How a visit runs
Boots, a notebook, and a second sitting when the pack can be argued with.
This page is the practical shape of a Desktop Routebase visit: what we ask for, where we walk, and when we leave paper on the table. It sits beside the list of visits rather than replacing it.
Before we arrive
You send a field list, last season’s weighbridge tickets, and a sentence about who combined. If a USB stick exists, copy it. If it does not, say so. We will not delay a date for a missing colour map. We confirm a fee, a weather window, and who from the holding should be on the walk — usually the person who drilled and the person who drove at harvest, even if that is one tired human.
On the day
We start in the yard, not in the best field. Tickets and diaries first, then a route that takes in the block that disappointed you and the block that did not. We walk headlands on purpose. We stop at outlets, gateways, and the place the trailer sat. Photographs are for our notes unless you ask us not to take them.
After we leave
Drafting happens at Byford. The pack uses your field names. We return for a second sitting so the story can be challenged before it hardens. If the visit was a mapping sitting only, you leave with sketches the same afternoon and there is no second trip unless you book one.
Questions people ask before they write
Do you need a yield monitor?
No. Tickets, a header width, and a walk are enough for a seasonal review. A monitor file is a draft we argue with, not a requirement.
Will you walk in standing crop?
Only on tramlines and headlands, and never in a way that knocks seed. Most yield reviews happen after combine or in winter stubble.
How far do you travel?
Herefordshire is our ordinary ground. Neighbouring counties are possible once mileage is agreed. We are based at 92 Caxton Place, Byford, HR4 8FH, United Kingdom.
Can the agronomist sit in?
Yes, if you invite them. Winter workshops are often stronger without merchants in the room; yield reviews can usefully include the agronomist on the second sitting.