Sitting in the cab of his new John Deere 6215R tractor, Thomas Haymes co-ordinates the operation of his contracting business in Victoria's South Gippsland.
Based in Yarram, Haymes Contracting is a family-owned and operated hay, sowing and silage enterprise.
The business is now headed up by Thomas Haymes, a fourth-generation dairy farmer who decided to take on the contracting arm of the business five years ago.
"Dad has always had a hay contracting business as a side to the dairy and I was naturally attracted to that line of work as I really love operating machines," Mr Haymes said.
"We do everything from cultivation and seeding work to round bales and bulk silage."
Following behind the 6215R is a new John Deere C451R variable-chamber wrapping baler, or combi baler as it is commonly known.
The combi was recently added to tackle increased demand for silage and became the Haymes family's 21st John Deere baler.
An in-demand business, Haymes Contracting produced 28,000 bales last year and wrapped 20,000.
"We looked around at a few other combis but the John Deere model just suited us best," he said.
"It has three powered fixed rolls and two large diameter belt driving rolls inside the chamber with a high capacity, high performance two-metre-wide feeding system," he said.
"We expected another high standard John Deere but it's so much more. It now has a wrapper on the back which always works, so you really don't even have to think about it.
"When it runs out of wrap, it tells you and you can just change the roll - and that's the only time you have to get out and do anything.
"Even the roll arms are hydraulic, so you never have to lift anything higher than your waist.
"It saves us so much time and, with the updated fast release system and the 35-rpm wrapping arms, it means we can bale faster than ever."
Mr Haymes has also noticed a difference in production levels with the high capacity premium rotors and a more versatile, productive pickup.
There's also a drop-floor concept that removes even the worst plugs and the maximum density bale chamber enhances versatility and bale weight.
He said the Generation 4 command centre and GreenStar displays connected seamlessly with the ISOBUS in the baler, allowing the operator to control the baler from the tractor's monitor.
With 10 John Deere tractors as well as a self-propelled forage harvester in the fleet, Mr Haymes said the reliability, productivity and cutting-edge technology offered by the brand was paramount to the success of the family operation.
His favourite feature of the 6R Series tractor was streamlined control to maximise the efficiency of the machine.
"You just turn it on and everything you need to know, and more, comes up on the computer screen. The driver can then easily load it up with what they want to do and get going," he said.
"For example, if we are running a baler on the back, we have pre-loaded controls that work with that particular baler, so all we need to do is click two buttons and the operator has the functions pre-loaded. Same if we attach a seeder or another piece of equipment."