THE farmers choice was a wide drill that is ready to move, at the Henty Machinery Field Days.
Winning the coveted Henty Machine of the Year Award the Bourgault 24 metre wide 3420 PHD Paralink Hoe Drill will fold to 5.3 metres in under three and half minutes.
Bourgault territory manager, Johnathon McKenzie said the drill was a good fit for today's farmer.
“The market wants wider machines, more efficiency but they still want to be able to travel between farms,” he said.
Mr McKenzie said the drill is wholly manufactured by Canadian company Bourgault with no third party equipment.
“We do everything from the frame to the ground engaging tools,” he said.
Lockhart farmer and chairman of the machine of the year judges, Mark Bowyer said the judging was conducted by an independent panel of primary producers looking at parameters such as build quality, cost benefit, innovation and need.
“There is a fit in the market for a wider seeder that can be transported by road without having to to end-to-end”
Mr Bowyer said ease of use, movement and savings in labour units were major advantages of the drill.
“The Bourgault drill folds up under the 5.5 metres so only two escorts are required to move it down the road.”
“Going to one of these you can take out one labour unit.
“The computer in the cab controls the folding sequences, so it’s pretty fail-safe if you have an inexperienced operator,” he said.
Mr Bowyer said the Henty Machine of the Year Award had relevance across Australia and the Bourgalt drill would have a fit for other regions and states.
“The field days represent a fair part of NSW and Victoria, we can see this machine having suitability for Western NSW or further north, as well as demand in other states such as Western Australia.” he said.
Mr McKenzie said the cost of the machine will depend on specifications, however the base machine will cost about $360,000.
Highly commended in the category was the Coolamon All Rounder multi-purpose chaser bin..
The Coolamon All Rounder is a world first multi-purpose combination that will be useful all year round, said Coolamon Chaser Bins, general manager, Heath Hutcheon.
“It functions as a chaser bin at harvest time, a seed-super unit at sowing time and a fertiliser spreader throughout the year.’’
“The price of machinery these days is such a burden on farmers, so if we can reduce their machinery from three to two or even one, that has definitely got merit and will be a value add to farmers,” he said.