KRONE Landmaschinen

Matthew Walton - North

Matthew Walton | F.T Walton | North

Meet Krone KingPin and Northumberland farmer, Matthew Walton of F.T Walton, who have been working with KRONE since 2005.

 

 

Having grown up on a mixed farming enterprise in Northumberland, Krone KingPin, Matthew Walton now works full-time at Flotterton Farm, alongside his father Jimmy and brother-in-law, Callum. 

The beef, sheep and arable farm covers a total of 4,900 acres, 3,500 of which is moorland and hill ground. Around 350 acres is made up of cereals, with a further 300 acres of grass, split between grazing and silaging for livestock. 

 

Overview of Flotterton Farm:

  • The total farm size:4,900 acres – 350 acres of combinable crops, 500 acres of silage and 500 acres of grazing, contract mowing a further 300 acres of silage  

  • Livestock: 1,300 total head of cattle, of which 500 are calving cows, plus 2,400 ewes 

  • Twelve full-time members of staff 

Why Matthew Chose KRONE

I’m the key machinery operator on-farm and we’ve had a great experience with the variety of Krone machinery we’ve accumulated over the years. 

We started off with a VariPack baler in 2005 and haven’t turned back since. 

Once our local machinery dealer, Carrs Billington, became a Krone dealership too it was an even easier decision for us to continue having Krone kit. 

We now run two Comprima Plus round balers on-farm as well as for the contracting side of the business. Having two machines allows us to split the workload between a couple of us and keep multiple customers happy during busy periods. 

The balers are incredibly user-friendly and intuitive, which is paramount to keeping operations smooth when switching between operators. 

We trust that even if someone with less experience needs to jump on a machine, they shouldn’t have an issue picking up where somebody else left off. 

Like all our Krone machinery, the baler works well in most conditions, whether that be a heavy or dry crop, and it’s easy to keep on top of maintenance. 

For us, the kit comes with great dealer back up too. 

Knowing Carrs is just a half hour drive down the road is really reassuring, and we’ve had nothing but good experiences with them. If we need someone to come out or get spare parts quickly, they can always pull through. 

Machines On Farm

  • Two round balers- Comprima V150 XC Plus and Comprima V150 

  • Front and rear mowers- F320 CV EasyCut and R280 CV EasyCut 

  • Six-rotor tedder-KW 7.82 

  • Two rakes- Swadro TC 640 twin rotor rake and Swadro 38 single rotor rake 

New Krone machinery

We introduced a brand-new front mower midway through the 2022 season to replace our previous 2013 Krone mower. 

We don’t find the need to ted the silage once it’s been through the conditioner mower, which is a great time saver and means the grass isn’t getting knocked about as much. 

This also reduces the amount of traffic driving across the field, which helps to reduce soil compaction as well as saving us fuel and labour time. 

However, we do run a six-rotor Krone Vendro tedder because we also produce a lot of hay. We have a couple of pretty worn tedders from a different brand and will likely be looking to replace these for the 2024 season with couple of small Krone tedders. 

Compared to other tedders available, Krone is very competitive on price and quality, and with the relationship we have with Carrs, it’s a no brainer that we’ll want to invest in further Krone kit. 

Please accept marketing-cookies to see this content.