
interesting. And I probably use that word    times is that
the settings that James had alluded to on a crop
that's drawn from every combine that class has made that use of telematics, and that's not
James putting a setting in, saying it's going to be spring wheat,
though settings will change
as the season progresses as this this machine with telematics talks team
effectively all of the machines all talks to to the class headquarters in Germany, which brings back data from all combines working.
It's always optimizing its settings based upon the conditions it sees. Now, as James drives us into a crop, it will pick up the moisture content. It will pick up the,
effective yield. It will pick up the thousand grain way. If it's measuring that, it will pick up. We could potentially could pick up the protein content. If it's got that measure on it.
But it would it would take those settings and James is maybe settle them to optimize the losses or whatever it might have been. That information is reported back and it might find there's a user in South America who's also cutting wheat. Yeah. That by chance is exactly the same conditions. And then we're optimizing. And if we think that any day of the year somewhere in the world a combine is working.
So we think about it city season but city season every day there somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. And all of that data is always coming back. So we're actually
we're optimizing this machine to harvest based upon a global
set of features. And that's obvious. That's a class machine in the New Holland John days would have their own system,
you know, you as an operator, you are run over a weekend.
You know caveated with the spec of the machine use the operator are dependent on your conditions, but you're actually learning from other people's experience as the machine as you travel through the field, as you work with it.
Yeah,
I think the one thing that I just want to say from this is that obviously, Toby, when you said this idea to me, whenever it was last week, I was quite hesitant and I was like, what do you want me for?
Yes. But then when you bring it back to. And, you know, I work heavily on the career side of things. So when we kind of got into that conversation, you know, it made a lot more sense.
But, you know, everything that we've spoken about when you actually I said the term before, if someone, you know, drove past a field.
And so combining it in a, you know, out in the field, they wouldn't really think twice about anything. But then if you come back to the conversation and the actual ripples that come out of,
what we've just spoken about, it's the picture is so much bigger.
if you think anything that you eat, regardless what your doctor sees, regardless where you buy your food from, anything you eat that is a cereal crop.
It has been through a combine. So someone like yourself sitting in that seat it is travels up the elevator underneath you into the threshing system. And worldwide, we all fundamentally rely on this machine or machine like this because that's, you know, we've we've showed off our ability to produce food to other people, but those people still need to exist.
And actually, we need I. Okay, I'm biased, but we need to actually get on to better understanding of how our food is produced. And when we talk about seasonality, whether we talk about farming, but actually the the uniqueness of a machine, the uniqueness of a process, I think and again, I'm biased, I think is incredibly important to recognize that we all we are reliant on this machine working.
We're reliant on people keeping these machines running. We're reliant on the functionality of it because that's where our food is coming from. And the, you know, we can't feed ourselves without this machine. Yeah, we have to use this because that's that's how the world is now. And I think the more recognition we have of that, this is, you know, if you were looking at the critical things that mankind need to exist, probably not a mobile phone,
probably need water, but we need food.
But how important is the combined harvest and mankind's ability to to survive? I think quite important. But, you know, I'm quite boxed in that
just to finish out. Unless you've got anything else to add. James.
in terms of the education piece, then what are your personal thoughts on how we actually achieve more understanding them? Because you mentioned that you're going to Spain on a, on a, a work trip.
If you look at other countries, actually other countries have a much more positive attitude towards food.
We seem to have lost that slightly. How how do we actually
make a positive step forward?
Yeah, I mean, I think over the years, you know,
you look back at my, my grandad Simon and you look at when he was farming and you might had, you know,    staff and seasonal workers on the farm and a lot more, you know, individuals from that had a closer connection to food and where it comes from that that's broken apart as we've progressed.
And obviously machinery has got bigger and all those sorts of things. But I suppose looking at how how we break that a little bit, it's very difficult. I mean, you've got a good, I suppose, presents with, with Clarkson's Farm and pieces like that that's got a good connection with the general public.
another one that might say in that book, like Farm Simulator is a very popular game for so many people.
And
it gives it an insight, even if it's a virtual insight into,
into the system.
But you know, if people are interested in this great events like, like the llama show and with the career zone and those sorts of things where people could come along, even from a non league background, to look at the sorts of careers developments and things that they're in the industry from, from leading manufacturers.
Yeah.
But I think from my point of view, sort of on that one, is that
some individuals don't want to engage with Jennifer. Again, that's their choice. Most farming businesses, most people certainly certainly most dealerships actually want to listen to people. You know, there is they want to talk about their product. They want to tell people what they do.
They want to
you know, put forward what they're doing and why it's important. And I think, you know, engage. And then if you are interested in the sector, there's there's obviously lots you can learn from the pages of EFG. Obviously. But actually, you know, get out there and talk to people because a lot of this industry do want to talk to people.
And actually we are so often agriculture is criticized and we only see bad news. Yeah. We don't see the good news. You don't see the people that actually can make you work in the industry, which I've said this before, and other in sort of other things we've done, is that it is fundamental on the existence of human, you know, human human beings.
We need agriculture. We need to reduce food. So actually engaging the industry and and learning more about it, I think is, is only ever a positive thing. Yeah. And so more support from the top down. Definitely. Yeah.
we'll probably end that there. But we're now going to you're going to have drive

okay. It's nice knowing you all.
Press that pedal there. This one. Yeah.
Pull the table towards you. I feel very out. What could possibly go wrong? Can you?
I feel very, very, I feel nervous. Okay. We'll pull this down towards you. I don't know if I want to do it.
It can't go on doing it. I will tell you, it doesn't go anywhere. Probably right. Fullest able to push that and pull this. Push. Pull or push the lever down. Push it into. This is incredibly useful. Beautiful, beautiful.
Right. For for listeners. Emily had to move the steering wheel. Okay. Excellent start. He says puts the ministry in the past. Come on. I'm a really good writer, though.
Right. Okay. Oh, right. Okay. There. You can see a red button with a parking brake symbol on it. Yep. You're aware of this person?
Yep. Yes. Press it. Are you taking the handbrake off? Okay. Put your hand on the joystick, which is like a great big computer mouse thing. Yeah, that one's on the side. Yeah. So just be hand around it like it's a computer mouse. Yeah. And gently pull it towards me. Moving towards you. Moving towards me is not going to move.
Okay. Move towards me. Now push it away from me. Slowly. Can you tell me how to stop that? Yes. Okay, I'm doing it. You're not getting forwards. Right. Mission achieved. Yeah. View as we are traveling. Registered point to. Point   . The fulcrum. If you push it a bit more. I don't want to. You. Let's see if we can do the head speeds of one kilometer.
Why are you telling me that? You don't. You don't need to worry about that, okay? You just look forward. No, she's slightly more forward. Enough. I'm happy. These people. Yeah. We're approaching half a kilometer. An hour maybe, but I don't want to go. I'm scared. How do I stop? Also. Look. That. Push. Push again. You can keep going.
 . . . Really? Speeds in one close. Can we stop now? I put it back gently. Keep going back. You came back? Now let go. And then press the button. Button again? You know it's when. Do you know when you think back and you like. I remember like, shouldn't I been like, I can just knock it back and forth. That's not.
That's not natural to me. No, but how much? One. Yeah, I always laugh, but yeah, that that I guess I could do it again. Would you do it again? I'll just go one time, once before the park break again. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Now see if you can get up to two.
So what we you do when I push it, actually unlock it. So the so it moves in the lock position to move forwards.
This is we have approached one point. Oh yeah. I can see it now where I'm looking. Okay. I'd rather you to forward.
Round it. And because there's no one to pull it back. Yeah. Yeah. And then do it backwards. I don't want to go backwards. Okay.
I think I feel it very out of control. I don't want to go backwards.
Right. Release. I will go backwards if you want me to go back. To go backwards. Yeah. Push it away from you that way. Yeah. That's
And now backwards. Why are you reversing camera? And I interestingly the listeners you said are   .  backwards as a drop. And I think it's because there's an open space behind me.
I can't get to one of them at random now. Okay. Put you back to the center. That. Comes to the center. There you go. First of all, to break. Yay! And then twist came.
Well, how's that for Monday? Combine driving to.

Like I said, this podcast
was a little bit different, but it was really fun to do. It was really great to be out with the machinery team because we don't get to do that very often. And actually, it's nice to,
step into each other's world. So I really, really enjoyed it. Huge thanks to Toby and James.
And I can feel that there will be another opportunity for me to drive another machine and brighten the machinery team's day.
There will be another Fantastic Farmer's Guardian episode next week. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode.
Especially when it comes to conversations around careers and connecting the public a bit more. So please send them over
to me, Emily Ashworth at Agri Connect. Com or drop us,
a comment on social media. Post, because you can head over to the social media and see what I've been up to on there.
But that's it for this week. Thanks for listening and see you again next time. Bye bye.