2010 Press Releases

You could almost say that Phil Beattie is a ‘dyed in the wool’ advocate for his brand of round baler. And the dye colour would have to be green.

Phil and his wife, Sharon, farm at ‘Gowan Brae’ at Rochford, which is in picturesque undulating country in the shadows of Mt Macedon, and just up the road from fabled Hanging Rock. Phil has been contracting for 14 years and in that time has operated a succession of John Deere balers.

“We were living in Romsey at the time and running a butcher’s shop in Pascoe Vale when we were introduced to the idea of contracting. Silage was booming then, and there weren’t many contractors around.

“We started off with a John Deere 466 baler, then another 466, then a 582, a 457 and we now have a JD582 Premium – but we are about to upgrade.”

Phil prefers the European versions of the John Deere balers over the US-style. “They’re better on silage and they have a bigger pick-up. I really like John Deere balers because they’re simple to operate and reliable. The 582 is one of the best I’ve ever had. I only need to upgrade because of its age and all the work that it has done. The new one looks even better.”

Phil has ordered a new John Deere 854 Premium model and took delivery on the first day of October. It has factory-fitted extras that Phil likes to specify. These include an extra drive chain, which is an advantage for silage making, and flotation tyres.

High density bales

The ‘Premium’ models have uprated specifications and are aimed at contractors and large scale farmers looking for increased versatility.

The new 854 Premium is set to produce even higher density bales than the models that Phil has used before and will bale up to 1.55 metres in diameter in all crops, from straw to silage, by utilising larger diameter tensioning cylinders and reinforced density arms. Other new features include an adjustable starter roll, pick-up roller compressor, cleaning auger and automatic chain lubrication. Phil was keen to get stuck into his first silage job on a local property in the following week.

He and Sharon have been at this property since they were married nine years ago. They have 260 acres (105ha) here and lease a further 200 acres (80ha).

The contracting business basically services the area from Gisborne to Tooborac and is focused on haymaking. Sharon ‘does’ the books, as well as running the household and looking after their two daughters, Sydney, aged 7 and Cara, who is 5.

Phil’s’ father, Bill, helps with the contracting.

Phil says that about 90% of their customer base is made up of local property owners who have substantially off-farm income. So much of the work involves the whole procedure from ground preparation through to the final bales. As you would expect he hands out lots of advice along the way.

All the bales made in the contracting work, small squares, large squares and the rolls, are from pasture grass, with some oats here and there. The bales are generally left for the customer.

He has all the haymaking gear; a mower/conditioner (which they don’t use in the rocky ground around the Rochford area), a mower, a couple of rakes and a silage wrapper, plus a small square baler and a John Deere 100 series large square baler.

Tractors are a John Deere 6520 with a front-end loader for the general equipment and a John Deere 6920 for the balers.

A Semeato direct drill unit comes in handy for ground preparation and Phil says that the JD6920 handles the job easily. They also do some lime spreading with a 5 tonne belt spreader.

The round baler averages 6000 to 7000 bales a year. “Last year was a lot more,” chimes in Bill Beattie, “because of the change in the season.”

Cleaner bales for transport

“I like a hard core bale and the John Deere baler is good that way. I also think that the CoverEdge™ feature for the net wrap is terrific.

“In the middle of the drought two years ago, we bought standing hay from the irrigation farm up at Serpentine. There were 2000 bales of ryegrass and oats, all wrapped with CoverEdge™. We brought them here and the bales were terrific to cart – no fluffy edges and they were held stronger.”

John Deere balers are the only models that are equipped to wrap bales with CoverEdge™ net-wrap. The concept covers up to 15 percent more of the bale's surface by literally going ‘over the edge’ of the bale. It helps the bale to shed water, and the neater bales also demonstrate improved levels of dry matter density.

Off their own property Phil and Sharon made about 3000 small squares and 600 round bales last season. The small squares are in demand from the horse fraternity and are also sold to a produce store in Romsey. They keep most of the round bales for their own livestock.

They produce F1 vealers, using a Limousin bull and an Angus/Belgian Blue cross bull over Angus/Friesian and Hereford/Friesian cows.

“European bulls produce more meat,” claims Phil. “At the moment we have 50 cows and calves but we’re restocking since the season improved and we’re looking to build up to 100 cows. We also plan to run fat lambs from about 200 ewes, either East Friesian or first-cross ewes, with Poll Dorset rams, or Southdown for the first lambing.

Guaranteed support

Phil is adamant that service from the local machinery dealer is critical in the contracting business.

“Back-up support is most important at any time. We’ve had absolutely no complaints with Western Farm Service at Sunshine all the time that we’ve been using John Deere equipment. And with John Deere the parts are always available. The workshop manager, Dennis, looks after us and his team, Shane and Nigel are very good.

One example of the close collaboration with the dealer is that Phil has taken the discharge ramps off the JD582 because of the hilly country that he is constantly working in. “The bale can get away from you as it drops out the back. So we fitted a TV camera to the rear of the baler with an in-cab monitor. That was all set up by Western Farm Service, and they have transferred it to the new baler.

“It’s easier to see the bale coming out and you don’t have to lift the tailgate fully up. It makes the whole operation faster and easier.”

This district has a long term ‘normal year’ average rainfall of between 30 and 35 inches, explained Phil. “We’ll go close to that this year, and all the indications are positive. An older neighbour says that to break the drought there must be an early break and good winter rains. And that’s what we’ve had.”

He says that the business has been getting harder, with the cost of equipment and more opposition. A lot of new contractors have started up in the area in the last five years so the competition has become tough.

“That makes it even more important that you have good reliable, efficient machinery and John Deere fits the bill.”

For more information on the John Deere range of hay equipment, visit our Web site or FREECALL 1800 800 981 in Australia and 0800 303 100 in New Zealand to contact your local John Deere dealer.

Deere & Company - NYSE: DE) is a world leader in providing advanced products and services and is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land - those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world’s dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. Since 1837, John Deere has delivered innovative products of superior quality built on a tradition of integrity. For more information, visit John Deere at its worldwide website at www.JohnDeere.com or in Australia/New Zealand at www.JohnDeere.com.au/www.JohnDeere.co.nz.