We have almost finished seeding our carrots and parsnips for the 2014/15 harvest; just a 16-acre field left which is standing in ridges ready to finish out.

The standout feature of our 2013/14 harvest and the subsequent Spring seeding work, was the need for very good people. We have two full-time staff on the farm and have very close relationships with two contractors, which also gives flexibility.

As our business has grown we have a constant need for highly skilled tractor drivers. Working a destoner or seeding is a slow job that requires constant attention; not something most tractor drivers in their twenties lust after compared to burning oil and tar drawing silage.

Keeping guys motivated in the field when they are travelling at 1mph is a constant challenge. Redbull, chocolate and crisps are old favourites, but sometimes it requires some psychological warfare to get guys to buy into driving at 1.5mph through the night while driving a machine that requires constant adjustment.

I have toyed with the idea in the past of incentivising guys with different structures. In Argentina, contractors get a percentage of the total output per hectare; the combine drivers get a percentage of that and the chaser bin drivers get a percentage of the combine drivers take. The complexity of what we do means this would be difficult unless guys know our business, and figures, really well.

More recently, I have reverted to giving guys a one-off bonus at the end of the season based on how they performed during the year. This is only for the guys who put themselves forward to take on responsibility and drive the tricky machines and includes contractor staff.

With the need for a specialist tractor driver full-time, we are looking at advertising and putting a formal enough process in place to find someone for the role. It’s a fairly specific character we are looking for as we have very specific and precise driving needs. Hopefully I won’t have to provide too much Redbull and chocolate in the future to get the job done.