“Being in organic, I prefer to have my own equipment, because the intervention windows are short, I need to make my own adjustments and I want to control all the operations. It is essential for me to be able to intervene at the right time. I changed my strategy renewal in recent years, especially for my two head tractors which I always buy new. From a replacement every three years, I went to every five years and now, I plan to wait seven years, due to the increase in material cost. My third tractor, which only does 300 hours per year, is second-hand because it costs me less per hour.
Before a purchase of material, I always think in advance, in relation to my surface area and the probable maintenance costs. I recently asked myself the question of buying new or used for the seeder which I couple with the hoe. On cereals, I wanted 25 cm of spacing and on corn and soya, I wanted to switch to single grain. With a specialist advisor, Julien Hérault, we compared the cost of purchasing the material to its use. We concluded that it was better to buy one single seed seeder second-hand in 12 rows and 50 cm spacing, because I did not have the surface to cushion a new one which cost more than double. The seeder was already 10 years old when purchased, but it was not outdated in terms of technological options possible.
I preferred to spend a little money on advice rather than take the risk of making a mistake on a purchase of a very large amount. I reasoned the same way when purchasing my compost spreader : I chose second-hand because new was not economically viable compared to my needs. My equipment park is now in good condition, my goal is to age it as long as possible. For this, I pay great attention to its maintenance. »
-Organic farm of 220 ha of large crops of wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower, soya, lupine, spring barley, cereal mixtures, with a farrow-fattener pig workshop.
