Recently elected NFU President Meurig Raymond has taken delivery of a new Polaris Ranger 400, replacing the one he has been working with for the past three years. The UTV is being used on the family farm in Pembrokeshire. Meurig and his twin brother Mansel took control of the business when they were 18 and have grown it from about 300 acres to today’s 3,400 acres in total, running it with their wives, Meurig’s eldest son Paul, nephew Nigel and sixteen full time staff.

The farm comprises around 2,200 acres of combinable crops including winter wheat, winter barley and oilseed rape and 320 acres of potatoes. The livestock side of the business is where the Ranger is primarily used. They buy in 2,000 store lambs from Sennybridge market around November time and fatten them on green crops grown in rotation with arable crops. They milk 620 cows in two dairy herds and have a year-round calving pattern with 300 dairy followers.

“The Polaris is part of our family scene,” Meurig says, “it’s in constant use by my son and the stockmen for checking on the animals, moving feed around and doing repair work to fences across the farm. The previous Ranger was highly reliable and the new one is proving to be very fuel-efficient. I can’t speak too highly of the Polaris and the service we’ve received. It delivers in every way on the farm.”

He describes the Ranger as a great carrier and particularly likes the suspension and on-demand all-wheel drive, the way it doesn’t track or sink travelling across the fields, its light weight minimising any damage on the land. They had previously used a quad or fork lift for moving feed around but find working with the side by side much more versatile. The new Ranger 400 was supplied by Polaris dealers Dalton’s ATVs of Lampeter who, says Meurig, provide a great service with people always in the area to regularly update on the hours of use as part of the service contract.

To help keep the driver and machine cleaner, Daltons fitted the Ranger with a front and rear infill mud protection kit, which is also a benefit for servicing. Any NFU member purchasing a new Polaris can take advantage of the special Polaris 5% discount scheme run in conjunction with the NFU. Polaris Britain 0800 915 6720 www.polaris-britain.com