TESTIMONIAL

From Horses to PRO Steer
By Sue Wurst
The Northern Argus
Clare SA

Manoora, SA, Australia, July, 2006: At a sprightly 71 years, Manoora farmer Graham Bruce has seen many changes in farm practises. When he first went on the farm, horses and hard labour were the basics of farming, but now the rural sector has embraced computerised technology such as Topcon"s X20, the latest autosteer system that takes the guesswork out of farming and available at WSB.

Graham farms about 1500 hectares with his grandson Nathan Voigt and Nathan's father-in-law Dean Marschall and the use of the latest technology is a far cry from Graham's earliest farming experiences.

"When I first started on the farm we were still using horses for cutting hay and sheep work and the neighbours still had teams of horses that did most of the work on the farm," said Graham during a break in seeding.

During Graham's many years on the farm, he has seen tractors progress from a mere 30 or 40 horse powered vehicles to the CAT Challenger he now uses for seeding which is about 340 hp. Graham said in the early days, fallow paddocks were always part of the crop rotation and paddocks were worked up several times, causing significant damage to the soil structure.

Now, working with Nathan and Dean, the partnership uses direct drilling, has a comprehensive spray program, watches the markets carefully and has adopted the latest technology. All the tractors are fitted with GPS systems which Nathan considers essential for modern farming and he plans to include other Topcon X20 autosteer units where necessary.

He said he chose Topcon because it is a local company, the units are interchangeable and delivered great after sales service through Topcon Dealer WSB Distributors of Clare.

"Using X20 means significant savings with sprays and fuel, more efficient seeding and less driver fatigue," Nathan said.

Nathan believes using the latest technology is giving his enterprise a much needed edge and that Topcon's equipment leads to at least 10 per cent saving on chemicals alone which helps cover unit costs in just a few years.

*Article courtesy of WSB Distributors and The Northern Argus, Clare, South Australia

For more information about Topcon Precision Agriculture, or to express interest in becoming a dealer call 08 8203 3300

For more information about WSB Distributors click here or call (08) 8842 2177

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