Machinery dealerships are "robbing" new machines to source parts in an effort to service and repair the state's harvest fleet, as Victoria's stop-start grain harvest kicks back into gear.
With a record 23.2 million hectares sown nationwide this year, yielding an estimated 54.8 million tonnes, equipment manufacturers have been forced to redirect parts destined for building new machines directly to the field to repair broken equipment for existing customers.
Wallup grain grower, Daniel Keam, told Victorian Country Hour that his machinery technician had to get creative when sourcing new parts for his broken header.
"We had to strip the parts off a brand new header in the dealership yard that they couldn't sell because it didn't have a header front," Mr Keam said.
"It's become a mobile parts... they're just going in and taking parts off it."
Despite doing a pre-season check and ordering spare parts in January, Mr Keam said there were still surprise headaches this harvest.
"Header fronts are the biggest issue this year - I am hearing stories that guys who ordered new machines 12 months ago still haven't got header fronts," he said.
"When we have accidents, sometimes header fronts get written off. I am not too sure if there are many out there to replace them."
Farmers have been warned the bottlenecks choking global supply chains are unlikely to be resolved before 2023, compounded by a global shortage of rubber and microchips, industrial disputes at the Port of Melbourne and booming steel prices.
"We hold machines so that if we can't get a part, we will actually rob a brand new machine that we keep in stock to make sure we can keep the guys going," Case IH chief executive Pete McCann said.
"At the end of the day, it is our job is to make it happen - we have to get those guys going.
"I have run parts out this year myself... being able to go to Sydney and grab them because I am quicker than a courier."
Mr McCann is pleading with customers to order parts now for harvest 2023 as the industry deals with "unprecedented demand".
"There is multiple challenges that we have got. We are literally taking orders for 2023," he said.
Supply chain woes now pose a threat to get crops out of fields, with Victorian farmers scrambling to get spare tyres, hydraulic hoses and rubber products ahead of harvest, with replacements expensive and difficult to find.
"Some manufacturers have got stacks of parts on the wharf in Singapore they can't get out," agricultural engineer, Ben White, research manager at Kondinin Group, said.
"If there is one (company in this position), then there will be more and that will be potentially problematic.
"We have heard of instances where large machinery manufacturers have had to stop the show, so to speak, so the supplies that they need to produce equipment can be stepped-up."
Mr White said the "pressure on parts" would force farmers to "come up up with solutions" and attempt to fix parts and electrical problems themselves.
Further issues have been caused by rain delays, which had delayed contractors working in NSW who would finish the season in Victoria.
"A bit of wet weather has thrown that regular north to the south transition of harvest, from a more orderly pace to it happening all at once," he said.
BMG Contract Harvesting's Alex Brabin said rain had delayed the northern harvest by about three weeks, potentially impacting their ability to support Victoria's harvest.
"I wouldn't expect any Victorian work until January considering how late our season is around the Riverina and how wet it has been," Mr Brabin said.
"We have had phone calls from people chasing headers but we simply can't commit to the work as well as do the work we have lined up.
"The weather is shortening the window between the north, southern NSW and Victoria's harvest."
Anticipating the components shortage, Mr Brabin said he "carries a long list of spare parts".
"We have run into a few things that we struggle to source so we had to repair on the go," he said.
The contractors recently welcomed a new member to their three-strong fleet, called Candice, a Case IH 9250 Axial-Flow combine harvester.
Ordered in February, the combine arrived in time to start harvest work near Moree, NSW.
Mr Brabin said 'Candice' was a welcome new member to the team, adding a new level of automation aimed at maximising the efficiency and performance of the combine, which "optimise grain quality and grain savings".
Annabelle Cleeland
Annabelle Cleeland is a Stock & Land journalist. She has worked at Australian Community Media for more than a decade serving in a number of roles including editor, senior journalist and national sheep & wool writer. She runs a fine Merino wool property with her young family in North-East Victoria.
Annabelle Cleeland is a Stock & Land journalist. She has worked at Australian Community Media for more than a decade serving in a number of roles including editor, senior journalist and national sheep & wool writer. She runs a fine Merino wool property with her young family in North-East Victoria.
