This Feature on Kevin Attwood and Down Court Farm first featured in South East Farmer February 2008. Written by Malcolm Triggs.

Asking Kevin Attwood whether he is a farmer or a businessman brings a smile. "That depends on when you ask me," he replies. The fact that he likes nothing better than to sit high up in the cab of one of his two Claas 580s on a sunny summer's day, bringing in the crop he has worked so hard to produce, suggests that at heart he is a farmer pure and simple. But his recent investment in the state-of-the-art drying and storage equipment he needs to make sure that he retains control of what he sells - and when – is ample proof that a shrewd business head sits on those farming stock shoulders. Kevin farms as part of F D Attwood and Partners, working with parents Frank and Joan Attwood and brother Michael at Down Court Farm in Doddington and at Cleve Farm in Graveney. The family firm keeps it simple, growing winter wheat and winter oil seed rape, and is now reaping the benefits of higher world prices after five years of making "next to nothing" on combinable crops.

With modern combines increasingly efficient and steady expansion producing larger tonnages that need to be handled more quickly, the Attwoods decided that the time had come to replace the aging drying equipment that served their existing 2,000 tonne store. "Our last serious investment at Down Court Farm was 30 years ago, and with our acreage increasing and yields steadily rising we decided it was time to install a new, more efficient and bigger continuous flow dryer," said Kevin. The new Law-Denis dryer can handle 40 tonnes an hour, reducing the moisture content of the crop by five per cent and more closely matching the speed at which the combines can take the crop off the field. With phase one complete and the new dryer up and running, Kevin turned to Scorpion Engineering for the massive new store that was to make up phase two. The result is a 5,000 tonne store that could double as an aircraft hanger and has given the Attwood operation complete flexibility over drying, storing and marketing its grain. The store is 54 metres long by 29 metres wide, with an extra 10-metre lean-to on one side. The galvanised steel framed building has a flat concrete floor and virtually indestructible concrete panel walling and is tall enough to allow an articulated lorry to tip its trailer inside the store.

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