News Article about John Austin Ltd.

20.11.09

Largest farm contractor moving in

Waimarino farmers will soon have access to the services of one of the largest contracting business in the Southern Hemisphere – John Austin Limited.

The company has been serving the area for some time, starting with barley and wheat harvesting, moving into direct drilling for barley, wheat and grass seed as well as for brassica stock feed crop. They also handle baleage and silage. They are working on setting up a base in the Waimarino and currently have 10-12 people working in the harvest season in this area last season.

With its base just south of Te Awamutu, John Austin Ltd caters for all areas of agricultural contracting but the bulk of the workload is maize silage. Running such a large and intense operation means efficient systems and quality machinery is essential, says company owner John Austin.

They own “every piece of equipment possible for every area of agricultural contracting. Guys that work here say John Austin provides some of the best gear the world has to offer and that comes from guys who have worked all over the world”, says Cultivation Manager Scott Bradley.
John’s operators regularly pull apart and re-build cultivation gear to ensure it’s all as good as new before the next season kicks off.
Scott says this is something John feels strongly about, not only because his machines are worth thousands of dollars, but because it’s a great way for his staff to get to know their machines.

“We can’t afford any downtime when the season kicks off, so if something does break down, it’s essential the operator can fix it himself”, says Scott.
When buying tractors, John Austin has a heart for John Deere; he always has and says he always will. The first tractor he ever owned was a John Deere 4430 and 30 years on he still prefers this brand to others. The company also has a fleet of Fendt tractors to complement the John Deere set. In total, John Austin Ltd own 26 tractors and hires another 10 in the peak season (September-November). They replace tractors between 5000 and 10000 hours depending on the size of the tractor and the market at the time.

Cultivation equipment includes four Kverneland Ploughs, Simba Solo Disc Rippers and a new Cirus Amazone Disc Drill for grass, fodder and cereal crops; John Deere and Gaspado Direct Drills, grass silage Loader Wagons; Precision Chop Forage Harvesters; Fusion Round Balers and Claas Big Square Balers.

“We‘re constantly focused on giving better value to our customers,” says John.
John is a keen traveler who likes to head to Europe every year to visit John Deere and also meet with international contractors to gain as much knowledge as possible.

“I’m interested in what the rest of the world is doing and I’m constantly looking for ways to improve our business.”

From left, John Austin, Kevin Flaxman (PGG Wrightson), Keith Watson (Wilcox), Jeremy Klingender (Fruitfed), Lindy Purves (JA agronomist), Graham Jones (PGG Wrightson agronomist).







The original Article can be downloaded as a PDF-File <HERE>


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