When Dylan Ford planted his first 4-acre vineyard at his home in Bishop’s Stortford in May 2018 he knew he would need the best equipment on the market to make vineyard management as efficient as possible.
Like many in the industry, Dylan has come into English wine from another career, but where most retire, or give up the day job, he continues to run his own construction company.
“The vineyard is a very expensive hobby really; that’s the way I look at it,” said Dylan Ford. “While I can drop everything to do urgent, time sensitive work in the vineyard, I am still running my construction business full time. With this in mind, time is much more valuable to me than the cost of the equipment and so the plan has always been to buy the right machinery to make life easy.”
Having also taken over the neighbouring Hazel End Vineyard, Dylan is now tending to three different sites. While his Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier vines are “still very young”, to ensure he can “effectively manage the more established Bacchus vines at Hazel End”, he has invested in new equipment earlier than planned. His new Fendt 207F, Braun Rollhacke and a Carrarospray OCLL NPA sprayer arrived in mid-May.
Alongside the 6-acres of vines currently established, Dylan is scheduled to plant a further 2,500 vines, plus a cider apple orchard and a willow plantation on the Bailey Hills’ estate within the next two years. With this in mind, Dylan opted for a more versatile and adjustable OCLL sprayer which could be used in both crops.
“When I was looking for a sprayer, I knew I would need a new tractor too,” said Dylan. “When I bought my first tractor, I went for a compact John Deere with a mower deck because I thought it would be bit more versatile for looking after the whole estate. But as it’s cab-less it’s not suitable for spraying. After a lot of research, I found that the Fendt is really the best tractor for this industry.
“They might be slightly more expensive, but the second hand market is very strong for Fendt and I found the resale values very impressive. Also, I am 6ft2 and the flat floor was a real bonus for flexibility and access. I decided to buy new because I have always been a bit cautious about machinery with no warranty. Our vineyard is only small and so I know that we will be able to enjoy the five year warranty.”
After noticing that his neighbour used NP Seymour for their equipment, Dylan got in touch with Nick and his team at the Avon Works site in Kent, and is now already looking to invest in a vine trimmer and deleafer once more storage space is available at Bailey Hills Vineyard.
“It is about going to the right people for the right things. NP Seymour is a specialist dealership and viticulture is a market the team is focused on,” he said. “When they delivered the equipment they were very good at showing me how to use everything and doing a full demonstration. I am very happy with everything.”
As well as establishing more vines and an orchard, there is also planning for a modern and architecturally impressive cellar door facility and winery (which may offer contract winemaking services to other local growers) as well as a collection of vineyard holiday lets and fishing huts. Already benefitting from a captive audience visiting the area too, as the neighbouring farming converted a collection of redundant buildings into a collection of high-end boutique retail shops, Dylan hopes to sell his wines mainly direct to consumer.