A Canadian air seeder with some Aussie modifications allowed one northern NSW mixed farmer and contractor, Chris Kemp, “The Kurrajongs”, Merriwa, to double the speed he planted crop and pasture in the past two years.
Mr Kemp used his new, 30-tyne machine to do twice the amount of contracting in 2009 after the season turned dry following a wet start.
“We’ve done as much away as what we’ve done at home and we’ve only operated within a 10 kilometre to 15km radius of our place,” he said.
“We’ve had the same amount of tractor hours but double the planting.”
Mr Kemp wanted his Vaderstad Seed Hawk seeder, which was great at planting crops because of its split fertiliser and sowing system, to be just as good at planting pasture.
Prime lamb and cattle profit margins were more lucrative than dampened wheat and canola prices, especially with a decreased wheat crop yield of 2.5 tonnes a hectare, which Mr Kemp expected this year.
Full story in The Land, October 1.
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