Elmore farmers rate Haeusler’s-John Deere partnership highly
Fifth generation Victorian farmer Darren Trewick remembers the traditional way of farming when he first came home in the 1980s to work on the family property, Cramlington Park, at Elmore.
“We’d work up everything to the north and the soil would be powder by the time we’d finished,” Darren said.
“Then as soon as it rained, you’d be on a tractor 24 hours a day, working up ground to plant. That’s just what we knew.”
That all changed in the early 1990s, when the Trewicks opted for conservation, or no-till farming. They modified old combines to enable them to direct drill seed straight into the ground through stubble.
“Then a neighbour imported a 20-foot John Deere Biomax planter, direct out of the USA,” Darren said.
“We bought the next one, and we’ve been on disc seeders ever since. No-till farming works really well on our soil types here. It saves a lot of diesel and a lot of time on tractors.”
Darren and his son Jack operate a broadacre mixed cropping business on their family’s 2,000-hectare property in central Victoria, farming wheat, barley, and oats for export hay, as well as lentils and faba beans.
They’ve recently invested in a John Deere C400T Trailing Air Cart and N540 No-Till Air Drill, bought through Howard O’Sullivan at their local Haeusler’s dealership in nearby Echuca, where the Trewicks have been clients for the past 18 years.
Darren acknowledges the machinery, and the technology, have come a long way since the early 1990s.
The C400T is equipped with AccuRate™ stainless steel electric meters, which are resistant to corrosion and wear, and allow the operator to change the speed and volume of eight individual meters, for more precision. The push-button EZCal™ system makes calibration up to 75% faster than the previous manual bag process.
The N540 features TruSet™ technology which lets you adjust the opener, wing and hitch downforce from the cab and on-the-go, while RelativeFlow™ helps identify any problems before a potential blockage occurs.
“It’s been fantastic so far, the new ProSeries™ Openers are a real improvement, and the seeder has a lot of innovation,” Darren said.
“We’ve got a lot of odd-shaped paddocks, so the Section CommandPRO has worked really well.
“We do a lot of seeding by the calendar, not necessarily by the weather, so we need reliable, precise machinery. Our disc seeder can place seed to depth into really hard ground, and the blockage monitors are unreal.”
The Trewicks run a fleet of John Deere machines, including an 8320R and 8R 280, a 7R 210, a 6630 and an S790 header with 40-foot draper fronts and 15-foot pickup fronts.
Jack Trewick has grown up with technology and appreciates the seamless connectivity of the online management system, Operations Center, especially the ability to analyse data on past crops.
“In this day and age, tech is a huge thing,” he said.
“Back when Dad was young they just used to go by eye and feel, but with Ops Center we actually have the data to see what worked and what didn’t.
“Everything’s integrated straight away with the tractors, and we love being able to see it from our phones or tablets or computers and follow each new version.
“The new C-Series carts have optimised our performance in the paddock and the scales on the cart are just a dream. You know exactly what’s there and how much you need for each paddock and it works awesome.”
The Trewicks use Remote Display Access (RDA) to diagnose issues, and integral to the smooth running of the farm is the support from Haeusler’s, particularly Account Manager, Howard O’Sullivan.
“I love that you can just ring Howard and he’ll get straight back with an answer,” Jack said.
“With the integration of the new air seeder, we’ve been talking to Haeusler’s every two or three days and they’ve been really good. Anything we learn, we pass back to them and vice versa.
“With RDA, they can shortcut us to spots to define the problem, or if it’s something bigger, they send someone out. It’s an amazing system.”
Howard O’Sullivan has been working with the Trewicks for the past 15 years and enjoys their sense of humour as well as the mutual respect in the relationship.
“I always enjoy seeing what the Trewicks are exploring for the future,” Howard said.
“The benefit of having all this integrated technology on the one John Deere platform is that they’re not just monitoring the work they’re doing in the ground, they’re monitoring their equipment as well, both on a diagnostic level and a functional level.
“I’m excited where John Deere technology is headed within agriculture, we’re advancing literally day by day.”
Darren and Jack Trewick value the relationship with Howard and Haeusler’s for one basic factor – service.
“They’re able to find someone to come out and help us, if it’s a salesperson, a technician – we can even ring up the parts people – and say ‘we’re having this issue’ and they will be there whenever you need them,” Jack said.