BOTTLES of water were in demand at the Landmark Three Springs clearing sale last week, with storms sending the temperature just shy of 40 degrees.
The Eneabba P&C sold 250 bottles of water and more than four cartons of cool drink to about 200 people, with many buyers bringing five litre bottles with them.
Water was definitely on people’s minds with the top selling item, a 7000 litre, 36 metre 2017 Sonic boomsprayer, selling for $128,000.
The boom went to Craig Heggaton, Kojonup, who bid via the phone starting at $90,000.
In total 118 registered buyers made their way out to Mic and Marnie Fels’ farm to try to catch a bargain on 93 lots.
Five lots were passed in by the end of the sale, including four sundry items and the final item of the day – a Case 4420 Patriot 36m boom with a 4500L tank, which was passed in after Landmark auctioneer Andrew Viola dropped the opening bid down to $80,000 with no takers.
The boom was sold immediately after the sale to a buyer who had come to bid on the Sonic.
A John Deere 2012 836 DRT tractor on tracks with PTO, three-point linkage and 5500 hours on the clock sold for $107,000.
With soil amelioration a big task in the northern Wheatbelt, it was no surprise there was a lot of interest in a John Deere plough hitched to a shearer combine which sold for $15,000.
The previous lot was a Shearer 30 disc 5GP Plozza plough which also bought interest and sold for $14,500.
A tow behind heavy steel rock roller, at about four metres wide, was knocked down for $4000.
A Case articulated loader and a Atkinson truck both sold for $35,000 each after strong competition for both machines.
A Furakawa 4x4 articulated loader sold for $7500.
An old Chamberlain C670 tractor with 70 horsepower, three point linkage and a PTO, which still ran like a dream, sold for a great price of $3250.
An old Ford 8401 2WD tractor, this one with windows, three point linkage, a PTO and air-conditioning made $7000 at the fall of the hammer.
A six wheel Mack R600 truck with a five-in-one bin and a farm licence sold to a lucky farmer for the price of $2250.
In the plant equipment offering, a blue Cole 12 metre SP auger saw fierce competition between two bidders with the final bid taking the auger for $15,500.
An older Cole 12m auger was snapped up for $2200.
Two 60 tonne Commander AgQuip field bins sold for $12,000 and $12,500.
Two other field bins, 45t Grain Commanders, provided much needed shade in the last run of lots, selling for $6500 and $7500.
A Flexi Coil 5000 bar, 17.6m, with 22.8cm spacings sold for a bargain price of $2500.
Another Flexi Coil 820 bar, 12m, with 22.8cm spacings and a 2320 box sold for $12,000.
A Yanmar 7.8 Kilovolt-amps diesel genset was knocked down at $1000 with the next lot, a 2000L fuel trailer with dual axle, turntable and Honda pump, selling for $1900.
The sundries started well with one of the first items off the bat, a near new Borum Pedestal drill press selling for $400.
It soon slowed down with three pallets with three power tools on each selling for $10 each.
An older Honda Genset was also knocked down for $50.
A bargain was snapped up when a small box of bin cameras and cables were knocked down for $10.
Assorted lengths of Waratah galvanised steel posts, about 50, sold for $340.
Three Tilco ripper arms made $60 and two new airseeder tyres sold for $100 each.
Moving on to the computer equipment, Mr Viola started bids high at about $3000 for a Trimble Ez Steer kit with brackets and harnesses.
After receiving the opening bid at $1000 it wasn’t long until the hammer was knocked down at $3100.
Mr Viola started bidding for the second Trimble Ez Steer kit with brackets and harness at $3000 and it ended up at $4300.
A Case FM 750 display, Trimble receiver and harness topped the sundries, sold for $5000.
Mr Fels said he was pleased with the overall sale and while they had mixed feelings about farewelling the farm and the district, he was happy to say goodbye to the Three Springs heat.
“It was a good turn out from all the locals, being the first sale for the year I think as much as anything it was a good social catch-up opportunity,” Mr Fels said.
“It’s called a clearing sale and that’s what we did.”
Farming 6500 hectares at Esperance, Mr Fels took his header and chaser bin down prior to the sale which allowed them to run four headers for their program in Esperance last harvest.
The Fels’ decided to take on the Three Springs property, which they purchased five years ago, because the rainfall was similar to their Esperance farms but the land prices were four times cheaper.
“There are positives and negatives everywhere you farm,” he said.
“Three Springs was a satellite property for us.
“It was part of a five-year expansion project but even with a good manager up here, it still drew me away from home and my kids too often.
“I have a young family and a 1000 kilometre difference between farms becomes a challenge.”
Mr Fels made a special mention of their former manager at Three Springs, Anthon Viljoen, who did a massive amount of work cleaning up the farms and implementing their ambitious renovation program.
Over their five years in Three Springs the team improved the land and increased its value through opening it out for broadacre cropping, variable rate zoning and intensive soil amelioration including mould boarding and deep ripping.
“Modern communication and app technology was central to the whole project up here,” Mr Fels said.
“We set ourselves a five-year business plan to turn the farm around from low producing sheep country into good arable cropping land and at the end of that five years it has been amazing to see the transformation.
“From the outset we included an exit strategy in the project in case it didn’t go as planned, or we found it too difficult fitting it into our lives.
“Financially it has been a great venture, especially with the capital gain we achieved, but life is short and your priorities change as you get older as well.”
Moving up north was all about the experience and learning from the opportunity of farming somewhere new.
“I love a good challenge and that’s what this venture was,” he said.
“The most valuable thing we will take home with us is the wealth of knowledge we have gained from our own experiences and all of the local farmers and advisors we have learned from.
“Over the five years we have had access to three of the smartest advisors in the northern ag region and they would probably agree I milked them dry for as much knowledge as I could learn from them.
“With the confidence we have gained in growing lupins up north we have reintroduced them at Esperance, so far with encouraging results.
“Potassium is also a macro yield driver up here.
“Our agronomist Andrew Sanderson has pushed us hard on potassium and copper and in our own on farm trials here I have seen for myself the results, which I guess has opened my eyes a bit to their importance even in our better soils back at home.”
Mr Fels said that no experience was ever wasted and was thankful to have had the opportunity of farming at the two extremes of the WA Wheatbelt and especially for the people he has met along the way.
“The different angle we have learned about farming light soils profitably in this completely different environment is delivering us some big gains back at home,” he said.
“It is a fantastic farming community around here, we never felt any pushback bringing our crazy ideas in from another area, although I’m sure there was a lot of head scratching going on at times.
“If we didn’t already farm in Esperance I could definitely live and farm here, it has a charm all of its own.”
He said the Three Springs community had been so willing to help them out any way they could, from the local Landmark agent, to the neighbours and contractors and for which they they would always be immensely grateful.
