Making hay cuts big rewards

Generational hay farmer and contractor Alex Peacock heads a successful agricultural business that first entered the transport market in 1985. Based at Timmering, near Shepparton in northern Victoria, operations expanded after his daughter and son-in-law joined the business. Today Alex’s transport fleet includes prime movers and more than 20 trailers carting hay, grain and agricultural and mining machinery Australia-wide.

“We supply freight to some of the major agricultural importers and work with Kuhn on a lot of their products, shifting them all over the country,’’ says Alex.

From growing up making hay on his parents’ farm Alex moved into professional hay-baling, starting with a small square baler. It was a time when “everything was done by hand”.

When large square balers entered the market, Alex was among the first to give them a go. With its reputation for innovative high-quality equipment and customer focus, he chose Kuhn when the LSB 1290 iD baler was released.

“It was an interesting time. That period of conversion from small square to larger square bales. To have that productivity boost for transport, having more weight on the truck rather than a few tonne of round bales or a lot of labour in small square bales.”

As bale weights increased, Alex says transport load weights - and hence efficiencies - have grown “enormously” over the past few years.

When Alex bought his first Kuhn high-density large square baler, he was curious to trial the innovative new technology from the world’s leading supplier of machinery for hay and silage making, baling and wrapping, soil preparation, seeding, fertilisation and spraying.

Apart from the baler’s improved fuel efficiency, another welcome spinoff was a reduced fuel bill for Alex’s tractor. “We could get another 40 or 50 bales out of a tank of fuel in similar conditions.”

Yet when making the purchase, Kuhn’s warranty was also uppermost in Alex’s mind.

“It’s important to me that the machinery manufacturer back their product and Kuhn backed it pretty well with a three-year warranty.”

The French company with almost 200 years’ experience in manufacturing agricultural machinery also provided Alex’s staff training to operate the baler at its head office in Melbourne.

“It makes it easier for us to talk to their service people if we understand more about the machines we are using,” says Alex. “We have access to people when we need them and access to parts if we need them too. It makes our business easier to run.”

The customer journey is a vital element of Kuhn’s ongoing success worldwide, says the company’s marketing manager in Australia, Michael Murer.

But that success starts with Kuhn’s dedication to the design, manufacture and marketing of its high-quality agricultural equipment and services.

In Australia, that presence has been built over the past 50 years, culminating in 2011 with the opening of Kuhn’s headquarters in Melbourne for warehousing, machinery, sales, spare parts and training.

“We offer our customers direct access to research and development and technical support, which is a great benefit when a machine needs to be adapted to farm conditions,’’ says Michael.

“We don’t just assemble machines, we build them, and we are one of the only agricultural machinery company today still with its own foundry. We do the lot.”

Michael sold Alex his first Kuhn baler.

“We took the risk together,’’ says Michael. “It’s a personal journey. Alex is a perfect example. I’m not here to sell him a machine and walk away. It’s a complete process. First you identify the needs, find out what is problematic and from there you find the solution.

“It comes down to passion. Ultimately, in this job, you need to breathe it,” says Michael, who still tests new machinery in the paddock before release.

Alex Peacock feels confident that Kuhn understands the urgency of harvest work and over the years this partnership has seen Alex rewarded with many national awards for hay making.

“It’s taken a while to learn how to do it properly,” concludes Alex. “I try to buy the best tools we can. We can achieve a very uniform, very square bale in most weather conditions. If we can achieve a good quality product and be recognised for it, that gives you a bit of a boost and the people you work for a boost as well.”

Web:  https://www.kuhn.com.au/

Email:  marketing.australia@kuhn.com