EVEN by global standards, harvesting a Western Australian record 13,000ha of time-critical and damage-prone GM canola is a countdown challenge for man and machine.
Add to this mix, plunging overnight temperatures, rain and green stalk canola with four to five percent moisture, and man and machine are pressing their luck against the clock.
Nevertheless, farm entrepreneur and machinery man Michael Shields and his team of professionals have broken canola coverage records with 8500ha planted at Bodallin and 4500ha on their home block Glenvar at Wongan hills.
The Shields’ team’s four grain and cereal cropping blocks are spread over 1600km at Wongan Hills, Wungarra, Bodallin, also Cheviot Hills near Kojonup.
In a tough, dry year for many growers across WA’s grain belts, the success of the Shields local and international team is something of an inspiration.
Glenvar farm manager Lee Norman says the last of the massive crop program was sown in June this year and, despite the late planting and low rainfall, germination was sound and the crop matured well.
Canola seed is very susceptible to shattering either before or at harvest. Proper harvest management is critical to realising yield potential.
The two common harvesting methods are either direct harvesting or windrowing.
Despite owning their own swather, the vagaries of past weather systems and fly away losses caused by ‘whirly-whirlies’ across the region at harvest time forced the team to look for a more productive harvest method.
The Glenvar team has for the past couple of years chosen to direct harvest based on the potential for optimum yield with minimum canola seed damage from the GM crop.
Until this year, they used North American draper fronts but they still found the crop damage and losses hard to live with.
Yorkshireman Lee Norman, who had hands-on experience with CLAAS Vario fronts in the UK, says that as soon at the German designed and built 12m Vario hit the market, they immediately bought two.
“To strip the amount of crop, this harvest we used two CLAAS Lexion 750s with 12m Vario cutterbar fronts,” he said.
“We hired two Lexion 580s, one with a 12m Vario front. We also used the services of Wagin harvest contractor Geoff West with his CLAAS Lexion 480.
“We run the machines with the three Vario cutterbars in the canola and use the other draper fronts in the wheat and oats.
“We used to run all draper fronts, but found that harvesting canola direct with these was unproductive and resulted in unacceptable losses.
“When CLAAS released the 12m Vario fronts, we bought two straight away.
“The 12m also fits the Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) system we use on Glenvar.”
Performance and productivity are key operational yardsticks for a statistically-minded Lee Norman.
“With the Vario, we can average 10kph during a 24 hour period, compared with a best rate of 7.5kph when using a belt front,” he said.
“With the tracked Lexion 750, the great advantage is that the machine, on tracks, fits perfectly with our CTF program.”
As well, Lee’s also an unashamed fan of Lexion + Terra Trac’s performance beyond the paddock - on the bitumen.
“We love the high road speeds of the tracked machines at up to 42kph,” he said.
“The high road speed is a great advantage with an unprecedented ride on the hydraulic track suspension and, last but not least, no more flat tyres.”
Cricket lover Lee Norman, 42, moved to Australia with his Perth born wife and a three year old daughter in September 1998. The couple has three children.
He started work with Glenvar in September 2004 as spray manager and was appointed farm manager last year.
He has a clear head for numbers.
“With the three combines, we harvest on average 750ha in 24 hours. At both shift changes – 6.30am and 6.30pm – we service, refuel and blow-off the machines,” Lee said.
“It takes around an hour or 20 minutes per machine to do three units, so we are actually harvesting 22 hours each day.
“We average 10kph over this period covering approximately 11.5ha/hr.
“We use 2700L of fuel in 24 hours; that’s 900L/machine at 3.6L/ha.