James S Peck owns and operates PX Farms Ltd. in Cambridge, England. The operation is close to 6000 acres and is comprised of a combination of contracted acres and his own family farm. The farm is extremely large for the U.K. and the growth it has seen since PX Farms was established in 2003 has been in over 300%. That kind of growth for any business, especially a farm in the U.K. gets attention. There are unique challenges that have had to be overcome, with land price and availability being the key issues to be dealt with. James’ work in overcoming those obstacles is the reason behind his being chosen to speak at FarmTech 2012. The issues of land prices and financing and how to approach them in particular are of concern to farmers across the globe.
What makes James’ business so unique is that he custom farms with a twist. James has land owners pay him to farm the land so that the land owner retains his farm status. The land owner finances all of the inputs because the land owner has the equity in the land. The land owner holds the inventory on his balance sheet while James is responsible for the marketing of the crop. James and the land owner split the profit 50/50. James can expand his farm because he is not tying up capital and the land owner makes a profit while retaining their farmer status. James says that everyone wins.
If you cannot see the embedded video below click here.