LOGISTICS are pivotal to the Joyce family's sizeable winter planting programme if their six Challenger tracked tractors and matching air seeders are to perform flawlessly.
Based at Varley, at the eastern edge of Western Australia’s Lakes District, the focus this year has been on achieving their 40,000ha (100,000 acre) target with the minimum amount of down-time.
Some idea of the managerial skills needed to orchestrate such a big broadacre winter crop programme are quickly realised when Trystan Joyce reveals the property's Challenger tractors, together with the property's trucks, utes and sprayers, daily use about 10,000 litres of fuel.
On top of that, a steady flow of liquid fertiliser, also seed and chemicals, must be on hand to ensure each driver and his planting rig spend no more than an hour undertaking the necessary 'top-ups' at their end of their 12-hour shifts.
"Yes, there's a real sense of urgency in the air," Mr Joyce said.
"With all six machines working round the clock, we are averaging about 1200ha/day.
"Once we start, we try not to stop because the teams like to stick to their shift routines."
The Joyce family invested in three, tracked-style A series MT855 tractors a few years ago, augmenting them with three more of the company's B series machines during the past year.
The latest additions to their burgeoning 'all-yellow' line-up are fitted with Caterpillar’s latest ACERT Tier 3 diesel engines which pump out some 345kW (460hp) with an available power boost to 372kW (497hp).
"They appealed because they are more powerful, plus the tracks deliver less slippage which translates to better fuel economy," Mr Joyce said.
The expanded tractor fleet is currently earning its keep for the family's winter plant programme that roars into life around Anzac Day each year.
"We started seeding canola in early April when we received some rain on our south coast property," he said.
"Once we finished there we moved back to the home farm to dry-seed canola, too."
The expectation is of the WA wheat belt receiving top-up rain that will permit the family to complete its winter cropping programme, which is some 20,200ha (50,000 acres) up on last year following the recent purchase of another property.
As a result, the Joyce family must ensure their approximate $1 million investment in each tractor/planting rig combination, which also includes their matching DBS bars and Bourgault air seeders, earn their keep.
So it's not hard to understand why the sometimes hectic plant programme needs to perform without a hitch.
Mr Joyce concedes it's a "big job" to manage the property's work load at such a busy time of the year.
Close liaison with his farm managers looks to be the key with decisions as to whether to operate all six tractors and seeders in pairs, or reposition them on an adjacent property, hinging largely on weather/soil conditions at each site.
"You need to be flexible with your planning, also your communications," Mr Joyce said.
The family say they opted for big air seeder bins to help limit down-time when filling up with seed and fertiliser at the end of each shift.
They operate a min-till approach to their cropping programmes using knife-style points spaced across all 18m (60ft) of each planting bar.
Asked if ever got behind the wheel of any of the property's Challenger fleet, Mr Joyce said "only occasionally" as the drivers "just love them", adding they were easy to drive, plus very comfortable.
All commented on the "good fuel economy" associated with the Challenger fleet which, reportedly, is "going very well" as the season progresses.
"Every machine is a little bit different but they are all pretty consistent so we’re happy with them," Mr Joyce said.
Less of a complicated design when compared to a modern day combine harvester, requiring fewer parts to oversee, the thinking is the Challengers probably won't be traded in for some 10 years.
"At the end of the day we haven't had any problems and have been getting a pretty good run out of them - so we'll stick with them," Mr Joyce said.
"Canola prices are picking up a bit and while wheat and barley are more stable, we're hoping there will be an upside there, too," he said.
McIntosh and Son sales consultant Kevin Newman said the Joyce family had been attracted to the Challenger brand principally because of its strength in construction, also its reliability.
"As well, they like the fact they get all that power to the ground," he said.
Mr Newman said it was important for large broadacre farming operations to know they have the equipment "to keep going" whenever a window of opportunity opens in the cropping cycle.
"The Challenger's basic components are very strong and they probably are 'over-specced' for what they do - but that just makes them more reliable," he said.
"But if there is a problem, we have half-a-dozen qualified technicians ready to go pretty well anytime, if needed," Mr Newman added.
Footnote: Challenger's name increasingly is associated with high-performance broadacre operations with one of its unmodified Challenger MT 865 tractors claiming a world record in 2003 when pulling a 18.35m (60ft) wide Horsch seeder at an Agro-Soyuz farm in Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine, when it achieved a 'most spring barley planted' in 24 hours accolade - some 571.9ha (1413.2 acres), which translates into a work rate of about 24.3ha (60 acres) an hour.
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