Published by Farmers Guide, October 2005.

Tony Canham and Family with some of the contracting fleet.

Conservation work pays off for Norfolk contractor

An aptitude for conservation work has developed into a niche market for Dereham, Norfolk-based contractors A&J Canham. Run by Tony Canham and his wife Jenny, the business has been able to move away from general farm contracting and concentrate on a smaller number of specialist areas.
"There's too much competition in agricultural contracting today, with more and more people chasing reducing amounts of work," Tony told Farmers Guide. "It makes it very difficult to compete and even harder to make any money."
With 16 years' experience of running his own business, and even longer working in agriculture, Tony has been able to decide what works and what doesn't and feels he has now got an ideal mix of services.
"I've always operated diggers and this remains an important part of the business," he said. "We have a 360-degree, 7.5-tonne Caterpillar excavator and a Fermec back-hoe loader, as well as all the associated kit to cart soil away.
"We are happy to take on all the ditching work we can get as well as creating roadways and hardstanding on farms and estates. Quite a lot of the work we do is involved in preparing sites for new farm buildings," Tony added.
"We've found that in most cases it is more cost effective for someone to hire our digger with an operator than to go for the self-drive option. Our experience of working in and around farms means that we can do the job quickly and efficiently."
The diggers have also proved invaluable in the business' next key area of conservation projects, where A&J Canham has been involved in site clearance and replanting projects, as well as the maintenance and construction of paths and roadways in parks and nature reserves.
"A few years ago, we were asked by English Nature to build a boardwalk at a local nature reserve," Tony said. "The organisation was very pleased with the job we did and the amount of conservation-type work we carry out has grown every year."
The scope to do this type of work has also grown, with more and more farmers planning projects to make the most of the Single Farm Payment scheme.
"We have been involved in a lot of planting projects and putting in and maintaining new hedges and fences," Tony said. "We use the local machinery ring to source labour and, under the control of our experienced staff, we can handle projects of any size.
"We can also carry out all types of fencing and have completed projects involving stock fencing, post and rail fencing, plain or barbed wire fencing, and even newt fencing, where a perimeter fence had to be made newt proof by incorporating a plastic strip which had to be buried in the ground."
Experience in the groundworks and conservation fields gave Tony the confidence to go for local authority contracts as well and the company recently replaced almost 3,500 footpath signs throughout Suffolk for the local county council.
A&J Canham hasn't completely forgotten its agricultural roots, however, and offers three niche services that are still in demand.
"We still operate a oilseed rape swathing service and run two 14ft Shelbourne Reynolds swathers over 400-500acres each year," Tony said. "We still have a bit of spare capacity with the machines and would happily take on more work within about 30 miles of Dereham. We're also interested in using the machines on alternative crops and used the cut about 50 acres of borage for the first time this year."
The company covers quite a lot more ground with its Flat 10 baling system, which is currently producing more than 25,000 straw bales each year and has the capacity to bale about twice that.
"What we say to farmers is that there's a good chance that you have a ready market for your straw from the equestrian market if you go out and look for it," Tony said. "We have the complete system and will bale, and cart the straw and build it into your buildings for a reasonable price. All you have to do is find the customers to pay you to come and take it away again."
The baling job is definitely time sensitive and Tony likes to book up the work in advance.
"That way," Tony said, "we know where we should be at any given point in the harvest and we can do our best not to hold anyone up from getting on with cultivation work."
The final offering from A&J Canham is JCB Fastrac hire, with the company offering spot hire of tractors and drivers for various jobs around Norfolk and North Suffolk.
"We have a 135hp Fastrac and a 125hp model," Tony said. "And we work closely with local contractor David Myhill who can supply a third machine. In return we help David by supplying a tractor and loader to him for muckspreading work, while David also helps us with the digger work in the winter."
With his mix of services, and growing reputation, Tony is happier than most contractors given the current climate in agriculture.
"Unlike many contractors, we do not concentrate all our efforts on the growing season so we are earning money all year round," he said. "We don't have to rush to do every job that comes along just to keep our heads above water and we're happier providing a better service to a smaller number of people."