It's mid-July, shortly after 9 o'clock in the morning, and the thermometer has already come close to the "heat-free" limit. A shady spot with a view of the farm seems to make the most sense for the interview, and not just because of Corona. Sitting opposite me are contractor Fitim Mehmeti and his employee Anni Hantelmann. The topics of conversation are to be tillage and experiences with the new 9 Series from Fendt. But first my gaze wanders over the farm - the residential building and barns suggest a time-honored estate and not a contracting company, I assume. "That's right," the contractor confirms. "This is the Wobeck monastery estate, which Falk Henties has leased along with the approximately 360 hectares of arable land - who, in turn, is also a partner in our contracting company M & H Agrarlogistik together with me," he explains. A separate contracting company for an arable farm? "Yes and no," Fitim Mehmeti continues. "Yes, because the efficiency and therefore machine utilization required in today's arable farming is no longer feasible, even with 360 ha. That is why Falk Henties does not invest in its own technology for sole use, but completely outsources field work to us as M & H Agrarlogistik. And no, because of course we work as a service provider not only for one customer, but now for twelve permanent customers in agriculture within a radius of 50 km."

For a large part of the twelve customers mentioned, M & H carries out the entire foreign trade. The basis of the cooperation is usually formed by fixed contracts with terms of between five and ten years. They give both sides security, as Fitim Mehmeti explains: "This applies to us as a relatively young company that has to earn its equity gradually. But the farmers also have the certainty that their land will be farmed reliably, in high quality and, thanks to high efficiency, also very profitably," he adds. Another positive aspect is that service prices are agreed on a binding contractual basis, he emphasizes: "And at a good level. Because our customers want the best possible solutions from us and are prepared to pay for them within reasonable limits." As a small example of problem solving, he cites the last-minute decision this early summer to use some cereal crops as whole-plant silage. The reason, according to Fitim Mehmeti, was the growing problem of resistant field foxtail. "To prevent the weed seeds from spreading, we chopped some affected stands. However, we also drove the chopping column to customers' sites when it was not a complete field, but only partial areas. The effort is somewhat higher, but the result counts," he emphasizes.

The technical means of choice for soil cultivation on a large part of the cultivated areas are - as also for seedbed preparation - short disc harrow and cultivator. Each year, the contracting company sows about 1,800 hectares on behalf of customers, and on this area the soil was also largely worked by M & H beforehand. Some plots also undergo two or three further operations after stubble cultivation. In total, this makes - including the already mentioned 300 plowed hectares - about 5,500 ha per year in tillage. In general, the contractor describes the subject as one of his hobbyhorses. "The soil and the way it is treated is, after all, an essential basis for crop production success. That's why, for me, tillage is not a chore, but a component of good quality service," he emphasizes. So even when it comes to tire selection, soil protection is the measure of all things for him. For example, his new Fendt 942, which he has been using since April, runs on 900 Michelin tires at the rear and 710 at the front, with a pressure of 0.6 bar in the field - not to mention a tire pressure control system. For Fitim Mehmeti, large working widths are also a means of protecting the soil, simply by reducing the number of passes. In tillage, this amounts to 6 m to 8 m for him, which in turn challenges the tractors. "Our topography here on the northern edge of the Elm is quite ambitious. With 8 m wide cultivators and 30 cm working depth on clay soil on a slope, the reserves are challenged, and 400 hp is already the lower limit. That's why we have our Fendt 1050 for this task, among others," says the contractor.

Not without - at M & H, this applies equally to the cooperation with its agricultural machinery dealers of choice, first and foremost Agravis Technik Heide-Altmark with its workshop in Königslutter and the Horsch Center of NewTec in Peine. "Both teams are available virtually around the clock in case of emergency and provide us with excellent support. This is very important to me when choosing a technology brand and makes it possible for us to keep our own workshop lean," explains Fitim Mehmeti. The term lean also applies to his "own" machinery, as becomes clear during the conversation. The contractor sees no point in having to keep machines on hand for everything and every activity in his range of services. And if he buys his own equipment, he prefers to lease it first and then own it later. In addition, he relies on close cooperation with partners, for example in fertilization with Bollmer or in the execution of work with other contractors, such as chopping and manure spreading with LU Ährensache. "Why should everyone reinvent the wheel? Profit comes primarily from utilization and efficiency, and that's true for us as contractors, too." He is not worried about losing customers to colleagues in the process. "The chemistry fits. And our customers want us to reliably solve their problems as a complete package. How we do that is secondary for them. What's important is the result."

Source: LU Special November 2020 edition