IN Rodney Barton’s early days as a farmer, he remembers driving a tractor as it rumbled across the fields of wheat.

Besides the tractor, nothing else around him made a sound.

Fifty years later, he finds himself driving a tractor with air conditioning and a CD player for his music.

Machinery is just one of the changes Mr Barton, 71, has noticed in his half a century at Collierswood Farm in Bromley Road, Ardleigh.

Farmer Jeremy Lyons welcomed Rodney onto the farm when he was 21.

Mr Barton retired about six years ago, but he still does casual work on the garden there during the week.

He said: “My father worked there before me but retired due to ill health.

“They needed help one harvest one year and I was in between jobs at the time.

“After the harvest Jeremy asked me if I wanted a full time job. I started in 1968.”

He did all kinds of jobs including driving the machinery and helping to produce wheat, barley, sugar beat and potatoes.

He said the biggest changes came after he left the farm full time.

He added: “When I retired, tractors with satellite guidance were in their infancy.

“The major changes were with the machinery, it’s all so computerised now. It’s beyond me.”

The idea of a driverless tractor has been around since as early as 1940, but there were no major advances in that technology until 1994.

“Precision agriculture” was a major shift in technology that occurred in the Eighties. The result was being able to drive tractors with the help of GPS devices and on-board computers.

Driverless tractors were initially created to follow a main tractor with a driver, allowing him to do twice as much work.

Now driverless tractors have moved towards independent functioning.

Mr Barton, from Elmstead Market, said there used to be three members of staff but he spent his last few years on the farm working alone.

He said: “The fact we went from three to one just shows the significance of the changes.

“As the machinery gets bigger there’s no need to replace the people.”

Still, he only has fond memories of his time on the farm, adding: “I wouldn’t have stayed that long if I didn’t enjoy it. Every farm worker will say they love the plough.

“There are times in cold weather when you wonder if you made the right career choice, but I like all aspects of the job.”

Farmer Jeremy Lyons wanted to highlight the hard work and dedication Mr Barton has shown over the years. He said: “Come rain or shine, he has always shown his passion for farming.”