Growers in most parts of WA will long remember the 2025-26 winter season with its record-breaking harvest run of over 26.2 million tonnes
A standout 2025-26 season harvest delivered record results for the Carmody family at Clare Downs, in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, providing one of their strongest seasons since taking ownership of the property in 2012.
Brothers George, Tom and Jack Carmody and their families farm 5,000 hectares at Cascade, 100km northwest of Esperance, where the harvest averaged 4.1 tonnes/ha across 2,110ha of wheat, 2.2 t/ha over 2021ha of canola, 5.2 t/ha from 75ha of barley, and 6 t/ha from a 140ha oats crop.
While the Carmody’s are now in full application phase in preparation for their next crop, they reflect fondly on the 2025-26 winter season and how rain, although only just above average, fell at just the right time to support their overall agronomy approach and deliver their biggest harvest on record.
The 2025-2026 bumper season also provided an ideal opportunity to put an upgraded arsenal into action, including a John Deere X9 1000 harvester, fitted with an HD40R front and full Harvest Automation technology, working alongside their existing harvester, a 2015 John Deere S690.
George Carmody, who operated the X9 1000 for most of the season, said the investment proved worthwhile in what was a remarkable harvest.
“It’s a good feeling when you buy a machine, and it does what you want it to do without too much intervention. The year before, we tried out a demonstration X9 1000 machine on the farm and the hinged draper front really sold us on it,” George confirmed.
“We estimated we needed three S Series-worth of harvesting capacity, so we decided to give the X9 a go alongside the S690. With just the two machines, we harvested our biggest ever crop in very good time.”
Predictive ground speed package
The Carmody’s opted to fit the John Deere Harvest Automation Ultimate package, with Predictive Ground Speed Automation, Harvest Settings Automation, a John Deere HarvestLab™ 3000 grain analyser and advanced camera technology, to manage speed and grain quality.
The HarvestLab™ analyser is a near-infrared sensor technology that provides real-time, on-the-go measurement of moisture and constituent levels in grain like protein and oil in canola, enabling growers to make immediate, site-specific harvesting and marketing decisions based on exact quality data.
The fully integrated Harvest Automation technology worked to optimise performance by automatically responding and adjusting to crop conditions.
“Crop losses from the X9 were incredibly low. We’re very harsh critics, we tested and re-tested, dropped trays behind both machines during the day to make sure the automation was doing what it was supposed to, and it was completely accurate,” George confirmed.
Predictive Ground Speed used forward-facing cameras and satellite-derived, pre-harvest biomass maps to automatically adjust the combine speed before entering varying crop conditions.
George found it to be ‘exceptional’, and when combined with the efficiency and consistency of the hinged draper front, he said it helped the combine to ‘really shine’. Operator fatigue was also reduced by removing the need for constant manual assessment and adjustment.
“I’ve been driving headers for 20 years, so the Predictive Ground Speed took a bit to get used to. But once it’s set and you’ve ground-truthed it, it really feels as if the link between your brain and your arm has been replaced by the John Deere system, doing what you think should be done,” George explained.
“It significantly reduces fatigue as well. Usually, after about five hours harvesting, the weak link is the flesh that’s sitting between the steering wheel and the seat. By effectively strengthening that link through automation, the consistency of output of the machine is greatly increased.
“While there was the occasional surprise when the machine reacted differently to what I would’ve done, it was much better over an extended period of time to rely on the automation, rather than an experienced operator staring at the header front all day,” George added.
Precision Essentials a full fleet pathway
Along with the X9 1000 and S690 harvesters, the Carmody’s run a John Deere 8300 tractor with front wheel assist and a 616R self-propelled sprayer, and are in the process of converting their full fleet to John Deere.
“Not all of our machines are John Deere yet, but we run them all on John Deere’s Precision Ag technology. The MTG, the Modular Telematics Gateway, connects tractors, sprayers, combines, and other equipment so that we can stream machine and field data to John Deere Operations CenterTM,” George explained.
“We rely heavily on the Ops Center to remotely monitor machines and check in from anywhere to assist our operators when they have issues, rather than driving out to the paddock. And we can use performance metrics to assess the machines on the go.
“The reporting of data, yield maps, protein meters and more from the X9 1000 is a very accessible system to use for decision making and to estimate inputs for the following year. We feed in all sorts of data to the Ops Center platform, including drone imagery, to build prescription maps to send straight out to the machines.
“We also use CSBP for our fertiliser and their systems are able to integrate with John Deere maps, so that with a couple of clicks we can have our tailored maps made very quickly.”
Preparing for autonomy
George is hopeful that maximising their uptake and use of Precision Ag, Harvest Automation and Operations Center technology will prepare the Carmodys well for autonomous machines.
This combination of suites gives access to utilise AI, GPS, cameras and sensors to perform paddock tasks like tilling, planting, and spraying without an operator in the cab.
“We’ve actually got 1400 hectares that’s primed and autonomous-ready. I would love to have autonomous solutions on the farm.” George concluded.
For find out more about John Deere X9 Series automated harvester capabilities, contact your nearest dealer on this link.
See the progress of John Deere X9 Series harvester since their local testing in 2020 and up until the initial launch in 2022 with these AFDJ reference stories:
John Deere X Series combine harvesters move into high capacity
John Deere X Series Combines take CES honours in Robotics category
John Deere X Series harvester on tour powers through a Deniliquin wheat crop
John Deere X9 1000 harvester combines connectivity and capacity
Anameka Farms prepares for a record harvest for season 2022-23
Midwest Fabrications unveils a LEGACY front for John Deere X9 Combines
John Deere X9 Combine Harvester triumphs in 1000-tonne challenge
John Deere S7 and X9 combine harvesters in pre-season showcase
John Deere X9 Series harvester specs
