The Claydons have farmed at Gaines Hall in Suffolk for more than 100 years. But the farm is also home to the family's fast-expanding machinery business.The farm grows 400ha of com-binable crops on a clay soil, and the machinery business is built mainly on equipment Jeff Claydon developed to boost efficiency at Gaines Hall, including their direct strip seeding system.Mr Claydon's career as part-time inventor began in the 1970s when he designed a yield-measuring device for combine harvesters. He wanted accurate yield information to assess changes in crop production methods and the Claydon Yield-o-Meter was made on the farm from 1980, achieving accuracy within 1% and winning a 1995 Royal Show silver medal. Sales totalled more than 1,000 and the company's official name remains Claydon Yield-o-Meter, although it is usually called Claydon Drills.
展开▼
