A Massey Ferguson Ideal 9T has been earning its keep for two Lincolnshire growers, who pooled resources and invested in AGCO’s latest harvesting innovation to handle a combined 930ha workload. So, has the Ideal 9T lived up to expectations?

North Lincs farming neighbours H H James and Son and Winteringham Farms have been sharing key items of equipment for the past seven years. It’s a working arrangement that gives both the purchasing power to access kit with much greater performance and productivity, offering better economies of scale for the two farming operations. And it is logic that’s hard to fault: collectively, the two farms own a share in the combine and other key items of machinery including the self-propelled sprayer, cultivator and drill, although both businesses continue to trade separately.