“We windrow canola, barley, oats, Chinese cabbage and carrots, as well as rye grass, clover, linseed and radish seeds. Rye grass seed is particularly difficult because it is very volatile and must be harvested within a short window of time. It’s critical that we get in the paddock and cut when we need to, otherwise we can lose the crop. That’s why we went with MacDon’s 972, which allows us to cut under all conditions. There’s never been a time that we couldn’t windrow with the 972 - something we’ve never been able to do with any other machine. The 972 is especially useful in damp conditions, like at night. We used to have to stop cutting a lot earlier, but with the 972 we can get more hours of windrowing in a day. For custom harvesting, MacDon is very well recognized and because of its reputation, we get extra contracts. We cut for farmers with raised bed paddocks and our windrower fits nicely in the tracks between the beds. It’s kind of like automatic controlled traffic farming. If a farmer hears that you have a MacDon he’ll say ‘Get in the paddock’! They like MacDon because they know they’ll get good, well formed, rows to pick up. MacDon also has more service support than the competition, and has good coverage in New South Wales and Victoria. That’s important for us, as it gives us more flexibility and confidence.”

Don Lidgerwood / Lidgerwood Seeds Pty. Ltd. / Birregurra, Victoria, Australia

Producer’s comments

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