How a disc seeder purchase in the early 1990s for no-till planting started a trend that this farming family have followed ever since
It’s fair to say that technology has transformed a multi-generational farming operation to a point where their income is more ensured than most.
Fifth-generation 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 VIC.
“We’d work up everything to the north, and the soil would be powder by the time we’d finished,” Darren reminisced.
“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 at the time.
That all changed in the early 1990s, when the Trewicks opted for the no-till farming method that was becoming all the rage. Like many others, they modified old equipment to join the trend. In their case, a combine was used to enable them to direct drill seed straight into the ground through stubble.
“Then a neighbour imported a 6m (20-ft) John Deere Biomax planter, direct out of the USA, we bought the next one, Darren expounded, 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 fuel and a lot of time on tractors,” Darren adds.
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, through Howard O’Sullivan at their local Haeusler’s dealership in nearby Echuca VIC, where the Trewicks have been customers for the past 18 years.
Darren readily acknowledges that machinery and the technology have come a long way since the early 1990s.
The C400T is equipped with AccuRate™ stainless steel electric meters that 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 includes TruSet™ technology that lets the operator adjust the opener, wing and hitch downforce from the cab while on the go, while RelativeFlow™ helps identify any problems before a potential blockage occurs.
“It’s been fantastic so far, these ProSeries™ Openers are a real improvement, and the seeder has a lot of innovation,” Darren acknowledges. “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,” Darren adds.
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 36.7m (40-ft) draper fronts and 11.7m (15-ft) 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 of past crops.
“In this day and age, tech is a huge thing,” Jack continued, back when Dad was young, they just used to go by eye and feel, but with Ops Center we actually have the data to know 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, tablets or computers and follow each updated version.
“The latest 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, it works awesome,” Jack proclaims.
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 their account manager, Howard O’Sullivan.
“I love that you can just ring Howard and he’ll get straight back with an answer,” Jack mused.
“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 crops,” Howard points out.
“The benefit of having all this integrated technology on 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,” Howard concludes.
Darren and Jack Trewick value their 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 with confidence.
To see how technology is being used at the Trewick family operation to keep tractor hours to a minimum and still achieve great results, watch Darren and Jack on this video on this link.
John Deere C-Series Air Carts specs
Model numbers, capacities, configurations and tank splits include:
- C350L/C350T: 12,333 L (5,638/6,695 L), leading and trailing
- C400L/C400T: 14,095 L (1,761/5,638/6,695 L), leading and trailing
- C500L/C500T: 17,619 L (6,695/3,171/7,752 L), leading and trailing
- C550L/C550T: 19,381 L (1,761/6,695/3,171/7,752 L), leading and trailing
- C650L/C650T: 22,905 L (1,761/9,162/4,581/7,400 L), leading and trailing
- C850T: 29,953 L (1,761/9,162/4,581/14,448 L), trailing only
