Farming with Fendt: Q&A with Russell Black, Wester Cash Farm

We had a chat with Russell Black, arable farmer at Wester Cash Farm, Fife regarding his new Fendt 724 tractor. Russell purchased his Fendt 724 in the spring of 2023 from Steven Player, Fendt Brand Manager at R&R Machinery. 

Russell Black (right) with his son Fraser Black (left) with their Fendt 724

Can you tell us a bit about Wester Cash?

We have 400 acres here, there is 100 acres that we contract farm at Auchtermuchty as well. We have a contracting business, so we do a lot of ploughing, sowing, combining, spraying, baling and all that kind of stuff. We grow wheat, oil seed rape, winter barley, spring barley and we outland to a local grower for potatoes. So that covers Wester Cash but we also cover all of Fife as well with our contracting business, to try to keep it local as much as we can.

What is the seasonality of your work?

Its absolute mayhem in the spring, summer and autumn then I take the winter off! I have a quiet winter, so that’s the way I like to look at it.

What are the main challenges you are faced with?

Costs. The cost of everything at the moment is crazy and our grain price has fallen away back at the moment so that’s one of our big challenges just now. Also, the weather patterns have been crazy recently, its so volatile. Its either too wet, too dry or too cold, so this is also a big challenge for farmers. The biggest challenge though by far just now has to be the costs.

Can you tell us about your Fendt tractors?

I am currently on Fendt number four. We started in 2007 with a Fendt 415 and then upgraded to a Fendt 820 in 2011. We kept the Fendt 820 for a while and then we traded it in 2019 and bought a Fendt 720. The Fendt 720 was four years old in the spring and Steven had a stock tractor sitting in the yard. So we decided to make the change after four years of having the Fendt 720 and now we have the new Fendt 724 which I am delighted with!

Fendt 724 ready to work!

What are the main benefits of choosing Fendt?

Residual values – they are really good at selling second hand and can still get good money selling second hand. They are very reliable tractors, easy to use, good quality products and as a whole the Fendt’s just work great for us and do the job with very little hassle. Also, Fendt have the best warranty packages, I was really impressed with the warranty I was given.

Why did you decide to buy the Fendt 724?

The reliability and quality of Fendt is unmatched, so that’s why I bought it.

What do you use the Fendt for?

Mainly precision work so ploughing, sowing, and baling. We are also doing a lot of contract deep ridging for potatoes now for a local grower, roughly 500 acres a year. The Fendt is great for deep ridging for potatoes as its got full GPS on the roof for the steering, so we use that all the time as its very precise and accurate for drawing the ridges.

How long have you been a customer of the Hamilton Ross Group?

Massey Ferguson purchased by the Black’s at the Orchard Farm

So, we will take it away back to the 1960s! My dad William Black had the Orchard Farm in Lanarkshire and he dealt with Ross of Lanark. My dad bought endless amounts of Massey Fergusons in the 60s and combines in the 70s all from Ross of Lanark. I remember going to Ross of Lanark with my dad when I was young and picking the Massey Ferguson 565 which was sitting in the yard. We made the switch in 1994 to move here to Wester Cash, and we have dealt with the Cupar depot of Hamilton Ross Group ever since. Overall, we’ve been customers from the 1960s to present day, so we are long standing customers of Hamilton Ross Group!

Massey Ferguson 565

What are the benefits of dealing with the Hamilton Ross Group?

Definitely the staff, they are excellent. Customer relations, sales and the workshop staff are all second-to-none and just really good at what they do. The staff and the service is the reason we deal with Hamilton Ross Group, and I am always very well looked after.

Can you tell us about the buying process?

The buying process was very easy with Steven, he brings in the list of all the specifications of the tractors that I want and we just go through the list to see what I would like. He then prices up what I’m trading in and then we shake hands. The buying process really is excellent with Steven, he makes it easy and he’s got a good nature. He’s not pushy and is an overall good guy!

Steven Player (left) and Russell Black (right)

What’s the next machine on your bucket list?

Probably a minimum tillage cultivator. We are going to try and use less fuel and be more carbon neutral by doing less ploughing etc, so we are going to look at some kind of min-till cultivator. This means we won’t need to plough and can just go over the fields and sow the fields without ploughing.

What are your future plans for the farm?

Probably increase the contracting side of the business. I don’t see us buying more land at the moment, land is quite expensive so at the moment we are focusing on expanding contracting. My son Fraser is at home now so between the two of us we are able to do more and more contract work out and about. So, the future for us is definitely expanding contracting.

Russell’s Fendt 724 hard at work!

Hamilton Ross Group would like to thank Russell Black and his family for their continued support over the years and we wish him all the best for the future!

Written by Kirsty Pettigrew, Marketing Assistant